In the Third Chapter Lord Krishna tells Arjuna about the importance of action, and of action done as sacrifice, where there is no expectation of the reward of action. He says that we should find satisfaction and peace within ourselves, and that we should set an example for others to follow. The Self in us, the Atma, does not do any action; it is only the attributes of Nature, that do the actions. But because of our innate ego, we think of ourselves as the doers of action. Our biggest enemies are desire and anger. It is they who block our path to salvation. It is, therefore, necessary to control them, is the message of Krishna to Arjuna.
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Arjuna says: Lord, if you consider the path of knowledge to be superior to that of action, then why do you urge me to the savage action of fighting this terrible war? With words that contradict, you confuse my intelligence. Tell me for certain, that one path, by which I may attain the Supreme.
Lord Krishna replies: Partha, right from the beginning of creation, for salvation, I revealed two pathways. For the contemplative and the thinking people, I revealed the path of Sankhya, the path of knowledge, and for the action oriented, I revealed the path of selfless work, the path of Karmayoga.
By not doing action, or by simply remaining inactive, one does not attain freedom from action, nor by just giving up action, can one attain the Supreme. For no one can remain even for a moment without doing work or action.
One who appears to be inactive and doing no action, and also appears to be calm, but who has only curbed his organs of sense from the outside, whose mind is always in turmoil, and who is constantly thinking about, and enjoying those very objects of the senses, in his mind, such a person is deluded, and he is a hypocrite.
That person, however, is superior, who, restraining his senses by his mind, engages the organs of action in selfless action, without any attachment, and in the spirit of yoga.
Therefore, always keep working, always do work, because action is better than inaction. Even your basic body functions cannot be maintained without action.
In this world, all actions, except for those done in the spirit of sacrifice, result in bondage. Therefore, Partha, perform all your actions, do all your work, in the spirit of sacrifice, free from any kind of attachment.
At the time of creation, the Lord God created both mankind and sacrifice together, and decreed that mankind would prosper and flourish through sacrifice. Sacrifice would be the dispenser of all that is desired by mankind.
He said, nourish and nurture the Gods with this sacrifice, who in return, will nourish and nurture you. In this way nurturing each other and working for the mutual good, you will obtain all that is good for you.
Pleased by the sacrifices, the Gods will give you all that you desire. But he who enjoys without giving in return, he is certainly a thief.
The good people who eat the remains of sacrifices, are freed from all sins. But those who prepare food only for themselves, they are evil, and they incur sin.
All creatures are born from food, food comes from rain, and rain is the result of sacrifice, which itself is born of work, of action.
Know that the origin of work is in Brahm, and that Brahm is born from the Supreme Being, who has no decay.
Therefore, the all pervading, non decaying, Supreme Being, is always present in sacrifice, he pervades all sacrifices.
In this world, one who does not help in the running of this cycle of life, such a person is of sinful disposition, lost as he is, in the indulgence of his senses. Indeed, he lives in vain.
But the person who finds bliss and satisfaction within himself, who finds bliss and satisfaction in his own Atma, for such a one there is no work left which is necessary for him to do.
In this world, for such a person, there is nothing worth acquiring, through the actions he has done, or from the actions he has not yet done. He does not depend on anyone for achieving any of his desires.
Therefore, Partha, always do all your actions, always do all your works, without any selfish motive. Do all your actions selflessly, without any attachment; because it is only by doing work selflessly, and without any attachment, that man reaches the Supreme.
King Janak, (a great realized sage and the father the Lady Sita, the consort of Lord Rama, a previous incarnation of God) and other wise ones too, attained the Supreme, by doing selfless work.
You too, should also do work like them. Even otherwise, you should do work for the common good, and also for maintaining the laws of Nature.
Whatever great people do, the same is copied by the masses. Whatever example they set, is followed by the common people, by everyone else as well.
Now look at Me. There is no work whatsoever, there is no action whatsoever, in all the three worlds that I have to do.
There is nothing that I do not have, nor is there anything that I need to have; yet I continue to do work without ever stopping; because if I ever relaxed, and did not do work, then, since people all around follow My example, they too would stop doing work.
And when the people in general stop doing work, then there would be disorder and anarchy, and the world would perish. That this should not happen, makes Me always do work, all the time, always alert, and always watchful.
Therefore, as the ignorant do work, but with attachment, so too, should the wise, and the knowing people do work, but selflessly, and without attachment, only with the objective of public good, and only for upholding and maintaining the laws of nature.
The wise should be extra careful, and see that they do not confuse the minds of the people attached to selfish action. Persons who follow the path of selfless work, should try to persuade others to the path of selfless work as well.
Understand that all our actions are done only by the attributes of Nature. But the person who is full of ego, and who is under the grip and control of that ego, such a one thinks that he is the doer of action, while the action is, in fact, done by Nature.
But the person who understands the attributes of Nature, as well as the areas of working of those attributes, and who also understands that it is the attributes of Nature which act among each other, and which also act in their respective domains.
The attributes of Nature interact and interplay with the senses, and with the objects of those senses; then, knowing this, one does not get attached, one does not get deluded.
But the person who gets confused by the activities of the attributes of Nature, he gets attached to those activities, he gets entangled in them, and then he comes under their bondage.
Those who know the truth, the wise and the knowing people, should not confuse those who know little, and whose knowledge is incomplete and limited.
Therefore, Partha, surrender all your actions to Me completely, fix your consciousness in the Self, in the Atma; extinguish all your desires, obliterate your ego, get rid of this fever of your doubt, and fight the war.
Those people who, with full faith and devotion, and without finding fault, follow this teaching of Mine, they get released from the bonds of work and action.
But those people, who, because of envy and hate, find fault and reject My teaching, and do not follow it, such people remain ignorant of the true knowledge, and they end up being destroyed.
All people, including the wise, act and work according to the attributes of their nature. Nobody can escape this. It is futile to try to change this by force.
Inherent in every sense, and in every sense object, are the feelings of attraction and aversion. The objects of the senses, either attract or repel a person. One should never come under their influence, because these two are the big obstacles on his path to redemption, they are the enemies that block his path to salvation.
It is far better to follow one's own natural and ordained duty, one's own law, even imperfectly, even incompletely, than to follow another's duty, though perfectly. It is better to die doing one's own duty, than to live according to another's law, because living life according to another's nature and law is full of dangers, and also carries great fear with it.
Hearing these words of the Lord, Arjuna asks Krishna: But Keshava, what is it that drives man to commit sin? What is it that forces him to do so even against his wishes and his will, even against his better judgement?
Lord Krishna replies: It is desire and anger, born of Rajoguna, born of passion, which force a person to commit sin. Desire and anger, are both themselves full of sin, and also consume everything, and everyone that come their way. In this world, in this life, consider these two to be your inveterate and biggest enemies.
Just as fire is hidden by smoke, just as a mirror is covered by dust, and just as the embryo is surrounded by the womb, so too, is man's wisdom and discrimination surrounded by desire. Man's consciousness and his wisdom, both are covered by the unquenchable fire of desire, as a result of which he is always unsatisfied.
The senses, the mind and intelligence are the dwelling places of desire. Residing here, the same desire, covering man's knowledge and understanding, deludes him, and leads him astray from his true path to redemption.
Therefore, Partha, from the very beginning, keep your senses under control and destroy desire, the sinful subvertor of wisdom and of discrimination.
It said that the senses are superior to the physical body, the mind is superior to the senses, and greater than the mind is intelligence, and even greater, and more powerful than the intelligence, is the Self, the Atma.
Thus, knowing the Atma to be more powerful than intelligence, then, with that knowledge, control your mind, and fix your Atma in that Supreme Spirit, in the Param Atma, and slay the enemy, in the form of desire, the enemy so hard to reach, the enemy so difficult to get at.
End of Chapter Three
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Om
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