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Bhagavad
Gita - March 14, 2008
Chapter
2, Verses: 46-47
Swami
Yogatmananda
Vedanta
Society of Providence
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II.46:
A brahmana with realization has that much utility in all the Vedas as
a man has in a well when there is flood all around.
II.47:Your
right is for action alone, never for the results. Do not become the
agent of the results of action. May you not have any inclination for
inaction.
The
above image is from Gita Darshan by courtesy of Sri
Ramakrishna Math, Hyderabad.
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Summary
of this lecture:
Lord Krishna, after telling that Yoga has to be practiced to change
the direction of life and to take it to the desired goal (attaining
which everything one seeks is attained too), is now telling about the
yoga of action - Karma Yoga - or the art of doing the work in the proper
way. Stopping work is never an alternative. The four principles told
in the verse 47 are: 1. Do your work; that alone is your jurisdiction,
2. but don't have any expectations to the fruits of the action; for
that is ABSOLUTELY NOT your jurisdiction. 3. Do not worry about success
or failure, just do work meticulously and don't expect anything in return.
That will prevent the results of the actions from binding you. Work,
which has the capacity to liberate us, actually binds us more and more
as we expect the results of that work. 4. It's also just as important
not to get attached to inaction. Avoiding action is not at all the way
to illumination. This will merely make a person indolent and lazy and
full of tamas. We want to be more sattvic and holy to make progress.
Of course, not expecting the results does not mean that the work is
neglected or is left unfinished. e. g. - washing the clothes is to be
done with the 'expected result' of cleaning them; one cannot say, 'I
am doing the Karma Yoga of washing the clothes, whether the get clean
or not is not my concern'.
There were a few questions relating to expectation arising from doing
a good job or the satisfaction one feels when a work is well accomplished.
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