Work We All Must
We have already found that no one can ever remain without action even for an instant; nature will prompt us, with compelling force, to act Therefore, as human beings, in our present state of evolution, we have, it seems, no choice at all between a life-of-action and a life-of-inaction. Work we must. The only choice available for us is in determining "how” to act. We can either act to the detriment of ourselves and for the disaster of all around us— or we can act to bless ourselves, and for bringing at least a ray of smile on the faces of all others round us in the world.
To the undynamic and the stupid, a life of least activity and maximum revelry would seem most attractive. This wrong tendency at a national level spells ruin, and even a total annihilation, of that nation. Members of the community must ever be on their toes to act, to work, to strive, and to achieve —— then alone can they reach rich success, productive prosperity, a valid existence and a rewarding progress.
When everyone employs his ingenuity to publicise their least contribution to national endeavour, and to claim at the same time maximum comforts — that community starts slipping down the slopes to disaster, to disintegration, and finally to despair.
Work we must. There is no choice. Whether we be on the lowest rung of the social ladder or on the topmost be we the governors or the governed, be we the higher or the lower class —— everyone of us must work. And it is of no avail to avoid it — because "nature will assert and make you work: you are helpless in this" ( Karyate hyavashah karma sarvah prakrtijairgunaih ). Action is the insignia of life in an organism. So long as we live and breathe in our bodies we have to act and work, which is the final expression of life in its grossest form.
So then we must now try to understand how best we may work.
In order to drive home the ideal way of life, the Lord describes the true worker and the despicable type of hypocrites, (IM-6) "He who refuses to work with his limbs, but sits brooding over the sense objects of pleasure in his mind, he, the deluded fool, is called a hypocrite". Krishna echoes the conclusions arrived at by the greatest thinkers of all times. Mental immorality and indulgence brings about more dissipation of our vital energies than intelligent physical immorality and sensuousness. One may claim to be morally good, honest, truthful, etc. But if one is mentally entertaining immoral thoughts, dishonest motives, false, pretences, etc. the personality-dynamism in such an individual sink's low, and soon, he, who might have been a person marked for success, slowly and steadily sinks into incompetence and failures, all results of his inner dissipation.
Here Krishna talks about the social parasite who does no service to society — such a deluded fool (Vimoodhatma ) Krishna calls as a "hypocrite" (Mithyacharah), because he is one who sits with his mind roaming in sense-objects (Manasa indriyani smaran ya aste)
And as a contrast the Lord paints the picture of the intelligent man who lives the ideal life of higher values: (III-7 ) "But, who controlling, the senses by the mind, unattached, employs his organs-of-action in Karma Yoga, "Service-of-all", he. Oh Arjuna, indeed excels".
The sense-organs can be controlled only with the mind. The mind running out through the sense-organs becomes our powers of perception and our inner ideas. Vasanas in us, determine whether we get involved with the perceptions or not. The world-of-objects have no power over us. In fact, it is our own "fancy for things” that reflects from them as their "powers to tempt us”. At a show window the women's wear cannot tempt a man, nor will a wo¬man be tempted by a shirt or a tie! Temptation for an object is only our reaction to it.
A man who has thus re-educated his values, orders his sense activities by his re-adjusted mind and comes to live a calm life, a master of the outer-world, and no more tossed about by the fluctuating environments. Such a man must thereafter employ his organs-of-action to work with dedication for the Seva of the world around him.
He must work in the world with a mind "unattached" (asaktah). This word is often used in the Bhagavad Geeta, and unless we understand its full import we are apt to misunderstand the entire philosophy of the Geeta. Attachment we all have, to many things in life "I am attached to my mother, wife, children, work, property, etc." What do we mean "attached to your wife"? What is attachment?
Certainly ft is not merely physical — you and your wife are not physically grafted to each other, like the "Siamese twins"!! When we say we are "attached" to our dog we only mean our mental attachment. Whenever I have a strong feeling of "want" for any being or thing, there is attachment. The intensity of atta¬chment is always directly proportional to the intensity of the demand "I want". Here there are two factors "I", the ego, and "want", the desire to posses and enjoy. Thus ego and egocentric desires together constitute "attachment".
Therefore, when Krishna says that a man of self-control who has tamed his sense-organs through his mind, serves the world "unattached" — it means serving the world "without ego and egocentric desires and lusts". Such an individual excels — because for him the work-field serves as a theater for the exhaustion of his existing Vasanas, without creating any new ones.
The ego and ego-centric desires in us generate Vasanas, and when actions are undertaken without "attachment" — meaning, without ego and ego-centric-desires — the existing Vasanas get exhausted and no new Vasanas are created. This purgation of Vasanas brings peace and calmness into the bosom. A peaceful mind is not only more creative, and irresistible in the material world of success, but it is again the vehicle to reach us into an ampler world of fuller awareness — of a larger State-of-Consciousness.
, (Courtesy: Geeta Office, Powai)
Topic: THE SCIENCE OF RELIGION By :- Swami Chinmayananda (Read 2977 times)