(KARMAYOGA) What action/karma does God do? Is God bound by it?

0 comments Posted by RisingCitizen at Monday, June 21, 2010

Does God do anything? What is his action/karma? Like everyone is bound by their own karma, is God bound by his karma? All these interesting questions Krishna himself answers.


"Arjuna, there is nothing in all the 3 worlds for Me to do, nor is there anything worth attaining unattained by Me, yet I continue to work."
(Chap 3 -verse 22)

"Should I not engage in action, scrupulously at any time, great harm will come to the world; for Arjuna, men follow My way in all matters."
(Chap 3 -verse 23)

"If I cease to act, these worlds will perish; nay, I should prove to be the cause of confusion, and of the destruction of these people."
(Chap 3 -verse 24)

"Though birthless and deathless, and the Lord of all beings, I manifest Myself through My own Yogamaya (divine potency), keeping My Nature (prakriti) under control."
(Chap 4 -verse 6)

"Arjuna, whenever righteousness is on the decline, the unrighteousness is in the ascendant, then I body Myself forth. For the protection of the virtuous, for the termination of evil-doers, and for establishing righteousness on a firm footing, I am born from age to age."
(Chap 4 -verse 7,8)

"Arjuna, during the Final Dissolution all beings enter my Prakriti and at the beginning of creation, I send them forth again."
(Chap 9 -verse 7)

"Wielding My Nature, I release, again and again (according to their respective Karmas) all this multitude of beings subject to the influence of their own Nature."
(Chap 9 -verse 8)


"Arjuna, with Me as the supervisor, Nature brings forth the whole creation, consisting of both sentient and insentient beings; it is due to this cause that the wheel of Samara(life) is going around."
(Chap 9 -verse 10)

"Arjuna, you and I have passed through many births, I remember them all; you do not."
(Chap 4 -verse 5)

IS GOD BOUND BY HIS ACTIONS?

"Since I have no craving for the fruit of actions, actions do not contaminate Me. Even he who thus knows Me in reality is not bound by actions."
(Chap 4 -verse 14)

"Arjuna, those actions, however, do not bind Me as I am unattached to such actions and standing apart as it were."
(Chap 9 -verse 9)

 

Labels:

(KARMAYOGA) The unbound actions lead to inaction. Why and its impact?

0 comments Posted by RisingCitizen at Saturday, June 19, 2010


Doing action and still being in inaction is a stage which is one of the higher stages of Karmayoga. The stepping stone of Karmayoga is disinterested action or action which is free of attachment of its results.

The below verses are very complex for almost all of us, but even a little attempt in doing so will always ensure God's glory is on us.

PS: The Summary of all verses below can be mentioned in one line - The moment we give up attachment for results of our actions, we still continue to do our actions and that is what inaction in action means. It is never to give up our action. We have to keep striving for our actions as this verse clarifies

Man does not attain freedom from action without entering upon action; nor does he reach perfection merely by ceasing to act..

"What is action and what is inaction? Even the wise men are puzzled over this question. Therefore, I shall expound to you the truth about action, knowing which you will be freed from its evil effect."
(Chap 4 -verse 16)

"The truth about action must be known and the truth about inaction must be known; even so the truth about prohibited action must be known for mysterious are the ways of action."
(Chap 4 -verse 17)

"Man does not attain freedom from action without entering upon action; nor does he reach perfection merely by ceasing to act."
(Chap 3 -verse 4)

"Having subdued his mind and body, and given up all objects of enjoyment, and free from craving, he who performs sheer bodily action does not incur sin."
(Chap 4 -verse 21)

"He, who having give up totally the fruits of action and the action itself, no longer depends on the world, and is ever satisfied, does nothing at all, though fully engaged in action."
(Chap 4 -verse 20)

"He who controlling the organs of sense and action by the power of his will, and remains unattached, undertakes the Yoga of Action through those organs, Arjuna, he excels."
(Chap 3 -verse 7)

"Even the wise call him a sage, whose undertakings are free from desire and thoughts of the world, and whose actions are burnt up by the fire of wisdom."
(Chap 4 -verse 19)

"He who sees action in inaction and inaction in action, is wise among men; he is a Yogi who has performed all actions."
(Chap 4 -verse 18)

The impact of being so is the path to liberation i.e a path wherein once you reach God you never come back as explained below in the verse.
"Having known thus, action was performed even by the ancient seekers for liberation. therefore you also perform such actions as have been performed by the ancients from the beginning of time."
(Chap 4 -verse 15)

"The Karmayogi, who has fully conquered his mind and mastered his senses, whose heart is pure, and who has identified himself with God, remains untainted, even though performing action."
(Chap 5 -verse 7)

 

Labels:

(KARMAYOGA) Difference between acts of sacrifice and renunciation

1 comments Posted by RisingCitizen at Saturday, June 19, 2010

This distinction of understanding sacrifice and renunciation is very well explained in the GITA in a very simple manner. This is very important for us to know that GITA never preaches to leave everything, it strengthens us by telling what acts must never be prohibited.

At the end of the following verses, we can conclude because we can't give up desires and do action, if we give up the fruit of actions, then we have renounced our life i.e Sanyasa. This is the true meaning of SANYASA

TYAGA = sacrifice SANYASA = renunciation


"Arjuna, some sages understand Sanyasa as giving up of all actions motivated by desire; and other thinkers declare Tyaga consists in relinquishing the fruit of all actions."
(Chap 18 -verse 2)

"Some wise men say renounce an action due to it being a desire, while others say that acts of sacrifice, charity and penance are not worth shunning."
(Chap 18 -verse 3)

"Of Sanyasa and Tyaga, first hear My conclusion on the subject of Tyaga, Arjuna; for Tyaga, O tiger among men, has been declared to be of 3 kinds."
(Chap 18 -verse 4)

"Acts of sacrifice, charity and penance are not worth giving up; they must be performed. For sacrifice, charity and penance - all these are purifiers of wise men."
(Chap 18 -verse 5)

"Hence these acts of sacrifice, charity and penance, and all other acts too, must be performed as a matter of duty without attachment and hope of reward: this is My supreme verdict, Arjuna."
(Chap 18 -verse 6)

"Prescribed duties should never be renounced. If one gives up his prescribed duties because of illusion, such renunciation is said to be the mode of ignorance ( TAMASIKA)."
(Chap 18 -verse 7)

"Anyone who gives up prescribed duties as troublesome or out of fear of bodily discomfort is said to have renounced in the RAJASIKA (mode of passion). Such action never leads to the elevation of renunciation."
(Chap 18 -verse 8)

"O Arjuna, when one performs his prescribed duty only because it ought to be done, and renounces all material association and all attachment to the fruit, his renunciation is said to be SATTVIKA."
(Chap 18 -verse 9)


"He who shrinks not from action which does not bring lasting happiness, nor gets attached to that which is conducive to blessedness - imbued with quality of goodness, he has all his doubts resolved, is intelligent and a man of true renunciation."
(Chap 18 -verse 10)

"Since all actions cannot be given up in their entirety by anyone possessing a body, he alone who renounces the fruit of actions is called a man of renunciation."
(Chap 18 -verse 11)
 
"For one who has renounced, the threefold fruits of action - desirable, undesirable and mixed - accrue after death. But those who are in the renounced order of life have no such result to suffer or enjoy."
(Chap 18 -verse 12)

 

Labels:

(KARMAYOGA) Factors motivating an action and its accomplishment

0 comments Posted by RisingCitizen at Saturday, June 19, 2010


"Knowledge, the object of knowledge and the knower are the 3 factors that motivate action; the senses, the work and the doer are 3 constituents of action."
(Chap 18 -verse 18)
 
"O mighty-armed Arjuna, according to Vedanta (Sankhya) there are 5 factors operating towards the accomplishment of all action. Now learn of these from Me."
(Chap 18 -verse 13)

"The place of action (body), the performer, the various senses, different endeavors and ultimately DAIVA (SuperSoul/Paramatma or destiny)."
(Chap 18 -verse 14)

"These 5 are the contributory causes of whatever actions - right or wrong, man performs with mind,speech and body."
(Chap 18 -verse 15)
Reminds me of Kaaya, Vacha, Manasa

"Therefore, one who thinks himself the only doer, not considering the 5 factors, is certainly not very intelligent and cannot see things as they are."
(Chap 18 -verse 16)

"One who is not motivated by false ego, whose intelligence is not entangled, though he kills men in this world, does not kill. Nor is he bound by his actions."
(Chap 18 -verse 17)

 

Labels:

(KARMAYOGA) What actions we do don't bind us i.e sins or goodness?

0 comments Posted by RisingCitizen at Sunday, June 13, 2010


Krishna very beautifully explains in 3 scenarios where our actions do not bind us - which means we are not responsible for the sins or the goodness of doing such an action:

SCENARIO 1:

"O Arjuna, actions do not bind him who has dedicated all his actions to God, according to the spirit of Karmayoga, whose doubts have been torn to shreds by wisdom, and who is self-possessed."
(Chap 4 -verse 41)

"Therefore, Arjuna, slashing to pieces, with the sword of wisdom, this doubt in your heart, born of ignorance, establish yourself in Karmayoga in the shape of even-temperedness, and stand up for the fight."
(Chap 4 -verse 42)

SCENARIO 2:

"The Karmayogi, who is contended with whatever is got unsought, is free from jealousy and has transcended all pairs of opposites like joy and grief, and is balanced in success and failure, is not bound by his action."
(Chap 4 -verse 22)

SCENARIO 3:

"All his actions melt away, who is free from lust/attachment, who has no identification with the body and does not claim as his own, whose mind is established in the Knowledge of the Self and who works merely for the sake of sacrifice."
(Chap 4 -verse 23)

"He whose mind is free from the sense of the doership, and whose reason is not tainted by worldly objects and activities, does not really slay, even having slaughtered all these creatures, nor is bound by sin."
(Chap 18 -verse 17)

"Man is bound by his own action except when it is done for the sake of sacrifice. Therefore, Arjuna, do you efficiently perform your duty, free from attachment, for the sake of sacrifice alone."
(Chap 3 -verse 9)

But what kind of sacrifices?

PS: All or even doing one of these sacrifices do not bind a man to his action. Such actions must be increased in life. Here, sacrifice
Type 1:

"In the practice of seeing Brahma everywhere as a form of sacrifice where the ladle with which oblation is poured into the fire; the oblation is itself Brahma; Brahma is the fire; Brahma itself is the one who sacrifices and Brahma itself is the act of pouring the oblation into the fire; And finally Brahma is the goal to be reached by him who is absorbed in Brahma as the act of such sacrifice."
(Chap 4 -verse 24)

PS: 1) Brahma here refers to GOD and not Brahma (one of the Trimurtis)
2) Here sacrifice is as good as any action we do and we need to consider God itself as the doer,
God itself as the action and God itself is the result.
This is as per Madhavacharya and Ramanuja. (CLICK HERE FOR SOURCE)

Type 2:

"Other Yogis duly offer sacrifice only in the shape of worship to the demi-gods (as given in the VEDAS). Others (Jnanayogis) by worshiping the Supreme Brahman."
(Chap 4 -verse 25)
(ESSENTIALLY WORSHIPING GOD)

Type 3:

"Other Yogis offer sacrifice their senses of hearing into the fire of self-discipline while others offer perceptions of sense objects into the fires of senses."
(Chap 4 -verse 26)

Type 4:

"Other Yogis, who are interested in achieving self-realization through control of the mind and senses, offer the functions of all the senses, and of the life breath, as oblations into the fire of the controlled mind."
(Chap 4 -verse 27)

Type 5:

"Some perform sacrifice with material possessions; some others offer sacrifice in the shape of austerities; others sacrifice through the practice of Yoga; while striving souls, observing austere vows, perform sacrifice in the shape of wisdom through the study of sacred texts."
(Chap 4 -verse 28)

Type 6:

"Other Yogis offer the act of exhalation into that of inhalation; even so others, the act of inhalation into exhalation. There are still-others given to the practice of PRANAYAMA, who having regulated their diet and controlled the processes of exhalation and inhalation - both pour their vital airs into the vital airs themselves. All these have their sins consumed away by sacrifice and understanding the meaning of sacrificial worship."
(Chap 4 -verse 29, 30)

Type 7:

"Arjuna, who does not offer sacrifice, even this world is not happy; how then can the other world be happy?"
(Chap 4 -verse 31)

Type 8:

"Many such forms of sacrifice have been set forth in detail through the mouth of the Vedas; know them all as involving the action of mind, senses and body. Thus knowing them you shall be freed from the bondage of action (through their performance)."
(Chap 4 -verse 32)

Type 9:

"Arjuna, sacrifice through KNOWLEDGE is superior to sacrifice performed with material things. For all actions without exception culminate in Knowledge, O son of Kunti."
(Chap 4 -verse 33)

PS: IT IS VERY CLEAR THAT KRISHNA CONSIDERS ANY ACTION DONE THROUGH KNOWLEDGE IS FAR SUPERIOR THAN ANY OTHER SACRIFICE, PUJA, or YAGNA.

Krishna also explains the sacrifice at the time of creation and that even rains are produced from the sacrifice.

"Having created mankind along with the spirit of sacrifice at the beginning of creation, the creator, Brahma, said to them, 'you shall prosper by this; may this yield the enjoyment you seek."
(Chap 3 -verse 10)

"Foster the gods through this sacrifice and let the God be gracious to you. Each fostering other disinterestedly, you will attain the highest good."
(Chap 3 -verse 11)
"Fostered by sacrifice, the gods will surely bestow on you unasked all the desired enjoyments. He who enjoys gifts bestowed by them, without giving them in return, is undoubtedly a thief."
(Chap 3 -verse 12)

"The virtuous who partake of what is left over after sacrifice, are absolved of all sins. Those sinful ones who cook for the sake of nourishing their body alone eat only sin."
(Chap 3 -verse 13)


"All beings are evolved from food; production of food is dependent on rain; rain ensues from sacrifice, and sacrifice is rooted in prescribed action. Know that prescribed action has its origin in the VEDAS and the VEDAS proceed from the God; hence the all-pervading Infinite is always present in sacrifice."
(Chap 3 -verse 14,15)


 

Labels:

(KARMAYOGA) Do actions bind us, thereby leading to goodness or sin?

0 comments Posted by RisingCitizen at Sunday, June 13, 2010

In the GITA, no where is a direct verse indicating that actions bind us. However, there are several places where Krishna talks about liberating ourselves from the results of the actions we do.  This clearly means that actions bind us because its consequences are somewhere connected to our actions.

In the Ishwarya Upanishad, there is a verse

One must desire to live even a hundred years by doing prescribed karma only. Thus is it right for you, not otherwise; [if this is done, then] sin will not bind the human.


It means that there are actions that do not bind also and which is what Krishna explains very beautifully.

 

Labels:

Newer Posts Older Posts Home

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

Blogger Template by Blogcrowds