Lessons from Bhagavad Gita - 54

(From the discourses of Sri Swamiji)

compiled by Swami Datta Pada Renu

The sixth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita deals with the yoga of Meditation. So it is called "Dhyana Yoga". Performance of work without any selfish motive is the preliminary accessory of yoga of meditation. To highlight this truth, the Lord says :

"He who performs his duty, without depending on the fruits of work, is a sanyaasi and he is a yogi; not he who gives up fire, nor he who remains without action."

It is a fact that most of the people are not ready to lead a life of seclusion and contemplation. They are engaged with the work of everyday life which they cannot give up all of a sudden and to take to a life of meditation. But a sanyaasi or a yogi is he who is ready to devote his whole life and energy in the meditation of God. A real sanyaasi gives up all work and rites and sacrifices like pouring oblations into fire as his mind remains completely absorbed in the thought of God.

But a householder cannot give up the duties of his life and turn to meditation on God all of a sudden because his mind is not prepared for that. Such a man has to perform his daily duties and the rites and sacrifices like pouring oblations into fire as prescribed by the scriptures. And if he performs them without seeking their results he is a sanyaasi and a yogi.

Without depending on the fruits of work means without craving for the fruits of work. He who craves for the fruit of work depends on it. But the renouncer does not depend on it. As such, he performs the daily duties of his life and the obligatory rites and rituals without any desire for the fruits or results. Such a worker excels the worker who craves for the fruit. He is the renouncer and the yogi, and not the person who has merely given up the sacred household fires and rituals in the name of sanyaasa.

It is said in the verse that the man who performs his daily duties without seeking the reward of results is not only a sanyaasi(renouncer) but also a yogi. Yoga means an undisturbed state of mind. The man who has given up the desire for the fruit of his work can sit quietly in meditation, because he is not disturbed by the thought of the result of his work. When this internal renunciation is strong even if the man remains in the household nothing would disturb his peace of mind. So he is a yogi. The idea is : just as a man who has renounced the household fires and works is a renouncer and a yogi, so also is he who works without attachment to the fruits of work.

"Oh! Arjuna, that which is called sanyaasa, know that to be yoga also : none becomes a yogi without renouncing "Samkalpa" (hopes and expectation)" (II-VI)

Desire for the fruits of work distracts one"s mind. Therefore any doer of works who has renounced the desire for the fruits of his works is a yogi because he has discarded the cause of distraction of his mind, that is, the mental clinging to the fruits of works. As such his mind gets easily concentrated on God. Therefore, that which is called sanyaasa (renunciation) is also yoga.

To entertain hopes and expectations in the mind concerning the fruits of work is Samkalpa. Samkalpa is born of desire. He who cannot renounce Samkalpa cannot become a yogi because his mind cannot have peace, rest and contentment. Therefore ho who wants to attain to yoga must give up Samkalpa.

"For the sage, wishing to ascend to yoga, action is said to be the means. For the same sage, when he has mastered the Yoga, serenity (peace of mind) is said to be the means." (III-VI)

For the sage seeking to scale the peak of yoga, action is the means. In other words, the sage who struggles to establish himself in the yoga of meditation , action without any selfish motive is the means. Of the same sage who has scaled that peak serenity of peace of mind resulting from withdrawal from all actions is said to be the means.

Therefore one wishing to become a yogi should perform actions abandoning the desire for fruit. Thus he should try to purify his mind and make it steady in the thought of God. Then he has established his oneness with God. He does not have anything further to do in the world. Yet he may live and move in the world just to guide those who come to him seeking help. He sees the divine presence in everyone and helps them to become unattached. But he is always serene, calm and peaceful.