Bhagavad Gita Chapters 3 & 4: Detachment from the Fruits of Action and the Eternal Wisdom of Yog

Chapter 3: Have No Attachment to the Fruits of Action

• Karm Yog: Karm yog combines two key concepts: karm (occupational duties) and yog (union with God). A karm yogi performs worldly duties while keeping the mind attached to God.
• Freedom from Karma: A karm yogi is not bound by karma even while performing various works. The law of karma is bound to one's attachment to the fruits of actions, not the actions themselves. A karm yogi remainsunattached to these fruits.

• Yajña Defined: Generally, yajña refers to fire sacrifice. In the Bhagavad Gita, yajña encompasses all prescribed actions laid down in the scriptures, performed as offerings to the Supreme.
• Role of Individual Souls: We are tiny parts of the Supreme Soul, each with a role in the grand scheme of things. When we perform our yajña towards Him, our self-interest is naturally satisfied.

• Act of Sacrifice: Engaging in work solely for sensory pleasure and personal pride binds us to the material world. Performing work as an act of sacrifice for the Supreme Lord liberates us from the illusions of Maya and attracts divine grace.
• Offering to God: Without approaching our actions as offerings to God, we work merely to satisfy our mind and senses. Treating work as a sacrifice allows us to see the world and everything in it as belonging to God, intended for His service.
• Mindset of Service: Shree Krishna teaches that our duty is to align with the creative force of nature by fulfilling our prescribed responsibilities in God's service. This is the yajña He expects from us. We should approach our actions with a service mindset rather than seeking to enjoy their outcomes.

• Root of Sin: Shree Krishna identifies "lust" for worldly pleasure as the root of sin, describing it as a harmful temptation within us.
• Mode of Passion: The mode of passion deceives the soul into believing that material possessions bring true fulfilment, leading to a continuous cycle of desire for these objects.

Chapter 4: Authenticity and Ancient Nature of Knowledge

• Divine Wisdom: Shree Krishna affirms the validity and significance of the spiritual wisdom He is sharing with Arjun.
• Eternal Science of Yog: This knowledge is not a new invention; it is the eternal science of Yog that He originally revealed to Vivasvan, the Sun God.
• Transmission of Knowledge: Vivasvan passed it on to Manu, the progenitor of humanity, who subsequently taught it to Ikshvaku, the first king of the Solar dynasty.

• Omniscience: God remains omniscient, while the individual soul has finite knowledge.
• Attributes: Both the individual soul and the Supreme Soul are sat-chit-ānand (eternal, sentient, and blissful).
• Pervasion: God is all-pervading, whereas the soul only pervades the body it inhabits.
• Power: God is all-powerful, while the soul needs God's grace to liberate itself from Maya.
• Creation and Laws: God creates the laws of nature; the soul is subject to these laws.
• Sustenance: God upholds the entire creation while he upholds the soul.
• Knowledge: God is all-knowing, while the soul has limited knowledge.
• Forms: Our form is created from material energy (Maya); God's form is created by His divine energy (Yogmaya) and is thus divine and beyond material defects.

• Establishing Dharma: God descends to establish the dharma of devotion, providing souls with His names, forms, pastimes, virtues, abodes, and associates to engage in bhakti and purify their minds.
• Killing the Wicked: Some liberated saints descend to help facilitate God's divine pastimes by pretending to be miscreants, like Ravan and Kumbhakarna. God slays these "demons" as part of His leelas and sends them back to His divine abode.
• Protecting the Righteous: Elevated souls qualify to meet God face-to-face during His descension. For example, some gopīs were liberated souls who assisted in Shree Krishna's leelas, while others were materially bound souls who got their first chance to meet and serve God.

• Understanding the Absolute Truth: The Absolute Truth cannot be comprehended merely by our own contemplation.
• Obtaining Spiritual Knowledge: Shree Krishna advises:
  1. Approach a Spiritual Master: A student should approach the Guru with a humble attitude.
  2. Inquire Submissively: A student should humbly inquire about the Guru's truth.
  3. Render Service: A student should please the Guru by rendering selfless service.

• Purification Through Knowledge: Shree Krishna assures Arjun that spiritual knowledge can burn away our heap of karmas in this lifetime.
• Surrender and Liberation: Knowledge of the soul and its relationship with God leads us to surrender to Him, burning our stockpile of endless lifetimes of karmas and releasing us from material bondage.

• Renunciation and Devotion: Those who renounce all ritualistic Karm, dedicating their body, mind, and soul to God, perform every action as a service to Him.
• Freedom from Karmic Reaction: Shree Krishna says that such work, performed in devotion, does not bind them.
• Offering Actions to God: When work is done solely for God's pleasure, it becomes free from all karmic reactions, similar to multiplying numbers by zero.
• Enlightened Souls: The works performed by enlightened souls do not bind them because these actions are offered to God in the fire of Yog, done for His pleasure.