This week's JKYog Bhagavad Gita Online Class explores the concepts of karm-yog and karm sanyās from the Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5. It delves into the differences between the two paths and emphasises the importance of fulfilling worldly duties while maintaining spiritual practices. The class also discusses the two types of renunciation, phalgu vairāgya and yukt vairāgya, and how karm yogis embody stable renunciation while performing their daily duties.
श्रीभगवानुवाच |
संन्यास: कर्मयोगश्च नि:श्रेयसकरावुभौ |
तयोस्तु कर्मसंन्यासात्कर्मयोगो विशिष्यते || 2||
śhrī bhagavān uvācha
sannyāsaḥ karma-yogaśh cha niḥśhreyasa-karāvubhau
tayos tu karma-sannyāsāt karma-yogo viśhiṣhyate
Gita 5.2 A karm yogi is someone who fulfils both their spiritual and social responsibilities. Karm sanyās is for elevated souls who have transcended the bodily platform. A karm sanyāsīis someone who abandons social duties due to complete absorption in God, dedicating themselves entirely to spiritual practices and devotional service to God.
Shree Krishna praises karm-yog over karm sanyās and advises Arjun to follow it as the preferred path. This is because karm sanyāsīs face a risk. If they renounce their duties but fail to absorb their minds in God fully, they end up achieving neither worldly success nor spiritual fulfilment.
Only the ignorant confuse their laziness with detachment from the world. In contrast, karm yogis fulfil both their worldly duties and spiritual practices. Thus, if their mind strays from spirituality, they still have their work to rely on.
Karm-yog is, therefore, the safer path for the majority of people, whereas karm sanyāsshould only be pursued under the expert guidance of a Guru.
ज्ञेय: स नित्यसंन्यासी यो न द्वेष्टि न काङ् क्षति |
निर्द्वन्द्वो हि महाबाहो सुखं बन्धात्प्रमुच्यते || 3||
jñeyaḥ sa nitya-sannyāsī yo na dveṣhṭi na kāṅkṣhati
nirdvandvo hi mahā-bāho sukhaṁ bandhāt pramuchyate
BG 5.3 Karm yogis continue to fulfill their worldly duties while internally practicing detachment. As a result, they accept both positive and negative outcomes with equanimity, seeing them as the grace of God.
The Lord has beautifully designed this world to provide us with experiences of both happiness and distress for our gradual elevation. By continuing to lead our regular lives, tolerating whatever comes our way, and joyfully performing our duties, the world naturally guides us toward spiritual growth.
Here's a story that illustrates this concept beautifully:
Once, a piece of wood approached a sculptor and asked, "Can you make me beautiful?" The sculptor agreed but asked, "Are you prepared for it?" The wood replied, "Yes, I am ready." The sculptor then began his work, hammering and chiselling away. The wood cried out in pain, "What are you doing? Please stop, this hurts!" The sculptor responded, "If you want to become beautiful, you must endure the pain." Reluctantly, the wood consented, "Do it, but be gentle." Yet, as the sculptor continued, the wood pleaded, "That's enough for today; I can't take more. Let's finish tomorrow." Undeterred, the sculptor persisted, and in a few days, the wood was transformed into a stunning deity fit to grace the temple altar.
Similarly, our hearts are rough and unfinished due to countless lifetimes of attachment. To achieve inner beauty, we must be willing to endure pain and allow the world to purify us. Karm yogis, therefore, work with devotion, maintain equanimity in all outcomes, and focus their minds on God.
Two types of vairāgya
साङ्ख्ययोगौ पृथग्बाला: प्रवदन्ति न पण्डिता: |
एकमप्यास्थित: सम्यगुभयोर्विन्दते फलम् || 4||
sānkhya-yogau pṛithag bālāḥ pravadanti na paṇḍitāḥ
ekamapyāsthitaḥ samyag ubhayor vindate phalam
BG 5.4 Renunciation comes in two forms: phalgu vairāgya and yukt vairāgya.
Phalgu vairāgya is characterised by viewing the world as burdensome and renouncing it to escape responsibilities and hardships. This form of renunciation is escapist and unstable. Those who practice phalgu vairāgya are motivated by a desire to avoid difficulties. When they face challenges on the spiritual path, they often become disillusioned and seek to return to worldly life.
Yukt vairāgya is when individuals perceive the entire world as the manifestation of God's energy. They do not consider their possessions as their own or seek personal enjoyment from them. Instead, they desire to use whatever they have been given to serve God. This form of renunciation is stable and remains steadfast despite difficulties.
Karm yogis, while performing their daily duties, cultivate the sentiment of yuktvairāgya, or stable renunciation. They view themselves as servants and God as the ultimate enjoyer, remaining steadfast in the awareness that all their actions are performed for His pleasure.
In this way, their internal state becomes the same as that of karm sanyāsīs, who are fully immersed in divine consciousness. While they may appear to be worldly individuals on the outside, internally, they are as spiritually committed as sanyāsīs.
The highest devotee is the person who enjoys sensory experiences without craving or avoiding them while understanding that everything is part of God's creation and should be used to serve Him.
The truly enlightened see no distinction between karm-yog and karm sanyās. By following one of them, the results of both are achieved.
यत्साङ्ख्यै: प्राप्यते स्थानं तद्योगैरपि गम्यते |
एकं साङ्ख्यं च योगं च य: पश्यति स पश्यति || 5||
yat sānkhyaiḥ prāpyate sthānaṁ tad yogair api gamyate
ekaṁ sānkhyaṁ cha yogaṁ cha yaḥ paśhyati sa paśhyati
BG 5.5 In spiritual practice, it is the intention of the mind that counts, not just the external actions. Our level of consciousness is shaped by the state of our mind:
Mana eva manuṣhyāṇāṁ kāraṇaṁ bandha mokṣhayoḥ (Pañchadaśhī)
"The mind is the cause of bondage, and the mind is the cause of liberation."
Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj expresses this principle as follows:
बंधन और मोक्ष का, कारण मनहि बखान ।
याते कौनिउ भक्ति करु, करु मन तेहि ध्यान।।
bandhan aur mokṣha kā, kāraṇ manahi bakhān,
yāte kauniu bhakti karu, karu mana teharidhyān
(Bhakti Śhatak, verse 19)
"Bondage and liberation depend on the state of the mind. Whatever form of devotion you practice, ensure that your mind remains focused on meditation upon God."
Those lacking spiritual insight perceive a difference between a karm sanyāsī and a karm yogi based on their external appearances, often considering the karm sanyāsī superior due to their outward renunciation. However, the learned understand that both the karm sanyāsī and the karm yogi have focused their minds on God, so they are identical in their internal consciousness.
संन्यासस्तु महाबाहो दु:खमाप्तुमयोगत: |
योगयुक्तो मुनिर्ब्रह्म नचिरेणाधिगच्छति || 6||
sannyāsas tu mahā-bāho duḥkham āptum ayogataḥ
yoga-yukto munir brahma na chireṇādhigachchhati
BG 5.6 Shree Krishna advises that while carrying out one's duties in the world, one should gradually rise above anger, greed, and desire.
Conversely, if one abandons one's duties prematurely, purifying the mind becomes challenging, and without a pure mind, true detachment remains a distant dream.
For example, Arjun was a warrior, and if he had tried to renounce his duties by retreating to the forest, his nature would still compel him to act, possibly by gathering jungle-dwelling followers and declaring himself their leader. Instead, channelling his natural inclinations and talents into serving God would have been more effective.
Shree Krishna instructs him, "Keep fighting but shift your approach. Initially, you came to this battleground to save a kingdom. Now, dedicate your efforts selflessly to God. Doing so will naturally purify your mind and attain true inner renunciation from within."
A tender, unripe fruit clings firmly to the tree that nurtures it. However, it detaches from its source once the fruit is fully ripe. Similarly, a karm yogi gains experiences that lead to wisdom and maturity from material existence. Just as sound sleep follows hard work, deep meditation is achieved by those who have purified their minds through karm-yog.
Summary: JKYog India Online Class- Bhagavad Gita [English]- 03.08.2024
