In order to live, we all have to work but no one teaches us the right attitude through which we should work. In this post, we lean on to the wisdom of Bhagavad Gita where Shri Krishna teaches us how to work.
Bhagavad Gita starts with the mighty warrior Arjun not wanting to fight against his family and loved ones and is ready to renounce the world and go to the forest. But Lord Krishna implores him to pick up his Gandeev(Arjun’s bow) and fight.
There are times in a person’s life where one gets sick of the un-ending struggles of the day to day life. If we don’t get what we want, we are overcome with disappointment and envy. Whereas if we get what we want, the object in our possession soon looses it’s charm. Thus, for us ordinary folks, the cycle continues up until our death bed.
However, till the time an individual lives, he has to work. The bees work tirelessly throughout their life by collecting nectar from the flowers and converting it into honey. So do trees, ants, elephants and other creatures. Thus, to exist means to work. Our life is defined by our actions. In fact it can be argued that life is nothing but a stream of actions. However, while other creatures have to work under compulsion, human beings have the freedom to choose what actions they perform and the attitude in which they perform them. Through Bhagavad Gita, Shri Krishna teaches us that we can get nearer to our true nature, if we learn how to perform actions with the right mindset.
So what’s the True Nature of Man ?
The people who have realized the true nature of man, assert that the true nature of man is existence absolute, knowledge absolute, bliss absolute. The scriptures say that once that state is reached, the bliss experienced is infinite times more than any sensual pleasure that we experience in the material world. Some call that state enlightenment, others call it god realization whereas a vedantist refers to it as realizing brahman.
If we perform actions based on the apparent nature of man, i.e : based on our ego self, then it binds us and in the long run pulls us deeper into identification with our false self. Whereas through Karma Yoga, Shri Krishna teaches us that if actions are performed in the right manner, then instead of getting enslaved by chains of karma, our actions can help us get closer to our real blissful nature.
How to Work ?
“योगस्थ: कुरु कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा धनञ्जय |
सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्यो: समो भूत्वा समत्वं योग उच्यते || ” (2.48)
Meaning : Be steadfast in the performance of your duty, O Arjun, abandoning attachment to success and failure. Such equanimity is called Yoga.
So Shri Krishna tell Arjun to perform actions with detachment. One should perform actions without worrying about success or failures, without worrying about the results. In such a state of mind which Shri Krishna refers to as Yoga, one is equanimous both towards success and failure. This equanimity of mind comes from detachment. Thus, one should perform actions with detachment, because without detachment one can’t have equanimity.
When we are attached to the results, we want things to turn out a certain way. As a result, the things which we are attached to, start affecting us, and we lose the balanced state of mind. With attachment, we become biased and we lose our freedom of mind. And so, things which we are attached to, start governing us. Thus, attachment binds us to our fictional identity.
From this, it can be concluded that when we work through attachment, we become bound and we work as slaves. Whereas when we work in the spirit of detachment, we work like masters. Only when we work with a spirit of detachment, can our work bring us closer to our real nature.
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