Talk:Transcending Karma through Moksha:Karma Yoga and Karma:Destruction of Kriyamāna Karma by Karma Yoga

By Vishal Agarwal

As Karma Yoga entails a diligent performance of actions, it is very important to discuss how Kriyamāna Karma bears no fruit in this path. First, the Karma Yogī identifies his Svadharma (or personal duty) that is consistent with his stage in life, status in the society and his abilities etc. and performs them diligently and with faith.

He who follows any of the four different Āshramas with determination, with faith and in the proper manner eventually attains Moksha. Anugita 20.45

Devoted each to his own duty, a person attains perfection. Gita 18.45ab

Second, he performs his duties without desire/attachment or aversion/anger.

Passionate attachment (rāga) and aversion (dvesha) are associated with objects of every sense organ respectively. Let none come under their sway, because these two are way-layers in his path (of Karmayoga). Gita 3.34

He whose every well-undertaken action is free from desire and mental conception of its efficacy (saṃkalpa), whose karma has been burned by the fire of knowledge – him the wise call ‘learned’ (paṇdita). Gita 4.19

Third, he relinquishes the fruit of his actions mentally and does not crave for it.

Having relinquished attachment to the fruit of Karma, ever content, without any kind of dependence, he does not perform any Karma, even though he is duly engaged in activity. Gita 4.20

It might be wondered that if he performs his duty without any attachments or desires for the fruit, then what is his motivation for performing his actions? So, fourth, he performs his actions for purifying his own ātmā and for greater good of the society.

The Yogis perform their karma with their body, with the mind, with the intellect or merely with their senses, giving up attachment, and solely for purification of their ātman. Gita 5.11 Fifth, for himself, he acts for bare bodily sustenance and is satisfied with whatever he obtains by chance for his nourishment.

Free of all expectations (in the results of karma), with his ātmā and mind under control, having given up all desires to acquire possessions, performing bodily karma alone, he incurs no evil. Gita 4.21 He who is contented with whatever is obtained by chance, who has gone beyond the dualities (of pleasure and pain), who is free from jealousy, who remains even minded in success and failure – even when such a person acts, he is not bound. Gita 4.22

Sixth, he has complete control over his mind and senses, and even gives up his sense of doer-ship and regards the Lord within alone as the Doer of his deeds. Such a person is really a non-doer although to others he might appear to be acting unceasingly. As he is a non-doer, his actions have no fruit -

He who is established in Yoga, has a completely pure ātmā, who is the master of the ātmā and who has conquered his senses, whose ātmā has become the soul of all beings – he is not tainted by karma even though he acts. Gita 5.7

“I do not do anything,” thus one, who is established in Yoga, and knows the reality, should think. Whether seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, walking, sleeping, breathing…Gita 5.8 Talking, excreting (or discharging), grasping, opening and closing of eyes, he holds that it is merely the senses that are occupied with the objects of the senses. Gita 5.9

The embodied (soul), that has renounced all karma mentally, sits happily as the ruler, within the city of nine gates, neither performing karma, nor causing karma to be done. Gita 5.13

He whose soul is free of the egotistic condition, whose intellect is not tainted, he does not kill, not is he bound (by his karmas). Gita 18.17

The Lord [ātmā that has mastered the mind and the senses] does not create either the agency or the actions of the world. Nor does he connect karma with the fruit. Indeed, it is one’s own nature that proceeds (works these out). Gita 5.14

The knower of Brahman does not consider himself as the doer of his actions. Therefore, his karma are considered neither as good deeds, nor as bad deeds. And they bear neither good fruit nor bad fruit. Mahābhārata 13.120.24

The soul which is established in Yoga attains steady and eternal peace upon abandoning the fruit of karma. But the soul which is not established in Yoga, does karma motivated by desire and is attached to the fruit, is bound. Gita 5.12

Seventh, he offers the fruit of his Karma to the Lord-

Relinquishing all your karmas to Me, with your mind abiding in Me, being free from desire and egoism, with your fever (mental grief) departed, fight! Gita 3.30

Those persons too, who full of faith and free from cavil, follow this teaching of mine at all times, they are released from the (fetters of) karmas. Gita 3.31

Reposing (or dedicating) his karma in Brahman, having given up attachment, he is not tainted by evil just as the lotus leaf is not (wetted) by water. Gita 5.10

Eighth, he becomes permeated with Brahman, the Divine, in all ways. He abides in Brahman, Brahman abides in him. He sees Brahman in everyone, in every object, in every act. For that reason, whatever he does takes Him to Brahman.

[For such a person] The act of offering (or the ladle) is Brahman, the oblation is Brahman, by Brahman is the oblation offered into the fire of Brahman. Brahman is indeed the goal attained by him who comprehends Brahman in his Karma. Gita 4.24

There is only one ruler, and no second ruler. He who is within the hearts of all creatures – Him alone I consider as the ruler. Just as water flows naturally whichever way the land slopes, likewise I do only those karma that the inner ruler inspires me to do. Anugita 11.1

Brahman alone is his sacrificial fire-sticks and fire, he originates from Brahman, Brahman is his water, Brahman is his Guru, and his mind always abides in Brahman. Anugita 11.17

The wise see the same (Ātman) in a learned Brahmana endowed with humility, in a cow, in an elephant, and even in a dog or in an outcaste. Gita 5.18

Ninth, as the Karma Yogī is completely devoted to Brahman, his actions become completely spiritualized. His work becomes his worship. Divine knowledge shines within him, destroying the fruit of his Karma

The fruit of the karma of those who have not relinquished after they die is threefold – evil, good and mixed. But for the renouncers, there is none whatever. Gita 18.12

Winner of wealth, Karma do not bind him who has renounced his karma through Yoga, who has destroyed his doubts by knowledge and who is ever devoted to the ātmā. Gita 4.41

They whose intellects are directed towards That (the Supreme Soul), whose souls are fixed on That, whose foundation is That, who regard That as the highest – they reach that state from which there is no return, with all their evils shaken off by knowledge. Gita 5.17

He from whom the natural activities (or duties) of all beings arise and by Whom all this is pervaded, by worshipping Him through the performance of his own duty does a person attains perfection. Gita 18.46

Therefore, our teachers say that the mode in which the Karma Yogī acts is ‘Nārāyaṇa Bhāva’, or a state in which every act is worship, every word spoken is a prayer, every step taken is a pilgrimage, every movement of the hand is like hands clasped in reverence to the Divine.

Parable: Brahmana Samnyāsin Jajali accepts the superiority of the Vaishya Tulādhāra:

A Brahmana ascetic Jajali spent several years studying scriptures and practicing meditation and other austerities. As a result, he acquired great powers of self-control. One day, a pair of birds started hovering over his head, as he stood meditating. They started constructing a next on his head. Overcome with compassion, Jajali did not want to shake his head for the fear of scaring the birds away.

As he stood still, the birds completed the next, and lay a few eggs in the next! The compassionate Jajali did not want damage the eggs and decide to stand still till the eggs hatched. When the eggs hatched and little children birds came out, Jajali used his powers of great self-control to stand still for numerous days. Day after day, the parent couple birds would bring food from great distances and feed their children. In a few weeks, the tiny children grew older and mature, and flew out of the next on Jajali’s head to live independent lives. All these weeks, Jajali kept meditating, and did not shake his neck or head lest the birds were harmed or scared in any way. His remarkable achievement and powers of self-control due to years of meditation now unfortunately gave way to a little pride. He thought, “Who else could have done this remarkable feat!” But as soon as he had said these words to himself, a voice from the sky said, “Do not get puffed up Jajali. Your glory and greatness is not equal to that shopkeeper Tuladhara of Varanasi. And yet, even he does not say the words that you have uttered in self-praise.”

Jajali was a bit miffed. But he nevertheless proceeded to Varanasi to hear what Tuladhara had to say. When he arrived at the shop, Tuladhara was busy weighing spices, vegetables, grains etc. for his customers. Upon seeing Jajali, he said, “I knew you were coming to see me to learn Dharma.” Jajali was even more bewildered now. He asked, “How did you know that I was coming to see you? And how can you, a mere shopkeeper, teach me about Dharma?” Tuladhara replied, “Practically all the people in this world follow Dharma for the sake of a selfish motive. Some want to go to heaven by performing virtuous karma. Some, like you, attain self-satisfaction and happiness by acts of compassion. You have spent all your life studying the shastras and meditating. But that does not automatically lead to an understanding of Dharma.” Tuladhara continued, “See the weighing scale that I use weigh goods before selling them. I always weigh the goods honestly, and the beam of my scale is always horizontal perfectly. Neither do I weigh less, nor do I weigh more irrespective of whether my customer praises me or criticizes me. I stay honest not for the love of praise or fear of criticism, but because I have faith in honesty. I desire the good of all creatures, and work diligently to serve others, not for the

reward of a ‘feel good’ sensation, but because I have faith in Brahman. I know that this same Brahman resides in all creatures, and therefore, I should work for the welfare of everyone, and give everyone their due. This, I believe to be the true essence of Dharma – having a uniform attitude towards praise and criticism, doing good to others without any selfish motive and for the welfare of others, and having faith in Brahman.”

As Jajali spoke these words, the birds appeared from the sky and declared that although Jajali was like their father, Tuladhara had indeed spoken the truth about the essence of Dharma. Jajali now realized that one should avoid bad karma and perform good karma. But the best is to do good karma not for self-gratification (or for the fear of criticism), but for promoting good of all creatures and with faith in goodness and in Brahman. Jajali practiced this understanding of Dharma, and eventually attained Moksha.