“You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad­-gita, 2.47)

Download this episode (right click and save)

कर्मण्य् एवाधिकारस् ते
मा फलेषु कदाचन
मा कर्म-फल-हेतुर् भूर्
मा ते सङ्गो ऽस्त्व् अकर्मणि

karmaṇy evādhikāras te
mā phaleṣu kadācana
mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr
mā te saṅgo ‘stv akarmaṇi

“I heard an interesting saying recently. It is a recommendation for how to proceed. I think the saying is in response to the general mockery that accompanies religious fervor, allegiance, interest, prayer, and the like. The mockery is from the skeptics; the people who don’t believe. They consider it foolish to look for an imaginary figure in the sky, well beyond the clouds, to somehow provide divine intervention.

“The saying is, ‘Work as if everything depended on me, but pray as if everything depended on God.’ Is that not great? It covers both sides. It acknowledges a kind of subtle truth to the life experience. I don’t really have control over outcomes. But I need to think that I do. Otherwise, I will have no impetus to act.

“At the same time, I should pray. I should not neglect the rational side of my brain which understands that outcomes are not guaranteed. Two people vow to follow the exact same routine. They fall asleep at the same time each night. They eat the same foods. They will go through the same exercises in the morning.

“There is an assessment at the end of an arbitrary period of time, mutually agreed upon at the outset. Despite the controlled conditions, there is a difference in results. If we think about it, there is no guarantee that both of the participants even make it to the exercise facility each morning. No one can guarantee even a single day added on to the life experience.

“Is this philosophy similar to the often quoted verse from Bhagavad-gita? You know, the one about doing your duty, but not being attached to the results. It seems awfully similar, and to me that shows people inclined towards spiritual life tend to have similar philosophies.”

The subtle distinction is that Shri Krishna directly stipulates that the person carrying out work should not consider themselves to be responsible for the results. The work should be followed as a matter of duty, dharma. We can expect a certain outcome. We can anticipate a positive end based on alignment with dharma, but we are never truly responsible for what occurs.

Those results are due to nature. That is how prakriti operates. Though it is dull matter, there is a force instigating change. Beginning with the glance of the Almighty over the unmanifest substance known as pradhana and continuing with the cycle of creation, maintenance, and destruction, many times over. The exact configuration to that constant change is based on karma, which is action at the individual level. The living entity then enjoys or suffers based on that karma.

कार्यकारणकर्तृत्वे हेतु: प्रकृतिरुच्यते
पुरुष: सुखदु:खानां भोक्तृत्वे हेतुरुच्यते

kārya-kāraṇa-kartṛtve
hetuḥ prakṛtir ucyate
puruṣaḥ sukha-duḥkhānāṁ
bhoktṛtve hetur ucyate

“Nature is said to be the cause of all material activities and effects, whereas the living entity is the cause of the various sufferings and enjoyments in this world.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 13.21)

We should understand that we can work hard, following what we think is the right way, but the expected outcome will not always manifest. A person can also pray intensely, asking for intervention from a higher power, only to later be disappointed. There are indeed casualties even within the devotional culture. Accepting the shelter of the Almighty is not a guarantee for any temporary outcome to manifest. That is not the cause of the turn, when in knowledge.

The advice to Arjuna was to follow prescribed duty. Better to avoid attachment to not doing work. That would be harmful in the end. If Arjuna thought that he was solely responsible for the outcomes to his work, that would also be harmful.

तस्मात् त्वम् उत्तिष्ठ यशो लभस्व
जित्वा शत्रून् भुङ्क्ष्व राज्यं समृद्धम्
मयैवैते निहताः पूर्वम् एव
निमित्त-मात्रं भव सव्य-साचिन्

tasmāt tvam uttiṣṭha yaśo labhasva
jitvā śatrūn bhuṅkṣva rājyaṁ samṛddham
mayaivaite nihatāḥ pūrvam eva
nimitta-mātraṁ bhava savya-sācin

“Therefore get up and prepare to fight. After conquering your enemies you will enjoy a flourishing kingdom. They are already put to death by My arrangement, and you, O Savyasachin, can be but an instrument in the fight.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 11.33)

Rather, in carrying out prescribed duties Arjuna would be but an instrument in the delivery of the Divine will. This is how we can classify devotional activity. We are carrying out a higher order. We are not responsible for the outcomes. We are leaving everything in the hands of the Almighty, and with this approach we have the settlement of release from the clutches of karmic reaction. That release is one way to define liberation, which is the ultimate objective, artha, for the living being, purusha.

In Closing:

Purushartha for highest betterment,
Then resolved in this settlement.

To work vigorously through,
But conscious of authority who.

Those results timely delivering,
Upon outcomes not considering.

Action as a matter of duty bound,
But responsibility in Supreme Lord found.

Categories: questions

Tags: god, hare krishna, karma, poem, poems, poetry, prayer