“Let not the wise disrupt the minds of the ignorant who are attached to fruitive action. They should not be encouraged to refrain from work, but to engage in work in the spirit of devotion.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 3.26)

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न बुद्धिभेदं जनयेदज्ञानां कर्मसङ्गिनाम्
जोषयेत्सर्वकर्माणि विद्वान् युक्तः समाचरन्

na buddhibhedaṃ janayedajñānāṃ karmasaṅginām
joṣayetsarvakarmāṇi vidvān yuktaḥ samācaran

Imagine the following situation. You have a job. You have been at that job for many years. You have come to rely upon the schedule, upon the travel to and from the office, upon the interaction with the colleagues, upon the periodic holidays, and of course, upon the compensation. You have everything running like a machine, in fact. The bank balance always has enough for the withdrawals to pay for electricity, home heating, taxes, insurance, and food.

It is almost as if the entire system, though consisting of various parts, has been automated. You are not disinterested in the job, but at the same time you are not interested. It is like you put in the work, pay attention, stay honest, and leave the outcomes up to chance, the proprietors, the universe, or whoever else appears to be in charge. It is like you inherently understand the truth of the science of self-realization that the living being is not the doer.

प्रकृतेः क्रियमाणानि
गुणैः कर्माणि सर्वशः
अहङ्कार-विमूढात्मा
कर्ताहम् इति मन्यते

prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni
guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā
kartāham iti manyate

“The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 3.27)

This dedication to routine, this matter of fact way of living, bewilders some of your friends and relatives. They periodically ask what you have done recently. What new things have you taken up? What adventures have you sought? To what places have you travelled?

If nothing new to report, then what about the future? To where do you wish to go? What excites you? What is the reason for getting up in the morning? What is on the horizon, in the short-term of six months to a year?

The truth is that you are not interested. You are completely fine with things as they are. You are happy to have an occupation. You are not necessarily attached to it, but you are not lazy, either. Through many years of experience you have merely come to notice the pattern, that people are always coming and going. Experiences are happening. There is a beginning, a middle, and an end to those experiences. There are ebbs and flows. You have found the perfect spot in the way that you want to live. There is this great relief in not feeling the burden of being interested in new things.

This hypothetical situation is one way to describe the path recommended to Arjuna in the Bhagavad-gita conversation. The premise to that conversation is concern over the future. Arjuna was at the office, so to speak. It was another day, but also an extraordinary one. If Arjuna remained diligent to his craft, then the expected successful outcome would have associated consequences that were devastating to consider.

Arjuna was a military man. He was expert with the bow and arrow. It was understood that he was the best fighter for his side. The Pandavas had endured undeserved hardship for too long. They had suffered enough, and now it was time for justice to be delivered to the perpetrators. Arjuna was symbolically representing dharma, and his arrows would be the mechanism to deliver the ghastly results to sinful deeds.

अवश्यं लभते जन्तुः फलं पापस्य कर्मणः
घोरं पर्यागते काले द्रुमाः पुष्पमिवार्तवम्

avaśyaṃ labhate jantuḥ phalaṃ pāpasya karmaṇaḥ
ghoraṃ paryāgate kāle drumāḥ puṣpamivārtavam

“Just as a tree starts to blossom during the proper season, so the doer of sinful deeds inevitably reaps the horrible fruit of their actions at the appropriate time.” (Lord Rama speaking to Khara, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 29.8)

Except Arjuna was not prepared to accept the consequences. He was not ready to absorb the burden of the dreadful outcome, as he saw it. He did not want to go to work. He had an interest in the outcome, but with a negative approach. He wanted to avoid working in order to avoid the consequences to that work.

Shri Krishna is the teacher in that situation. Arjuna approached that teacher. Krishna recommended work with detachment. This is known as vairagya, but with a unique visual. The typical image of vairagya is renouncing home and family to live in a remote place. Essentially become a beggar by choice, to avoid action with consequences, karma.

Krishna revealed the science to vairagya. It is more of a spirit than a change in location. It is more of a state of mind than a change of clothes. It is more of a way to view action than actually avoiding a specific action.

मयि सर्वाणि कर्माणि सन्न्यस्याध्यात्मचेतसा
निराशीर्निर्ममो भूत्वा युध्यस्व विगतज्वरः

mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi
sannyasyādhyātma-cetasā
nirāśīr nirmamo bhūtvā
yudhyasva vigata-jvaraḥ

“Therefore, O Arjuna, surrendering all your works unto Me, with mind intent on Me, and without desire for gain and free from egoism and lethargy, fight.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 3.30)

Arjuna could proceed, but without interest. He would still work diligently. He would pay attention. He would not be reckless. He would not act carelessly. He would simply understand that the outcomes were not in his control. He would know this through the systematic, thorough, and yet relatively concise presentation from Krishna. The conversation between the two is now celebrated as Bhagavad-gita, and the instruction to work with detachment is like the one shloka most commonly identified with Bhagavad-gita.

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

“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)

The rationalization is not difficult to understand. The elderly tend to hold a similar view of the work they follow. This is based on experience gathered over an entire lifetime. Bhagavad-gita explains the science behind such a decision, with knowledge extending further out, to beyond this lifetime. There is justification to this vairagya, as work itself can merge into transcendence when there is knowledge of the material universe, its source, and the one person ultimately overseeing everything.

गतसङ्गस्य मुक्तस्य ज्ञानावस्थितचेतसः
यज्ञायाचरतः कर्म समग्रं प्रविलीयते

gata-saṅgasya muktasya
jñānāvasthita-cetasaḥ
yajñāyācarataḥ karma
samagraṁ pravilīyate

“The work of a man who is unattached to the modes of material nature and who is fully situated in transcendental knowledge merges entirely into transcendence.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 4.23)

In Closing:

Not interested in the new,
Travelling or experiencing too.

Fine with how things currently are,
Steady though end not that far.

Working but with detachment in mind,
Fine with whatever outcome to find.

Gita this spirit vairagya to call,
Work and know He overseeing all.

Categories: karma

Tags: dailyprompt, elderly, hare krishna, life, poem, poems, poetry