न कर्मणामनारम्भान्नैष्कर्म्यं पुरुषोऽश्नुते ।
न च संन्यसनादेव सिद्धिं समधिगच्छति ॥३-४॥
Transliteration:
In Bhagavad Gita chapter 3 verse 4 Lord Krishna discusses different aspects of karma yoga. Refusal to indulge in act of karma does not lead one towards stage of zero karma. We just could not abandon karma… no matter what! Karma was ingrained into every living being including human beings. As long as single trace of dross impurities remained within soul atman, the consciousness within… one could never absolve self from act of karma.
Every soul atman, the spirit within manifested in its lifetime a maximum of 8.4 million bodies to work out its karma, remove dross impurities within! Until negation of karma in entirety… none could abdicate karma. Non-indulgence in the act of karma never meant anything. Desire or no desire, our indulgence in karma was spontaneous… ordained by God Almighty into our psych! One could never escape responsibility of karma just being a nonstarter.
As karma needs to be decimated in totality… renunciation from act of karma also does not mean anything. No Yogi could ever abandon karma at will. The act of karma continued unceasingly whether we wanted it or not. Every second thousands of thoughts passed through our brain involuntarily. We never invoked these thoughts at will. Karma can only be annihilated by indulgence in karma, never otherwise!
Indulging in karma, nishkama karma way human beings slowly inched towards God Almighty! We can offer fruits of karma performed to God Almighty but never refrain from karma in totality. Simple abandonment of karma never leads to practicing Sankhya yoga (path of jnana yoga)! Whatever our stage in life, until one reached stage of enlightenment (kaivalya jnana)… one could never free self from clutches of karma.
The Explanation:
Karma was a dormant force of cosmic system. It always works in the background. Karma was necessitated to facilitate movement of life from one manifest stage to another, body after body! In absence of karma… life in entire cosmos would simply become stagnant, decay and die! As detailed in Bhagavad Gita… the journey of life in cosmic system always belonged to our soul atman, the spirit within! It was not within competence of human body to manifest a soul atman.
Ever since souls’ atmans gained impurities in their cosmic sojourn, they desire regaining their lost original pure prime pristine primordial form at the earliest. It is through cycle of 8.4 million manifestations… every soul atman finally reached cosmic end of life when human beings gained enlightenment in their lifetime (termed kaivalya jnana in Hinduism). Every soul atman keeps manifesting form after another until single trace of dross impurities remained within a soul atman, the consciousness within!
In absence of dross impurities within… the need for a soul atman to manifest life any further now ceased to exist! Indulgence in karma was mandated by God Almighty. Even if we do not act physically… karma is always active in our brain! Every second thousands of thoughts flowed through our brain incessantly. We just could not stop the flow of these thoughts voluntarily. It is only by practice of absolute celibacy; flow of negative thoughts to our brain can be stopped permanently! Human beings are required to practice absolute celibacy for a period of 12 years in continuation for total eradication of karma, dross impurities within.
Karma yogis who think non-indulgence in karma, living life of a recluse led to one reaching God was an absolute misnomer. Karma could never be abandoned that way. Remaining a nonstarter on path of karma does not decimate karma. To decimate karma on path of pure spirituality our indulgence in path of jnana yoga (absolute wisdom) was necessitated. By contemplation on God Almighty, by indulging in self enquiry (path of Neti… not this, not this) human beings slowly but successfully removed traces of dross impurities within a soul atman, the consciousness within!
Through Bhagavad Gita chapter 3 verse 4 Lord Krishna repeatedly emphasizes indulgence in karma to negate karma to zero! Without action, without our indulgence in karma… how could we succeed in eliminating dross impurities within a soul atman, the spirit within? A true seeker of spirituality, a traveler of path of jnana yoga understands the crux behind law of karma. As we sow… So shall we reap nothing less or more says law of karma! We must never forget… every single thought precipitates into an act of karma!
Yogis, spiritual seekers who seek refuge in non-inhabitable regions of Himalayas were a mistaken lot! One could never contemplate on God Almighty just by abandoning karma… remaining a nonstarter in the act of karma! We have to burn dross impurities within a soul atman, the spirit within by indulgence in karma! The jnana wisdom contained in sacred scriptures of different religions of world helped one in contemplating on God Almighty… the right way!
Karma of one was limited to that individual! None could act on behalf of karma of other. No spiritual master could ever neutralize karma of a serious seeker of spirituality! Every single individual on mother earth has to negate ones karma to reach God in one’s lifetime. We all have to act immediately to reach stage of enlightenment (kaivalya jnana). As per Lord Krishna, stage of Nirvikalpa Samadhi (stage of absolute nothingness) can only be reached when karma gets negated to zero forever.
Negation of karma to zero demands establishing absolute control over five senses and mind. In a world dominated by bloated egos and greed for materialistic riches… gaining absolute control over five senses and mind is a really difficult task! Only very ardent seeker of spirituality of the level of Swami Vivekananda finally succeeds in establishing absolute control over act of karma. Negation of karma in totality was a one-way path. Having succeeded in eliminating karma to zero, a Sankhya Yogi need not burn karma again.
Superficial karma can always be gained by an enlightened one but that is temporal. In absence of total karma… our soul atman, the spirit within would immediately leave the body! When a pupil asked Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa why he was so fond of preparing food for his followers, his simple reply was… to retain the body! If the soul atman of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa gained absolute purity, it would leave the body forever there and then!
Understanding crux of karma was very important for every sincere seeker of spirituality! Remaining religious, indulging in rituals one never eliminates karma! The more we indulged, bigger was the balance of karma! Instead of decreasing karma, those following path of religion (rituals) inadvertently increased balance of their karma! Why deliberately increase dross impurities within by indulging in negative, bad karma!
No matter how religious we are, karma can only be annihilated by travelling path of pure spirituality, never religion (path of rituals)! As karma could never be eliminated by being a nonstarter… we must indulge in nishkama karma yoga as detailed in Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism! Renunciation of karma also does not reduce dross impurities within a soul atman, the spirit within! Just by ceasing to act… one could never be absolved of karma, no matter what!
Lord Krishna advises Arjuna to indulge in karma and face enemy head-on! By escaping act of karma Arjuna was expressing cowardice. As the goal of life of Arjuna was seeking God, he could never refrain from karma being a nonstarter or non-indulgent. Lord Krishna tells Arjuna it was in interest of Arjuna to fight war of Dharma (righteousness) as evil forces of adharma (lawlessness) were baring their fangs. The moment Arjuna understood crux of karma, he agreed to fight Dharma yuddha (War of Dharma).
Commentary by: Vijay Kumar “Atma Jnani”… The Man who Realized God in 1993 – May 18, 2013
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