कायेन मनसा बुद्ध्या केवलैरिन्द्रियैरपि ।
योगिनः कर्म कुर्वन्ति सङ्गं त्यक्त्वात्मशुद्धये ॥५-११॥
Transliteration:
Through Bhagavad Gita chapter 5 verse 11 Lord Krishna again emphasizes importance of path of karma yoga to reach God in one’s lifetime. Lord Krishna says… a true Karma Yogi can always indulge in karma knowing well that, all indulgences by five senses, mind, buddhi (intellect) and body were directed towards God Almighty and the Karma Yogi had no direct role to play in it. Indulging in karma for sake of karma is what karma yoga all about!
Our five senses, mind, buddhi (intellect) and body indulged in karma for sake of karma! A Karma Yogi who was far from Moha (extreme emotional attachment)… never attached self to workings of five senses, mind, buddhi (intellect) and body. The goal of a Karma Yogi always was nirjara of karma (abolition of karma) forever. As long as single trace of karma remained within the body… one must continue indulging in nishkama karma yoga, no matter what!
Even for a serious seeker of spirituality… it was really difficult to cut across shackles of Moha (deep emotional attachment). The bondages of earthly manifest life were very strong… they need not months or years but many manifestations before human beings finally succeeded in nirjara of all karma and gaining absolute purity forever! Free of all bondages of earthly manifest life… the liberated soul atman finally gained salvation (moksha).
Every serious seeker of spirituality engaged in karma for sake of purifying self… removing dross impurities within a soul atman, the consciousness within! Antahkaran ki shuddhi… is how Hinduism defined the act of purifying self! In layman terms, one must indulge in karma… nishkama karma yoga for Antahkaran ki shuddhi… nothing more! Indulging in karma… for sake of karma is a very pious deed indeed yet; most human beings indulged in karma to satisfy their inner cravings… never reach God!
The Explanation:
In Bhagavad Gita chapter 5 verse 11 Lord Krishna explicitly says that human beings must indulge in karma yoga for the sake of antahkaran ki shuddhi… nothing more! In Hinduism antahkaran ki shuddhi stood for cleansing of dross impurities within a soul atman, the spirit within! The cleansing of soul atman only becomes possible through path of karma yoga… never indulgence in karma for sake of satisfying inner cravings!
The goal of most religious travelers always remained satisfying inner cravings rather than reaching god. It is path of pure spirituality that paved way for travelling path of karma yoga to reach God in present life. Understanding the true definition of karma as detailed in Bhagavad Gita… serious seekers of spirituality finally succeeded in establishing absolute control over Moha (deep emotional attachment).
They indulged in karma, for the sake of karma all the time remembering that to reach God… one needs establishing absolute control over five senses, mind, buddhi (intellect) and also all other actions of the body! Living with an unattached attitude all the time… such serious seekers of spirituality finally learn intricacies of spiritual path. They realize it is not only karma but also fruits of karma that required to be offered to God Almighty!
Offering karma and fruits of karma to God Almighty simply means total submission to God Almighty in all respects. In this act of nishkama karma yoga… we do away with our doership! Step-by-step in stages we reduce our ego (Aham in Hinduism) to overpower five senses and mind. Prompted by our buddhi (intellect) we finally established absolute control over five senses, mind and all other actions of the body.
At every stage of life… every act of karma was directed towards reduction of dross impurities within our soul atman! Similar as one KG of pure gold existing in hundred KG lump of gold ore require requisite mining machinery and processes for its extraction… to gain absolute purity in life, our soul atman also requires our body undergoing various stages of karma yoga. The moment karma negated to zero in totality, our soul atman within gained absolute purity forever!
In warfare… in the battle of Mahabharata between Kauravas and Pandavas, Lord Krishna advised Arjuna to follow path of karma yoga to establish victory over enemy. Lord Krishna advised Arjuna that warfare against enemy did not constitute a sin. Why? As Arjuna was representing the Pandava army… he was duty-bound to fight enemy in the battlefield. The feelings of Moha (extreme emotional attachment) towards his cousins, relatives and friends carried no meaning in the battlefield.
Furthermore, the battle of Mahabharata was a war fought between forces of Dharma (righteousness) and evil forces of adharma (lawlessness). Arjuna was duty-bound to protect Dharma (righteousness)… no matter what! Lord Krishna advised Arjuna that he was the chosen one to re-establish Dharma (righteousness) as he had won over five senses and mind… prime reason why Arjuna is also termed Jitendriya (one who had conquered the five senses).
At each and every stage of battle of Mahabharata… the advice of Lord Krishna to Arjuna was never without meaning. Lord Krishna knew well that amongst hordes of warriors existing in Pandava camp… Arjuna was the most competent of all as we had firmly established control over five senses and mind by travelling path of nishkama karma yoga, never attaching self to fruits of karma performed! Arjuna finally fought battle of Mahabharata and won.
Whenever we indulged in karma with an unattached attitude… fruits of karma indulged always became available to our soul atman, the spirit within! And as our soul atman, consciousness within was all the time governing… our indulgence in path of karma yoga was the right path as per Lord Krishna! The dictates of Lord Krishna in respect of nishkama karma yoga are not without reason. Cutting across shackles of Moha (extreme emotional attachment) is really difficult… more so, when faced with enemy consisting of our paternal grandfather Bhishma Pitamah and revered teacher guru Dronacharya.
Arjuna not wanting to fight the battle of Mahabharata primarily resulted from his feelings of Moha (extreme emotional attachment) towards his near and dear. It was only after hearing sermon of Bhagavad Gita from Lord Krishna relating to karma yoga that Arjuna agreed to fight battle of Mahabharata with full vigor! When we truly realized we were not a human body manifesting a soul atman whereas it was our soul atman, the spirit within manifesting human body… we followed path of karma yoga sincerely and diligently! Right from first manifestation to last, the goal of a soul atman always remained… removal of dross impurities within, in entirety!
Commentary by: Vijay Kumar “Atma Jnani”… The Man who Realized God in 1993 – April 23, 2013
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