युक्तः कर्मफलं त्यक्त्वा शान्तिमाप्नोति नैष्ठिकीम् ।
अयुक्तः कामकारेण फले सक्तो निबध्यते ॥५-१२॥
Transliteration:
Lord Krishna says to Arjuna: A Nishkama Karma Yogi by offering fruits of karma performed to God Almighty finally reached stage of Nirvikalpa Samadhi (stage of absolute nothingness), when not a single thought flowed through our brain uninvoked. This is the stage of unparalleled bliss experienced by the accomplished spiritual seeker. This stage of bliss is beyond capture of human vocabulary… totally indescribable by limited power of words! In Hinduism it is also known as stage of param shanti (extreme happiness) experience by the body.
As per Lord Krishna human beings who attached self to fruits of karma performed indulged in various stages of reincarnation (manifestation of a chain of new bodies by our soul atman, the spirit within). The more fuel we feed to our ego (Aham in Hinduism), senses… longer the chain of reincarnation! Attachment to bodily self increases klesha (dross impurities within our soul atman, the spirit within)! Instead of decreasing klesha (inner impurities), instead of indulging in nirjara of karma (abolition of karma)… we were rather increasing it and delaying cosmic journey!
Lord Krishna advises refraining from attaching self to karma performed! Travelers of religious path (those indulging in rituals) all the time increased their klesha (dross impurities within our soul atman, the spirit within). How can such people be expected to reach God in their lifetime? Lord Krishna repeatedly says… to reach God in our lifetime, one must indulge in karma yoga… nishkama karma yoga, offering fruits of karma performed to God Almighty all the time!
The Explanation:
As detailed in Bhagavad Gita chapter 5 verse 12 Lord Krishna repeatedly emphasizes the importance of indulgence in path of karma yoga. Lord Krishna says… it was only through path of nishkama karma yoga human beings finally reached God! Those hankering after fruits of karma performed never made it to God in present life. Lord Krishna says, god almighty is not that easily reached… prime reason why God Almighty ordained a long journey of 1.1 million manifestations in human form before our soul atman, the spirit within gained absolute purity!
Those indulging in senses, those guided by senses never reached God in their lifetime. To reach God in present life… one had to establish absolute control over five senses and mind by travelling path of nishkama karma yoga. Unless we indulged in total nirjara of karma (abolition of karma in entirety)… the dross impurities within our soul atman would never negate to zero. God can only be reached when our karma, dross impurities within our soul atman reduced to zero! Life in cosmic system was not governed by rhetoric.
We had to be truthful to self and God Almighty to reach God. By remaining truthful to self means non-indulgence in activities that related to senses and mind! We not only offered fruits of karma performed to God Almighty to travel path of nishkama karma yoga, in fact the karma indulged by us was enacted by us in the name of God Almighty. As karma was performed by human beings in the name of our soul atman, the spirit within… it rightly belonged to soul atman at every stage of life! By offering karma and fruits of karma performed to God Almighty… we rightly indulged in karma as dictated in teachings contained in Bhagavad Gita by Lord Krishna!
A nishkama karma Yogi at the end of spiritual journey finally reached stage of Nirvikalpa Samadhi (stage of absolute nothingness)! This was a permanent stage reached by an ardent seeker of spirituality… one who had become an enlightened one, a Jina… a Mahavira! In Nirvikalpa state of Samadhi one experienced total bliss… something that could never be expressed in words. All experiences of bliss are beyond capture of words. If we truly desire experiencing bliss all the time… we must indulge in karma, nishkama karma way! Offering fruits of karma performed to God Almighty all the time… we permanently reached God Almighty!
In spiritual parlance, there was nothing nobler in human form than reaching God in present life. Lucky are those seekers of God Almighty who in their limited time span of 70 to 80 years of earthly life may it to God. Something that was mandated to be achieved in a maximum life span of 1.1 million manifestations, achieving the same in 70 to 80 years of earthly life is nothing short of a miracle! Truly… travelling path of nishkama karma yoga was a noble path indeed! No matter what our stage of life… we must always try to indulge in karma… nishkama karma way!
In the battlefield of Mahabharata Lord Krishna advises Arjuna not to look at aftermath of battle of Mahabharata! Whatever was inevitable was bound to happen. If the Kauravas had indulged in wrong deeds… they were bound to reap fruits of the same! Lord Krishna tells Arjuna that he was duty-bound to perform his part of karma as the chieftain of Pandava army. No matter what the outcome… Arjuna had to indulge in war of Dharma (righteousness) against evil forces of adharma (lawlessness) that bared their fangs.
In spite of fighting the war, lord Krishna advises Arjuna he shall not incur any sin. He would fight the war only as his duty… it was his part of karma! Getting ruled by senses if Arjuna expressed cowardice… he was not following his Dharma! Lord Krishna repeatedly admonishes Arjuna to fight the battle of Mahabharata against his arch enemies… the Kauravas! Lord Krishna advises Arjuna that if Kauravas were willing to fight… then he must face the enemy head-on! Why succumb to pressures of bodily relationships when Dharma of entire nation was at stake!
Lord Krishna advises Arjuna that in succumbing to pressures of senses and mind; he would be bitterly failing in his duty not only as head of the family but also as chief of entire Pandava army! All countrymen looked forward to Arjuna fighting the enemy. The moment Arjuna understood the hidden meaning behind laws of nishkama karma yoga… he agreed to fight the enemy! For the welfare of his countrymen, for the sake of Dharma (righteousness) he had to fight those that were evil, following path of adharma (lawlessness).
The teachings of Bhagavad Gita truly act as a balm in all circumstances of life… prime reason why Lord Krishna is considered an avatar of his era (God manifest in human form)… a saviour, messiah!
Commentary by: Vijay Kumar “Atma Jnani”… The Man who Realized God in 1993 – April 23, 2013
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