ज्ञेयः स नित्यसंन्यासी यो न द्वेष्टि न काङ्क्षति ।
निर्द्वन्द्वो हि महाबाहो सुखं बन्धात्प्रमुच्यते ॥५-३॥
Transliteration:
Emphasizing importance of karma yoga in human life, lord Krishna says to Arjuna: Seeker of spirituality who lived a life of equipoise, one who vanquished his desires and also refrained from all kinds of enmities was a true Karma Yogi indeed! Only a person who established absolute control over ego (Aham in Hinduism) could exercise such equilibrium. One who was steadfast in all affairs of life finally succeeds in establishing total control over five senses and mind. One who was desire less, free of feelings of enmity… only such a Karma Yogi was competent to follow path of yoga.
Desirelessness was by no means easy to achieve! Even a hardened aspirant of spirituality found it difficult to overcome desires of all kinds. Travelling spiritual path does not mean one was free of desires. Even an accomplished sage like Vishwamitra on sighting a maiden woman taking bath in forlorn circumstances is deep dense jungles (forests) could not contain his desires and fell from grace. He had to repeat practice of celibacy (Brahmacharya Vrata) all over again. When confronted with adverse circumstances… it sometimes becomes extremely difficult to refrain from practicing enmity! Developing hostility, animosity towards one who indulged in ill will towards us was natural but to overcome it was being a Karma Yogi of the highest order.
One who maintained equipoise, equilibrium in all circumstances of life was a true sanyasi… Karma Yogi as per Lord Krishna! As detailed in Bhagavad Gita chapter 5 verse 3, such a Karma Sanyasi… that was far from wonders of materialistic world easily liberated self from bondages of ephemeral, earthly life! This is called Mukti in Hinduism… liberation from cycle of birth and death forever! For a soul atman, the spirit within to liberate self from cycle of birth and death… liberation from attachments of material world was the first step. The manifestation of life on mother earth comes to naught, moment one was free from bondages of earthly manifest life. To realize our true inner self… to become a pure soul atman, the consciousness within… following path of karma yoga as explained by Lord Krishna was an absolute must.
The Explanation:
In Bhagavad Gita chapter 5 verse 3 Lord Krishna outlines benefits of pursuing path of nishkama karma yoga… a path of karma that directly led to God Almighty! On path of pure spirituality, if we think we could do away with karma yoga… we were wrong! One could never negate karma to zero without indulging in karma. No matter what our spiritual stage, what level of spiritual accomplishments… for liberating self from cycle of birth and death forever, one had to pursue path of karma yoga to reach God! Desirelessness, negating enmity towards all helped one becoming a Karma Yogi par excellence. It is only by annihilating material desires of all kinds (not suppressing them)… human beings slowly nudged ahead in cosmic life cycle. Desire for building an ashram (Hermitage), gaining recognition as a spiritual master… building plot after another for so-called spiritual congregations was nothing more than accumulating material riches.
Can such human beings ever free self from material bondages of physical manifest world? The desire for recognition, fame was not true charity! Most philanthropists’ world over used their name to exert fame in name of philanthropy, so called charity! The doctrine of karma yoga says, the charity we made by one hand must not get known to other hand! If the details of charity were known to mankind… it was not charity at all! Behind true charity lay name of God Almighty. It was always in the name of God Almighty… the true charity or donation was made! Desirelessness in such circumstances could never be achieved… prime reason why in present Kali Yuga, material age… dark age people practicing karma yoga with unattached attitude were nowhere to be found. Milking people in name of donation, charity has become the trend of present times! Can such people ever gain anything on spiritual path?
Desirelessness is not a mere statement… it needs to be practiced all the time! Refraining from enmity towards one and all… no matter what the reason is even more difficult to practice. Even the best of sages and saints world over failed on this issue. The moment we get affected in person… we developed enmity towards one! It was natural… inherent in all human beings! To overcome enmity is practicing compassion of the highest order. To forgive those who hurt us is the biggest accomplishment of all. Forgiveness is that hidden ingredient of spirituality, practicing which human beings reached stage of immortality… a Karma Yogi of the highest order! Forgiveness is truly an art that needs time to practice. Slowly step-by-step an ardent seeker of spirituality finally succeeded in controlling enmity towards others. We can only forgive one when we realized that in heart of every living being laid essence of God Almighty in miniscule form as our soul atman, the spirit within!
The cosmic consciousness within all living beings including human beings was of the same order! It is only by practicing forgiveness and compassion human beings finally removed traces of enmity within self forever. As per Lord Krishna, one who finally became desire less and devoid of enmity became a sanyasi… a Karma Yogi par excellence! A Yogi free of desirelessness and enmity finally gained release from cycle of birth and death forever and reached stage of enlightenment (kaivalya jnana)! Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Maharishi Ramana were two great spiritual stalwarts who never built anything in their lifetime… not even a small hermitage (ashram) they could call their own. Both were deadly against building an ashram for it would have fostered attachment towards material entity. Both Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Maharishi Ramana reached God in their lifetime as their selfless service was without parallel in mankind! In present times… people of the level of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa or Maharishi Ramana are not to be found anywhere.
Swami Vivekananda was the famous pupil of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa! In present times… to reach level of Swami Vivekananda is considered impossible… what to say of reaching Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa! Truly… practice of nishkama karma yoga was an accomplishment that one day leads to God Almighty. Offering all karma and fruits of karma performed to God Almighty all the time is what human life all about. If we talk of spirituality… practice of nishkama karma yoga was not behind! It is practice of nishkama karma yoga that finally led human beings to practicing jnana yoga (path of absolute wisdom), a sure shot method of reaching God in present life! It is an absolute fact of life that desirelessness, forgiveness, compassion, nishkama karma yoga… all formed inherent part of spiritual practice, spiritual life! In absence of one… we could never practice another! To realize self, to realize God… we had to become a Karma Yogi, a Sanyasi who never faltered at any stage of life!
Commentary by: Vijay Kumar “Atma Jnani”… The Man who Realized God in 1993 – April 21, 2013
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