Shri Krishna Loves You: Definition of karma yoga

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|| जय श्री कृष्ण ||



॥ श्रीमद्‍भगवद्‍गीता ॥ 18.3॥



_त्याज्यं दोषवदित्येके कर्म प्राहुर्मनीषिणः ।_

_यज्ञदानतपःकर्म न त्याज्यमिति चापरे॥_



भावार्थ :

कई एक विद्वान ऐसा कहते हैं कि कर्ममात्र दोषयुक्त हैं, इसलिए त्यागने के योग्य हैं और दूसरे विद्वान यह कहते हैं कि यज्ञ, दान और तपरूप कर्म त्यागने योग्य नहीं हैं॥3॥



Meaning:

Actions, being fault filled, should be given up, many contemplative people say this. Others say that actions of sacrifice, charity and penance should not be given up.



Explanation:

In the previous shloka, Shri Krishna shared two prevailing views on the topic of karma yoga. The first view is that one should give up all kaamya karmas, all desire prompted actions. Any action that is undertaken for a personal reward is a desire prompted action. The second view is that one should give up the rewards of all types of actions, including kaamya karmas and nitya karmas or duties. Giving up does not mean physically giving up the reward. It means giving up the attachment to the reward in our mind.



Before sharing his definition of karma yoga, Shri Krishna describes two other viewpoints on karma yoga. He says that maneeshees, those who have a contemplative bent of mind, advise that it is futile to undertake any action, because all actions are filled with some fault or the other. They are of the opinion that any action, no matter how small, eventually grows in size, binds us and makes us dance to its tune. Such people prefer to lead a life of monkhood and spend their time immersed in thinking and contemplation.



The fourth viewpoint on karmayoga advocates similar but less radical approach than the prior viewpoint. It narrows the scope of actions to just three: sacrifice, charity and penance. In other words, you have to fulfill your obligations towards Ishvara, your fellow human beings, and to yourself. So then, what actions are left out here? This viewpoint does not sanction the performance of actions with regards to our profession, our career and so on. It assumes that one can live without earning a livelihood.



Now let us look at Shri Krishna’s answer. Looking at the way he answers the question, we can infer that initially, he is less concerned with the precise meaning of sanyaasa versus tyaaga, and more concerned with listing the various views on the topic of karma yoga, of how to perform actions correctly. He gives two prevailing views on the subject. The first view is that one should give up all kaamya karmas, all desire prompted actions. The second view is that one should give up the rewards of all types of actions, including kaamya karmas and nitya karmas or duties. He gives two more views on the topic in the next shloka.

Chant the mantra you have faith in

Hare Krishna

The Hare Krishna maha-mantra is composed of three Sanskrit words, which are “Hare”, “Krishna” and “Rama”. According to the scriptures “Obstruction or problem can’t come into their lives, who do chant this mantra continuously”. The Great Mantra is:

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare

Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare

हरे कृष्ण हरे कृष्ण , कृष्ण कृष्ण हरे हरे |

हरे राम हरे राम , राम राम हरे हरे ||