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The Message of Godhead Bhagavänera Kathä 4 by Çré Çrémad Bhaktivedänta Svämé
Mahäräja [NOTE: This page uses Balarama font (available here) for better transliteration of Sanskrit into English]
There is only one process of pure
bhakti-yoga. The method to expertly engage in buddhi-yoga (bhakti-yoga) through karma and jïäna is revealed in the Bhagavad-gétä alone. When karma is aimed
at buddhi-yoga, it becomes karma-miçrä-bhakti. Only then is it known as karma-yoga. And when jïäna is aimed
at buddhi-yoga, it becomes jïäna-miçrä-bhakti. It is then called jïäna-yoga. Only that buddhi-yoga that has crossed beyond karma and jïäna and, remaining uncovered by them, has reached the stage of kevalä-bhakti, is called çuddha-bhakti. Every action (karma) that we perform in this world, be it mundane or in accordance with Vedic standards,
produces various results. And as we enjoy the various fruits of this karma, new karma is
performed and new fruits of karma are
created. Because these actions
also produce various results, they cannot be called karma-yoga. Action (karma) and the fruits of action (karma-phala) continue to
expand like the endlessly spreading branches and subbranches of a great tree. For those who enjoy the fruits of
that great tree, the only result is worldly entanglement. This suffering and impermanence,
as dispensed by providence, is the root cause of their distress. Having climbed
that tree of worldly entanglement birth after birth, the jéva has become controlled by karma and its fruits. As a result, he repeatedly wanders throughout the 8,400,000
higher and lower species of life, being painfully scorched by the threefold miseries. He attains no rest or peace. Yet people have no alternative to
relinquishing such karma. They may pretend to renounce
all action by accepting the attire of a so-called sannyäsé, but they
still have to perform various actions to fill their bellies. While considering
the plight of his subordinate sannyäsés, Çré Çaìkaräcärya said: udära-nimittaà-bähu-kåta
veçam. “One accepts many types of dress just to fill one’s
stomach.” The solution is not to renounce karma. The great-hearted Arjuna was a warrior and his duty was to fight
in the war, but he wanted to renounce this duty. He was therefore instructed by
Çré Kåñëa: niyataà kuru karma tvaà karma jyäyo hy akarmaëaù çaréra-yäträpi ca te na prasidhyed akarmaëaù Perform your prescribed duties
such as sandhyä (chanting
of Vedic mantras) and upäsanä (spiritual practices such as, worship of the deity), because action (karma) is better than inaction (akarma). If you refrain from action, you will not even be able to maintain your body. (Bhagavad-gétä 3.8) Çré Kåñëa instructed Arjuna to
always perform his karma according
to the tenets of çästra. “By renouncing karma you will not even be able to
maintain your body.” If a person who is unqualified for renunciation renounces his
prescribed karma, he creates a disturbance for the world.
Since one cannot maintain the body without performing action, it is impossible
to renounce action. The tree of saàsära, or repeated birth and death, develops worldly entanglement in
the form of karma and
its results, so the jéva has no
hope of any peace. For this reason Çré Kåñëa has instructed us how to perform karma: yajïärthät karmaëo ’nyatra loko ’yaà karma-bandhanaù tad-arthaà karma kaunteya mukta-saëgaù samäcara O Kaunteya, all actions other
than niñkäma-karma offered to Çré Viñëu are a cause of bondage to this world. Therefore, become free from desire for the fruits of your action, and perform appropriate action for His satisfaction only. (Bhagavad-gétä 3.9) The way to become free from
attachment to the results of action is to perform all karma as yajïa for the satisfaction of Viñëu. This is the art of karma-yoga through which one achieves freedom from the bondage of karma and gradually develops his
eternally perfect bhägavad-bhakti. For this reason karma-yoga is also known as niñkämakarma-yoga. Niñkäma refers to that karma which
is free from the desire to satisfy one’s own senses. In other words, it refers to
offering the fruits of one’s action to Bhagavän rather than enjoying them
oneself. To maintain our lives we must all
accumulate wealth according to our capacity. Money is exchanged for goods, which
when transformed into our food, keeps us alive. If we do not eat
properly we cannot maintain our body; and if we do not maintain our body we
cannot gather foodstuffs. It is difficult to ascertain which of these is the cause and which is the effect. However, if they are
both considered to be each other’s cause and effect, they can be described in one word
– karma-cakra, the cycle of action and reaction. In our movement through our karma-cakra birth after birth, we wander from
universe to universe. By the
mercy of Bhagavän, sädhu and guru, any
fortunate jéva roaming throughout the universes
in this way can understand that his condition is miserable. By acting according
to their directions he can endeavour to become free from worldly attachment. We are all eternal entities;
therefore we have endeavoured for eternal happiness and peace since time immemorial.
To obtain the fleeting peace and happiness of this
mundane world is not our objective. However, we simply change bodies from one birth to the next as we wander throughout the fourteen
worlds. We do not realize our
plight and we spill so much blood just for ten to twenty years of temporary peace and happiness. The bliss we search for through
our demonic propensities can never give us peace, because we do not know where
peace lies. Prahläda Mahäräja has explained: na te viduù svärtha-gatià hi
viñëuà. “Persons who are trapped by the consciousness of
enjoying material life, and have therefore accepted as their leader or guru a blind man like themselves who
is attached to external sense objects, cannot understand that the ultimate goal
of their lives is indeed Viñëu.” (Çrémad-Bhägavatam 7.5.31) We sit in the boat of this material
body and mind and search for our selfish motives, but we are just floating aimlessly
in this material ocean. Instead of reaching any shore we receive pushes and
blows, and thus we conclude, “There is no rest for man in the dispensation of
providence.” If we knew that Viñëu is the shore of our material existence and
that He is our ultimate destination we would not suffer. However, we do not
know this, and so Bhagavän Çré Kåñëa has instructed that it is obligatory to perform work
for the sake of yajïa; that is, for the pleasure of
Viñëu. The Åg Veda has also given us this instruction: oà tad viñëoù paramaà padaà sadä paçyanti sürayaù. “The pure devotee always beholds the
supreme abode of Bhagavän Çré Viñëu, just as the
unobstructed eye sees the sun within the sky.” Therefore, those who
are sürayaù, that is, who have attained the nature of the devas, always understand that the lotus feet of Viñëu are
the supreme destination and that to perform karma for the pleasure of Viñëu alone is the highest
undertaking by which one can attain freedom from attachment to the results of karma. Man must accept the lotus feet of Viñëu as the goal if he
wants to become free from this cycle of karma. If he does not do this, he must become an asura. Those who have taken shelter of
the system of varëäçrama-dharma, or sanätana-dharma, have become known as “Hindus”.
Their ancestors, especially those who were of the higher castes such as brähmaëa, kñatriya, or vaiçya, all used to place their service
to Viñëu at the centre of their activities, and in this way they would go about
maintaining their lives. And within the äçramas, especially
the gåhastha-äçrama, persons would daily perform yajïa (in the form of viñëu-sevä) in their homes. Even
now many devoted gåhasthas do this. Yajïa is only performed when one
performs all of his activities for the pleasure of Viñëu. When one only earns money
for viñëu-sevä, exchanges that money for foodstuffs, cooks those foodstuffs
for the sole satisfaction of Viñëu and then respects the prasädam remnants of that offering, then yajïa is performed. Everyone can apply
this method in all circumstances and in all aspects of their lives. If we
perform every action for the sole satisfaction of the Lord of everything, who is our cherished destination, we will become freed from
the bondage of action. We should not oppose the
development of karma, but rather
we should execute it for the sole satisfaction of Viñëu. Learned sages have said, muktiù viñëu ëghri läbhaù. “Attaining
the lotus feet of Viñëu is mukti.” By performing action for the satisfaction of Viñëu, one’s own
satisfaction is fulfilled. This indeed is the gradual path of karma-yoga. Furthermore, Bhagavän Çré Kåñëa has explained the result of
such karma: if one does not work with the aim of yajïa, or satisfying
Viñëu, all of his activities will give rise to the poison, or sin, that creates
havoc throughout the world. yajïa-çiñöäçinaù santo / mucyante sarva-kilbbiñaiù bhuïjate te tv aghaà päpä / ye pacanty ätma-käraëät Saintly persons, who accept the
remnants of yajïa, become free from all sins; but those who cook grains and other foodstuffs for their own sake are sinful and certainly partake of sin. (Bhagavad-gétä 3.13) This method of viñëu-sevä demonstrates how to execute activities
to maintain the body. A person who performs apparently sinful action will be
absolved from all types of bondage if he
accepts the prasädam (remnants of yajïa) of Bhagavän Viñëu. We may
diligently and strictly adhere to the path of non-violence, but the cycle of karma in which we are revolving
imperceptibly forces us to perform many sins. We commit sins in business
dealings, in dealings with people in general, in daily activities, and
especially in political activities. Although we talk about non-violence, there
is practically no way to live without it. And although we refrain from all
kinds of sinful activities, we cannot live free from performing païca-çünä, five types of sin. While walking the streets, we are compelled
to destroy the lives of countless ants, although not wanting to do so. We kill many
living entities as we clean the house, grind food grains, store water pots and
light fires. In this way, while performing our daily activities of eating and
moving, we are forced to harm innocent living entities and destroy them.
Willingly or unwillingly we incur sin. We are bound by the whims of our
minds, and thus the path of non-violence we have adopted will convenience some
but inconvenience others. (To be continued…)
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