Chapter 3, Verse 4
na karmaṇām anārambhān
naiṣkarmyaṁ puruṣo’śnute
na ca saṁnyasanād-eva
siddhiṁ samādhigacchati
No one achieves freedom from karma by abstaining from works, and no one ever attains perfection by mere renunciation of works.
It is very important to understand this. One may say, “Oh, I will not do this work, because there will be no profit in it.” But here the mind is still hanging onto the work. Krishna says, that if the Karma Yoga is done with such an attitude, there is no freedom. He says, “No one ever attains perfection by mere renunciation of works.” If one is fake with oneself, if one is not in truth towards oneself, freely and happily renouncing work, one will not be free. One will not do the work outside, but it will still play very much in the mind, saying, “I have renounced this, I am a great yogi. I do my meditation properly. My back is straight.” But the mind always continues to play. This is not really doing meditation! And this is not really doing the job properly, focused on the Divine. It is not the outside that matters, it is God that matters. It is to find God in everything. Put Him first! If He is first, it is easy. But if He is not first, it is very difficult to let go – even if you pretend to let go! The ones who are only pretending are hypocrites! Here, Krishna speaks in a very soft way, very nicely – not using my words – and says, “These people will not even attain perfection.”
If one reaches the state of a true bhakta, where all the activities of the body, mind and senses, are completely surrendered, one sees that one is not the doer. One attains the Self; one becomes the Great Observer. One sees that one is the witness of all these activities. The devotees who practice the path of knowledge, instead of giving up the performance of their duties or stage of life; in place of running away, what they must renounce is the sense of doership, the sense of possession, and attachment to that desire. Lord Krishna says, “One will not reach perfection by renouncing the act, but by transcending it, transforming it into service to the Lord, service to God, in whatever one does; and by being separate from self-gratification, self-glory.” Be humble. Remove all this egoism inside of you. Remove all this pride inside of you and be free.
You see this in the life of hermits. People often think that hermits are just sitting in a cave and doing nothing. They say, “Oh, these poor hermits are just sitting in a cave. This is not for me!” When you read about the lives of the saints, when you read about the lives of the hermits, you see that in reality they were doing lots of work. They were away from the glory of the world, but they were working on themselves to attain the supreme perfection, that God is the only One, the only Reality.
Here Krishna is also talking to the people involved in the world, saying, “Don’t think that in what you do, it is you who are doing it. Know that I am doing it! So why do you take the credit for it?” If this gets anchored inside of you, that God is doing everything, there will be no trace of egoism or pride. Then whatever you do, you are free!
In the previous chapter I was telling you about the lives of the saints. Sometimes they appear crazy, completely mad! People ask, “Is that a saint?” The saint is fully surrendered to the Divine; in every action, they are guided by the Divine. In one of his poems, Tukaram says, “Lord, where is Tuka? It is only you in all! You make Tuka dance. You sing the glory of Your own Self through Tuka. So, where is this Tuka? And who is this Tuka? There is no Tuka. There is only You, my Lord.” Lord Krishna says, “This is about sincerity, not about pretending, but being sincere.”
Bhagavad Gita
