Commentary on the Bhagavadgita

by Swami Krishnananda

Absolute freedom is not possible because there is nothing that is absolute in this world. Everything is relative; everything is hanging on something else; everything is limited by others. Our existence is conditioned by the existence of other people. The very fact that we are existing as individuals shows that there are other individuals. Hence, our existence itself is conditioned by the existence of others. So we cannot have one-hundred-percent freedom; nobody can have it. The whole world is limited to relativity; therefore, in this condition of mutual cooperation that is required of the individual, it is incumbent on everyone to participate in the harmony that nature maintains.

The whole cosmos is nothing but a balance of forces. We may say it is a big electromagnetic field which tries to maintain itself always and will not brook any intervention from others. The moment we intervene or touch this electromagnetic field of the cosmos with an external attitude, it gives a kick; and that is what is called the nemesis of karma. The karma that we speak of is nothing but the reaction of the universal electromagnetic field with which we are interfering every day as outsiders, as it were, which it does not permit. Under these circumstances, it is necessary to perform one’s duty both from the point of view of the individual and from the point of view of human society and the welfare of all beings.

In India there is a great injunction called pancha-mahayajna – the five great sacrifices which every householder has to observe. Firstly is deva-yajna, the acceptance of there being superior divinities that control our destiny. Therefore, the worship of the divinities, the gods, is a pre-eminent duty of every person; and if we ignore the existence of these divinities, we will not be permitted even to exist in this world. We also have to be grateful to the great rishis and masters who have handed down the knowledge of the scriptures – the Vedas, Upanishads, etc. We have to be grateful to our teachers, our masters, who have enlightened us; and the great masters are the rishis whose pronouncements come to us as scriptures.

There is also a necessity to be grateful to the people who permit us to exist as individuals in the same way as others exist as individuals. There is a mutual sacrifice among ourselves. If I have to exist, I have to see that you exist also. It is not possible to have a conflict as an individual. Everybody has a desire to exist in a state of harmony. This necessity to maintain harmony among human beings demands a consideration and a humane attitude among people. We cannot suddenly get into a fit of anger. We cannot condemn people, we cannot criticize, we cannot subordinate a person and consider him as a tool or an exploiting medium; nothing of the kind is possible. No person is a tool in our hands, and we cannot exploit anybody. Nobody is a servant in this world; everybody is a master and, therefore, we have to treat everybody with respect. Manushya-yajna is the respect of athithis – guests – and people generally. We also have to be considerate to living beings who are not able to speak, such as animals: bhuta-yajna.

That is to say, these pancha-mahayajna, or the five great sacrifices enjoined upon every person, imply that we are in a world of divinity with life pervading everywhere and love ruling the cosmos. Hatred is not the rule; love is the rule. There is a power of attraction which is seen in every little atom and in every molecule, in every component of every molecule, in every organism, and even in the whole solar system. The attraction that one exercises on others is physically known as gravitation. Biologically it is known as health, psychologically it is called sanity, rationally it is called logic, and spiritually it is called Universality.

All these graduated appreciations of the Universal Being in particulars should be considered as the foundation of ethics and morality. A person is good to the extent that he is able to recognize the Universal in the particular. A person is divine only to the extent he is able to recognize universal principles in particular individuals. This is the essence of svadharma, which Sri Krishna refers to. Apart from the immortality of the soul – which is the basic consideration and, therefore, we should not fear death – the other aspect of the matter is that we have to live in this world, performing our duties. As long as we are in this world, in this physical body, it becomes incumbent on us to perform the social duties, the personal duties, and the other duties mentioned. If we do even a little good in this world, it will be credited to our bank balance. One day or the other we find it, accrued with interest.

Nehabhikrama-naso'sti pratyavayo na vidyate (2.40). No reaction will be produced by our actions if our actions are motivated by the consideration of the Universal principle existing between ourselves and the object which we are dealing with. And as long as this consciousness of the Universal Presence between ourselves and others conditions and rules our behavior, action will not produce a reaction – that is, karma will not bind us: na karma lipyate nare (Isa 2). In the Ishavasya Upanishad is the pronouncement isavasyam idam sarvam (Isa 1): All this is pervaded by the One Reality. Therefore, we should not be greedy. We should not try to possess things, because the idea of possession of property is also the idea of converting some part of the world into a tool for our purposes. As I mentioned, we cannot exploit anything. If we perform action with this knowledge of God being present everywhere – that is, the principle of Universality ruling all things – we will be purified by our actions; karma becomes a purifying medium and not a binding medium.

Furthermore, action is a must: karmany evadhikaras te ma phalesu kadacana ma karma-phala-hetur bhur ma te sango'stv akarmani (2.47); na hi kascit ksanam api jatu tisthaty akarmakrt (3.5). This refers to the action that we generally speak of, which includes duty, the performance of obligatory works. This injunction on action is born of the very structure of prakriti, which never ceases from moving further; and, all prakriti is potential activity. Even if we keep quiet and don’t do any work, that consciousness of our not doing any work also is a work. Hence, nobody can be without any kind of action. Total inactivity is not possible because every cell of the body is active; the mind is active, the growth which the body undergoes is an activity, and even death is an activity. There is continuous movement in the cosmos. It is like a train moving eternally on the rails, and inasmuch as there is no inactivity anywhere on account of the involvement of all things in the processes of prakriti, we should make the best of things. Finally, in the state of the ultimate purusha, there is no activity because there is no contact with prakriti and there is no flux or natural reaction. But until that time, as long as the purusha, or the consciousness of the Atman, is involved in this body, there is a reciprocal action of the Atman and the body.

The Atman illumines the mind and enlivens the body, and the body limits the experience of consciousness by subjecting it to the laws of nature. The laws of nature rule this world. This body is conditioned by every law that is applicable to natural phenomena; therefore, our jivatva, our consciousness, our very existence itself seems to be conditioned by geographical conditions, historical conditions, and forces like gravitation, etc. There is no gravitation for the soul; it is only for the physical body. The more are we externalized in our perception, the more devoted we are to the objects of sense, the more we think that we are the body, the more we are subject to the laws of nature, and the more is the way karma will bind us and compel us to work for the sake of participation in the work of prakriti. When we cannot consciously and deliberately participate in the work of prakriti, we will be forced to this by the very nature of prakriti which is working inside us, which is working through us – and, as a matter of fact, we ourselves are embodiments of the three gunas of prakriti.

Our duty is to act in such a manner that action does not bind us. The consideration of the fruit of an action is contrary to the concept of duty. A person who expects something from the performance of duty has not performed duty. Duty is not a wage earner. A person does not perform duty because something comes out of it. It is a necessary obligation on our part to participate in the very structure of the cosmos. If our legs walk, they are performing their duty; but they do not get salary because they are walking. The limbs of the body work independently, and no limb asks for recompense or consideration from the other parts of the body. If the eyes show us is the way to go and the legs walk, the eyes may tell us to give them something because they helped us by showing the direction. This does not happen because mutual cooperation is the essence of duty; and in mutual cooperation, no expectation of results is possible because the very fact of mutual cooperation brings all the results that are required.

Duty is also, automatically, a privilege. The gods in heaven know that we deserve whatever is necessary for our existence under the conditions of the duty that we have to perform. So there is no point in our working in this world, or doing anything for that matter, under the impression that something will come. The futility of the expectation of fruits of action is again a concept in time. We feel that if we do something, then some future good will follow. The idea of the future is again an involvement of our consciousness in time. We have already been told that we should not perform any action with a notion of our involvement in space and time. Our consideration should be the Universal Principle present in all things, and not our involvement in space and time. So we should not think that if we do something good today, tomorrow we will get some benefit. The idea of tomorrow should not arise in us because the idea of tomorrow implies space and time and, again, it is a bondage. The meaning of duty is very difficult to conceive, and even great sages are bewildered in understanding what it actually is. Kavayo’py atra mohitah (4.16): “Even learned people, even masters with insight, are bewildered as to what action is, what karma is, and how it works. Anyway, I shall tell you how it works.” Sri Krishna goes on further.