Miscellaneous - Religion   

Act without desire

CHENNAI : The path of action (Karma yoga) is the preparatory discipline for pursuing the path of knowledge (Jnana yoga). Performance of action without desire for the result and surrendering the result to God absolves the doer of the resulting Karma (as Punya and Papa), which gives rise to future births. Man cannot perform any action out of his free will. God impels man to act and he is the instrument. His innate tendencies (Vasana) are responsible for the manner in which he acts. When one acts for the sake of God the anxiety about the result will naturally not be there.

In the Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna advised Arjuna, "Offering all actions to Me, your mind in unison with the Self and free from desires and ego, you fight without the slightest touch of hatred or excitement." He also promised that those who follow His teaching with faith and are free from disparagement would be released from the bondage of Karma. Those who do not discharge their duties reap neither the merit of performing the rituals nor do they become eligible for spiritual knowledge. Action gives rise to Karma in the form of Papa and Punya and also strengthen the Vasana to do the same action again. In the enjoyment of Karma there is no free will, as one has to enjoy the fruit of one's action.

But man has the freedom to change his innate tendency to act in a particular way, which is especially important in spiritual life — he can change his bad impulses and correct himself whenever his Vasana impels him to commit misdeeds. Thus scriptures were helpful only to the individual who made effort to improve himself as otherwise there would be only determinism without any scope for redemption, said Sri N.Veezhinathan in his discourse.

Another important point that the Gita drives home in this context is the need to discharge the duty enjoined by the scriptures for oneself (Svadharma) as it varies from person to person. This is stressed because often one does not like to do that which is meant for oneself or finds something else more attractive.

The Lord cautions, "One's own duty, though devoid of merit, is preferable to the duty of another well performed. Even death in the performance of one's own duty brings blessedness; another's duty is fraught with fear."

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