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Essence of Karma Yoga

CHENNAI: The knowledge imparted in the Bhagavad Gita is both spiritual and practical, pertaining to the code of conduct and way of life of individuals that helps them to attain salvation ultimately. There is a detailed description of the tangible nature of the material world and of the abstruse, subtle and complex nature of the immortal soul and this knowledge is crucial to spiritual progress. Swami Gautamananda pointed out in a lecture that Lord Krishna emphasised the need to cultivate Viveka, an aptitude which enables one to discriminate between the real and the unreal, the valuable and the worthless, the good and the bad, etc., while also clarifying the concept and practice of one’s duty with respect to oneself, family, society and nation.

The length of one’s life and its quality depend on one’s previous karma. That we are born to exhaust our karma is the law governing human existence. We come here to live the consequences of our past karma. Every birth further gathers experiences good and bad. And these add to our baggage of karma since both good and bad actions carry with them the consequences of reward and punishment. Moreover, if actions are performed for attainment or fulfilment of specific ends, then one gets entangled into further karma and ends up facing further births to exhaust the karma.

In this way we can neither stop death nor birth. What is the way out of this endless cycle? Lord Krishna offers a way out through the practice of Karma Yoga that can lead one to enlightenment and thereby manage to escape further births. The essence of this yoga lies in the spirit with which one performs actions. As we are all forced to perform actions, the Lord suggests that we orient and modify the attitude and motive when engaged in daily activities. One has to believe that one acts on behalf of God as His agent and in His service. This also helps to relinquish the fruits of one’s action. Such an attitude prevents further entanglement in the law of karma and relieves one from the binding effects of actions.

Since we all have to forcibly act, we can engage in conscious practice of Karma Yoga by striving for a shift in one’s mindset when engaged in daily activities.

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