Krishna & Karma Yoga

OM

Title : Krishna & Karma Yoga

Theme : Positive Transformation through Spirituality

Life is a journey & to make our journey fruitful & ever pleasing we need to understand Life, who we are & who is Lord. Let’s discuss some of the important aspects from our scriptures & see how we can transform & transcend our life in a very practical & optimistic way.

In Bhagavat Gita(Chapter 2-47,48) Lord Krishna has given ultimate definition on Karma Yoga – Achieving Perfection while performing Duty.

karmaṇy evādhikāras te

mā phaleṣu kadācana

mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr

mā te sańgo 'stv akarmaṇi. (BG.-2.47)

The common misconception that many of us have is, Here God is saying “Do your Karma & never expect the result”. It’s not true & not practical too.

The actual message by Krishna here is, “You have the right to do the action, but never be attached to the result, as it is the part of the Almighty to decide & that is exactly based on your perfection while performing the prescribed duties. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.”

If you are attached to the fruit of action, then incase you wont achieve, as per your preconceived notion, you might loose interest in performing your prescribed duties, which is self destructing. On the contrary if you can have firm faith on Lord’s decision, without any deviation while performing your tasks, then in near future you will get to know that the decision which seemed bitter to you is a boon in disguise.

Just to recollect the story of the “King & doctor”, When the king is in trouble, the doctor cut his toe, but in turn thrown in to jail. The next day unfortunately in a jungle king lost his path & caught by a tribal gang who took him to Goddess Kali for Sacrifices. Later when they discovered King without toe, they had to free him, as he was an imperfect sacrifices. Now the king had to realize that the decision to cut his toe has saved his neck!!! When he came back & felt sorry to Doctor, he said, even the jail was for his own goodness. If he was not in jail, mostly he would be with the king & became the perfect sacrifices.

This is just a story, but when we reflect on our past life & analyze deeply, we can also feel the similar bitter events of the past, transformed into a better future prospect. Sometimes it takes a shorter span, or else a prolonged period, all based on our purity in actions.

In the next verse Krishna again emphasizes on it by saying “samatvaḿ yoga ucyate” – Sameness in attitude while performing your duty is called perfect Yoga. You should not bewildered by the success or failure in the life, As success might invoke the ego & failure might eat your energy & enthusiasm. Thus it is advised to have “Arpana Vriti” while performing the action & “Prasada Vriti” while accepting the result. When we offer Lord, we give our best of love & effort in preparing the prasada; same should we follow while offering our work. But while accepting prasada, we don’t discriminate about the quality or quantity of it. Same should be followed while we are getting the fruit of our action. This is the real essence of “KARMA YOGA”.

Many of us heard of the word “TatwamAssi” (Tetraya Upanisad, Book 2, Stanza 1).

Tat is Lord, Twam means Jiva(Living Entity), & Asi means Equation or Equals. That means we all are God. That’s why we have no problem in giving respect to any one, be from any religion or society. When we understand that, we should also treat everyone with the same love & respect as we are expecting from others. This is a life changing attitude one can posses & see things changing from worst to best.

We can get knowledge from books, but Wisdom comes from God.

Hare Krishna.

Why do we shout in anger?

A saint asked his disciples, 'Why do we shout in anger? Why do people shout at each other when they are upset?'
Disciples thought for a while, one of them said, 'Because we lose our calm, we shout for that.'
'But, why to shout when the other person is just next to you?' asked the saint. 'Isn't it possible to speak to him or her with a soft voice? Why do you shout at a person when you're angry?'
Disciples gave some other answers but none satisfied the saint.
Finally he explained, 'When two people are angry at each other, their hearts distance a lot. To cover that distance they must shout to be able to hear each other. The angrier they are, the stronger they will have to shout to hear each other through that great distance.'
Then the saint asked, 'What happens when two people fall in love? They don't shout at each other but talk softly, why? Because their hearts are very close. The distance between them is very small...'
The saint continued, 'When they love each other even more, what happens? They do not speak, only whisper and they get even closer to each other in their love. Finally they even need not whisper, they only look at each other and that's all. That is how close two people are when they love each other.'

MORAL: When you argue do not let your hearts get distant, do not get distance each other more.

Meaning of a True "Self Appraisal"

A little boy went into a drug store, reached for a soda carton and pulled it over to the telephone. He climbed onto the carton so that he could reach the buttons on the phone and proceeded to punch in seven digits (phone numbers).
The store-owner observed and listened to the conversation:
Boy: "Lady, Can you give me the job of cutting your lawn?

Woman: (at the other end of the phone line): "I already have someone to cut my lawn."

Boy: "Lady, I will cut your lawn for half the price of the person who cuts your lawn now."
Woman: I'm very satisfied with the person who is presently cutting my lawn.

Boy: (with more perseverance) : "Lady, I'll even sweep
your curb and your sidewalk, so on Sunday you will
have the prettiest lawn in all of Palm beach , Florida."
Woman: No, thank you.

With a smile on his face, the little boy replaced the receiver. The store-owner, who was listening to all this, walked over to the boy.
Store Owner: "Son... I like your attitude; I like that positive spirit and would like to offer you a job."
Boy: "No thanks,


Store Owner: But you were really pleading for one.
Boy: No Sir, I was just checking my performance at the
job I already have. I am the one who is working for that lady I was talking to!"

This is what we call "Self Appraisal".