Concepts and Issues
The Lord, establishing the propriety of engaging in the fight from the point of view of the path of knowledge and the duty of a Kshatriya, exhorted Arjuna to fight in a spirit of equanimity. Now He establishes the same thing from the point of view of Karma Yoga.
The insight and special merits of karma yoga.
1. Karma yoga leads to the highest good.
2. The use of the Vedas, practice of Vedic rites and their ineffectiveness to liberation.
1. Work without concern for the results.
3. Character, outlook on life and conduct of men devoted to action with a selfish motive and the necessity to reject such an attitude. Inferior value of an action performed with a view to the result.
4. If a man has to work without any desire for its results, how, then, should he go about it?
5. Result of performing one’s duty with evenness of mind.
6. How does action lead to liberation?
1. When and how does one attain the true yoga or knowledge of the supreme truth by karma yoga?
Live as the Gita Teaches You to Live
1. Avoid desire ridden actions:
2. Pursue desireless actions:
3. Be free from the endless pairs of opposites that plague this world and rise to the state of sattwa. Act steadfastly towards the goal of Realization without worldly attachments and remain balanced in success or failure. Keep the mind calm and composed while the body acts dynamically towards the higher ideal.
4. The process of pursuing the supreme goal steadfastly with an equanimous mind is Yoga. Continuing on the path of yoga one sheds vasanas / desires and the mind turns introvert. An introverted mind alone can meditate and realize the supreme Self.
5. Free yourself from the mania of acquiring and preserving and instead slowly merge with the Self. Such an enlightened soul remains ever in supreme peace and bliss. In that state one will find even the Vedas as redundant as a pond would be in a flooded village.
Points to Ponder
1. Equanimity of mind
2. Technique of Karma Yoga
3. Action with and without selfish motive
4. Attainment of Supreme Knowledge through Karma Yoga.
Next time we will proceed from the Verse 2.54
Harih Om