Translations from Shri Prabhupada's "Bhagavad Gita As it is"
Weblink: http://www.asitis.com/3/17.htmlyas tv atma-ratir eva syad atma-trptas ca manavah
atmany eva ca santustas tasya karyam na vidyate
SYNONYMS
yah--one who; tu--but; atma-ratih--takes pleasure; eva--certainly; syat--remains; atma-trptah--self-illuminated; ca--and; manavah--a man; atmani--in himself; eva--only; ca--and; santustah--perfectly satiated; tasya--his; karyam--duty; na--does not; vidyate--exist.TRANSLATION
One who is, however, taking pleasure in the self, who is illuminated in the self, who rejoices in and is satisfied with the self only, fully satiated--for him there is no duty.Chap 3, Shloka 18.
Translations from Shri Prabhupada's "Bhagavad Gita As it is"
Weblink: http://www.asitis.com/3/18.htmlnaiva tasya krtenartho nakrteneha kascana
na casya sarva-bhutesu kascid artha-vyapasrayah
SYNONYMS
na--never; eva--certainly; tasya--his; krtena--by discharge of duty; arthah--purpose; na--nor; akrtena--without discharge of duty; iha--in this world; kascana--whatever; na--never; ca--and; asya--of him; sarva-bhutesu--in all living beings; kascit--any; artha--purpose; vyapasrayah--taking shelter of.TRANSLATION
A self-realized man has no purpose to fulfill in the discharge of his prescribed duties, nor has he any reason not to perform such work. Nor has he any need to depend on any other living being.Chap 3, Shloka 19.
Translations from Shri Prabhupada's "Bhagavad Gita As it is"
Weblink: http://www.asitis.com/3/19.htmltasmad asaktah satatam karyam karma samacara
asakto hy acaran karma param apnoti purusah
SYNONYMS
tasmat--therefore; asaktah--without attachment; satatam--constantly; karyam--as duty; karma--work; samacara--perform; asaktah--nonattached; hi--certainly; acaran--performing; karma--work; param--the Supreme; apnoti--achieves; purusah--a man.TRANSLATION
Therefore, without being attached to the fruits of activities, one should act as a matter of duty; for by working without attachment, one attains the Supreme.Chap 3, Shloka 20.
Translations from Shri Prabhupada's "Bhagavad Gita As it is"
Weblink: http://www.asitis.com/3/20.htmlkarmanaiva hi samsiddhim asthita janakadayah
loka-sangraham evapi sampasyan kartum arhasi
SYNONYMS
karmana--by work; eva--even; hi--certainly; samsiddhim--perfection; asthitah--situated; janaka-adayah--Janaka and other kings; loka-sangraham--educating the people in general; eva--also; api--for the sake of; sampasyan--by considering; kartum--to act; arhasi--deserve.TRANSLATION
Even kings like Janaka and others attained the perfectional stage by performance of prescribed duties. Therefore, just for the sake of educating the people in general, you should perform your work.
3 comments:
liked the write up very much.. wonderful piece of writing..
here is my take on gita...
www.me-nemesh.co.nr
Animesh,
For convenience and to for continuity sake, I am posting your writeup here.
Animesh says the following, with reference to Shloka 47 of BG Chap 2, viz.,:
"karmanyeva adhikaraste... "
"This is a very difficult, concise enunciation in the BhagavadGita - that we have duties but we cannot expect any fruits from the duties that we perform.
Is this really possible? Doing things without expecting some specific consequence? Accepting whatever consequence one gets is one thing, but not even desiring a particular result is altogether a different thing.
I, if not everybody, need some kind of motivation to do something, to put in effort. Who would even go for a movie, without expecting to have a good time? Even when I donate, I expect it’ll help someone in need. Without such type of basic motivation, it is very unlikely that I’ll raise my hand even to scratch my head.
It’s true that we cannot get the desired result 100% of the time, but should we stop desiring for something just because we’re not sure that we can get it? This concept is completely different from the one that causes innovations.
Without expectations or motivations, only discoveries can take place, not inventions. Necessity is the mother of invention. Necessity comes from desire. No expectation for results, no desire, no necessity, no invention. Even profitless research work is a result of enthusiasm to learn. Without this motivation, man would have made only discoveries and that too accidentally. Wheel would have been discovered, but the cart would never have been invented.
Can a student study without the desire of grades? Even a sanyasi would not follow his path without dreaming of a better life after rebirth.
It also takes away the sense of responsibility from one’s actions. How will a person do a job sincerely and responsibly, without expecting the desired result?
After so much of ‘manthan’ what I understand is, that "it may not be our right to expect that the result of our actions should be as desired, but it is our need to desire some particular result of our actions, to bring out the best in us."
Animesh,
I think Bhagavan is NOT asking us to give up looking at the results of our action - which as you say is impossible. What HE is advising is to give up the 'ownership' of the fruits of action...AND, to perform actions that are in accordance with that principle. Example, If I concentrate on actions the fruits of which benefit me and me alone, then it becomes selfish. It is better if fruits benefit others too, along with me. The ideal case scenario is one where the fruits benefit the largest of humanity - which sometimes may mean negative for the individual.
For a different take, please read :
Shloka 49 of Chap 2 also.
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