ಬೋಧಿಸಿದೆ ಕರ್ಮಯೋಗವ
ಬೋಧಿಸಿದಿದಯ್ ಸಂನ್ಯಸನವನುಮನಾ ದ್ವಿಕದೊಳ್ ।
ಸಾಧನ ಮೇಲೆನಗಾವುದೊ
ಆದೇಶಿಪುದೆಂದು ಬೇಡಿದಂ ಕೌಂತೇಯಂ ।। ೧
Bodhisidĕ karma-yogava
bodhisiday saṃnyasana-vanumanā dvikadadoḷ
sādhana melĕnagāvudŏ
ādeśipudĕṃdu beḍidaṃ kauṃteyaṃ ।। 1
The son of Kunti implored,
“You taught me the Yoga of action.
You taught me renunciation.
Which of the two paths is better for me?
Please instruct me”
karmaṇo hy-api boddhavyam boddhavyam ca vikarmaṇaḥ
akarmaṇaś-ca boddhavyaṃ gahanā karmaṇo gatiḥ (BG 4.17)
When they ascend the throne, England’s Kings (or Queens) take an oath in front of their subjects that they will follow, preserve, and protect the traditional methods and rules of governance. In India, the President who is in place of the King, takes this oath while swearing in — “I will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and the law.” (Art. 60) Thus, even the highest official of the state is subject to the arrangement accepted by the common people.
Arjuna, if we analyse from the perspective of the supreme principle, it becomes clear that your doubts are baseless. Be firm about the ātmā. Do not entertain doubts in your mind.
ajñaścāśraddhadhānaśca saṃśayātmā vinaśyati
nāyaṃ loko’sti na paraṃ na sukhaṃ saṃśayātmanaḥ (BG 4.40)(One who does not know, doesn’t have faith or is filled with doubts in his mind, perishes. A doubtful man can neither live in this world nor the otherworld. He is never happy.)
A person who carries out his duties without considering it an offering, will not even gain the good in this world. Then, how can he obtain a good state in other worlds? Mokṣa is the best among the four cardinal aims of human life. Karma helps achieve dharma, artha and kāma (dharma, wealth, and enjoyment). Even so, karma is the necessary first step for mokṣa. Mokṣa is liberation from the burden of the universe.
Once we say that it is not wrong but only fit and proper to experience pleasure, we have to make all arrangements to obtain it. Sustaining the family, earning a salary for their comfort, taking loans in case there are emergencies and repaying them, giving and taking help, struggling thus in many ways become the duty of a householder.
Śrī Śankarācārya’s instruction is thus –
yogarato vā bhogarato vā saṅgarato vā saṅgavihīnaḥ
yasya brahmaṇi ramate cittaṃ nandati nandati nandatyeva—Mohamudgara
Arjuna is hasty. Initially, he was eager to fight. Then, he was eager to give up fighting. Vikarma is the result of this haste. Therefore, the following is said about those who deduce the nature of dharma -
yuktā āyuktāḥ
alūkṣā dharmakāmāḥ syuḥ
yathā te tatra varteran
tathā tatra vartethāḥThose who are skillful and experienced, not harsh, and practise dharma constantly, as they behave (during times of doubt), so too you shall.
Dharma is established and nurtured by the divine. Bhagavān who needs to have no thought for anything else thinks of dharma alone and of his own volition. This should bring the greatness of dharma to our minds. Dharma is Īśvara’s own property. Therefore, it is immensely worthy of our worship. We have to always remember that Īśvara is watching us all the time. An American poet says thus:
“Arjuna, what I am explaining to you now is not something new and contemporary. It is something that I had explained to the sun named Vivasvān at the beginning of creation. He, in turn, taught this to Manu, the progenitor of the human race. Manu then gave the same upadeśa to Ikṣvāku, the foremost among kings. Thus, this knowledge of karma has been passed on through many generations. Earlier, many king-sages like Janaka and others followed the tenets of this knowledge and became accomplished."