In the previous episode, we had witnessed a “smart” Arjuna trying to pick up loopholes in what Bhagawan Krishna is saying. When Bhagawan says that we are not the doers while actions are being performed, Arjuna is quick enough to respond to Bhagawan that if he is not the doer, then why should he be in the battlefield at all! If Bhagawan is the ultimate doer of everything in this world, this war also can be done by Him only isn’t it? However, Bhagawan Krishna is quick to retort back – He says that even if we might not be the exact doer, we should strive and put our effort sincerely towards the actions that we do. Thus, even though it might seem outwardly that we’re the one doing the actions, it would be Bhagawan’s “invisible divine hands” that would be doing them! This is a very important philosophy that Bhagawan is explaining here and we should understand the nitty-gritties of it clearly. If we sincerely put our efforts and perform our actions with Bhagawan in mind, we do not need to worry about the result of our actions, do we? This is where the catch is! 🙂
Moreover, Bhagawan Krishna explains in the 53’rd Shloka of the second “Adhyaaya” thus, “Oh Arjuna! If you keep doing your “Karma” just because I want you to execute it, your desires towards the result of it will come down gradually, thereby, enabling your mind to become calm and still. Just like how a lamp will glow steadily without shaking too much when the oil is full and when there’s not much breeze around, your mind will become still and steady as you do your duty keeping me in your mind!” Now this is applicable to all the “Nitya-Karma” that we perform every single day – Including our regular “Sandhya-Vandanam”, “Teertha-Yatra” (Visiting holy places regularly), performing “Dhaanam” to other living beings, etc. If we keep performing all these actions selflessly without expecting any benefit or result out of it, Bhagawan gets pleased with our actions and through that, our sins are getting washed away on a regular basis. Once our sins are getting washed away, automatically our minds will start getting pure. Once our minds get pure and devoid of unwanted thoughts, automatically the “Gnyaana Yoga” will start prospering.
Thus, it is evident and important for all of us that we perform our “Nitya-Karma” every day without fail. Before we say that we’ve to perform our “Nitya-Karma” selflessly, we should go one step backwards in today’s scenario – We should first allocate some time in our daily routine to perform the “Nitya-Karma”. This includes our regular “Sandhya-Vandanam”, “Gaayatri Japam”, “Nitya-Aaraadhanam” (Regular prayer chanting) etc. that we should perform on a regular basis. If we can allocate some 20-25 minutes every day in the morning, this would automatically pave the way for washing away all our sins gradually. We might not realize it upfront, but it is a slow and a gradual process. Our “Sanchita Karma” and “Praarabdha Karma” has to be washed away completely before we start walking the path towards attaining the highest “Moksha”, isn’t it? Now this “Karma” is standing in between us and “Moksha” as a stumbling block, which has to be somehow eliminated. So how do we eliminate it? Just like how the rays of Soorya Bhagawan penetrates through dense clouds and provides the much needed sunlight to the world, our “Sandhya-Vandanam” and other “Nitya Karma” would be able to penetrate through our “Sanchita Karma” and the “Praarabdha Karma” to show us the path to attain “Moksha”. Hence, it is important that we start somewhere, isn’t it? Even if we’ve not performed our “Nitya-Karma” till today, it is fine. But we’ve start it now. The moment we start performing our actions selflessly towards Bhagawan, it becomes His duty to relieve us from our sins. We should not worry about whether our sins are getting washed away or not with our daily actions. We should leave that to Bhagawan and if we are sincerely putting effort, Bhagawan’s heart gets pleased and through this, our sins are getting washed away! This is what we’ve to understand from this section of the “Karma Yoga” as explained by Bhagawan Krishna!
So for today, let us reflect upon this important point, and let us take this as an eye-opener to start performing our “Nitya-Karma” as a routine from this morning itself. Our “Nitya-Karma” can be even a small prayer that we can chant every morning, but it is important that we perform it as a routine practice. We shall continue this discussion further in the next episode as well! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 