In the previous episode, we had concluded our discussion on the third “Adhyaaya” wherein Bhagawan Krishna details about the significance of “Karma Yoga”. In the last part of the discussion we had witnessed how our “Kaamam” (Desire) and “Krodham” (Anger) are the two biggest enemies in preventing us from implementing our “Karma Yoga” properly. If we’re able to take control over these two characteristics, our “Rajo Guna” will automatically come under control, which would allow our “Satva Guna” to prosper. Once the “Satva Guna” takes centre-stage, automatically our mind will come under control. Once our mind comes under control, our five senses will also slowly cease to run behind worldly pleasures. This will pave the way for a near-perfect implementation of our “Karma Yoga”, which is extremely essential for the upliftment of our “Atman”.
So till now, we’ve seen all these points of discussion in detail, and now as we enter into the fourth “Adhyaaya”, Bhagawan changes the course of the narrative completely. Arjuna has a question in his mind – Whenever Bhagawan Krishna says “Surrender everything to me”, what does He exactly mean? Why should he surrender everything to Bhagawan Krishna and nobody else? Who is Bhagawan Krishna exactly? What is His significance? Arjuna wants to know all this in detail. Hence, Bhagawan commences the fourth “Adhyaaya” with a detailed description of who is He really and starting from this “Adhyaaya” onwards, Bhagawan is going to reveal His true identity. This is going to be a very important phase of the Bhagawad Gita and I request readers to follow carefully by taking adequate notes as we progress further.
However, as we move into the fourth “Adhyaaya”, let us witness a quick summary of whatever we’ve seen till now, as this is the fundamental base that we’re building upon. Hence, till now, we’ve witnessed the “Arjuna-Vishaada Yoga” which is the first ‘Adhyaaya’, wherein Arjuna started trembling with fear. Next in the line was “Saankya Yoga”, wherein Bhagawan explains the “Deha-Atma-Viveka-Gnyaanam”. Third in the line was the main “Karma Yoga” wherein Bhagawan explains how one can attain the “Atma-Saakshaakaaram” by performing our “Karma” (Actions) meticulously with a detached mind. Now this can create a slight confusion in our minds – Is Bhagawan Krishna wanting us to perform our “Karma” without a spec of expectation on the result? Can this be possible? The answer is important here – Bhagawan Krishna never says that we should not have the ultimate goal in our mind while performing our actions. He only says that we should not get carried away by the mid-term and short-term shallow results (milestones) that might come our way during our pursuit. Readers should not get confused here – Bhagawan Krishna clearly doesn’t say that we should never expect anything while performing our “Karma”. Of course, we should always have the “Atma-Saakshaakaaram” in mind while performing our “Karma”, which is nothing but our end goal. This is what we say even in today’s management context as well – For instance, if we’ve to ask a company CEO as to what is his / her topmost priority – Profit or Customer Satifaction – What will this CEO say? Of course, profits are important as we move on with our day-to-day operations. However, at the end of the day, what is more important is how we’re able to satisfy our customers with our products / services that we offer to them. Now this is the end goal of any organization, isn’t it? Only if customers are satisfied with our offerings, we would be able to obtain repeated purchases from them, which will automatically grow our bottom line finances. However, short-term profits are also important and I’m not discounting it. But the focus of the organization should not just be on these short-term profits only. There are bigger milestones that the organization should achieve aren’t they? If we’ve to go one step further, we should ultimately understand that the end goal of any organization is to increase the shareholders’ wealth! This should be the ultimate focus here, isn’t it? This is exactly what Bhagawan Krishna also says in this context of performing our “Karma” without focusing on the result. The end result (Long-term) is important for us to keep in mind as we move on with our implementation of our duties. Thus, while we pursue this end-goal, we should make sure that we do not get carried away by certain short-term achievements and this is where detachment of our mind is extremely essential!
Now with this knowledge, we’re moving into the fourth “Adhyaaya”, wherein Bhagawan is going to talk about how He incarnates every time in this world and what is the purpose behind it. So for today, let us understand up to this point, and in the next episode, we shall commence with our discussion on the fourth “Adhyaaya” of the Bhagawad Gita! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 