The essence of Karma Yoga – We have already discussed in the previous blog about What is Karma Yoga?Here we will continue that discussion further to reach the essence of Karma Yoga. We all have fruitive mentality or in other words we have the mentality of getting something in return for each of our actions, due to which we invariably seek profit, adoration and distinction.
We are thus attached to work for selfish motives. Such work binds us to the cycle of birth, death, old age and disease. In Karma yoga, whatever actions we perform, the results are offered to Lord Kṛṣṇa.
Table of Contents
Can we offer anything and everything to Krishna?
We cannot perform all kinds of actions and offer their results to Kṛṣṇa. For example, if you want to eat meat, you cannot offer it to Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa doesn’t accept meat. The kind of food items liked by Him are stated in BG 9.26
patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ
yo me bhaktyā prayacchati
tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam
aśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ
We cannot offer anything and everything to Him simply because we wanted to eat the same. We must offer the results of our prescribed duty to Kṛṣṇa. ‘Prescribed duty’ means all those actions that can be offered to Kṛṣṇa. Suppose you have a tobacco factory and you want the profit to be offered to Kṛṣṇa. This is NOT possible, as intoxication is a violation of the principles of dharma. But fruit vendors can offer fruits to Kṛṣṇa, and farmers can offer their crop yield to Kṛṣṇa. All these acts are Karma yoga. So any action that can be connected to Kṛṣṇa becomes a prescribed duty. Therefore, before performing any action you must ask yourself whether it is a prescribed duty or not
How to know my Prescribed Duties?
One must carefully ascertain what is prescribed duty by careful study of scriptures as Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita 16.24
tasmāc chāstraṁ pramāṇaṁ te
kāryākārya-vyavasthitau
jñātvā śāstra-vidhānoktaṁ
karma kartum ihārhasi
Translation: One should therefore understand what is duty and what is not duty by the regulations of the scriptures. Knowing such rules and regulations, one should act so that he may gradually be elevated.
There is no duty for Krishna to perform as He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, yet Kṛṣṇa is engaged on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra as the leader of the kṣatriyas because the prescribed duties for kṣatriyas are to give protection to the distressed. Although He is above all the regulations of the revealed scriptures, He does not do anything that violates the revealed scriptures. Krishna says –
Bhagavad Gita 3.22–O son of Pṛthā, there is no work prescribed for me within all the three planetary systems. Nor am I in want of anything, nor have I a need to obtain anything — and yet I am engaged in prescribed duties.
Bhagavad Gita 3.23– For if I ever failed to engage in carefully performing prescribed duties, O Pārtha, certainly all men would follow my path.
Bhagavad Gita 3.24- If I did not perform prescribed duties, all these worlds would be put to ruination. I would be the cause of creating unwanted population, and I would thereby destroy the peace of all living beings
Conclusion and Essence
When a fruitive worker offers results of his prescribed actions to Kṛṣṇa, he becomes a karma yogi but to know exactly what we must or mustn’t do, we need a guide and that guide is Bhagavad Gita. Those people who never follow these things and simply act, are blind. That is why Bhagavad Gita is a must for everybody.
