Secret of Action

Secret of Action

#SwamiTejomayananda

(part 1)

In verse 30 of Chapter III of the Bhagavad Gita, Shri Krishna reveals the secret of action. Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda considered this verse as the very backbone of the chapter.

mayi sarvani karmani sannyasya adhyatma cetasa

nirasir-nirmamo bhutva yudh-yasva vigata -jvarah

Here, sarva karmani sannyasya does not mean renouncing all actions. Actually, the Lord advises us to dedicate all our action unto Him. We are asked to perform our duties, dedicating all actions to Him.

This leads us to a beautiful and subtle point: if instead of merely dedicating all my actions to the Lord, I dedicate myself to Him, then all my activities will automatically be dedicated to Him. So, it is not that I perform all karmas and then dedicate them to the Lord, but my attitude should be, “O Lord I am your servant. I belong to you. You have given me everything. I offer myself to you.”

Secret of Action

#SwamiTejomayananda

(part 2)

Further, I should perform my duties with a spiritual mind - Adhyatma chetasa. For example, a money-minded person will always question, “Will I make any money by performing this action?” Bhog, that is, pleasure-minded, people will ask, “If I go to satsang will there be prasad afterwards?”

Adhyatma chetasa means questioning all actions and asking, “Will this help me to grow spiritually? Will it purify my mind? Will it create love for God in my heart? Will this action benefit someone else?” Thus, the mind should be aware, alert and spiritually-oriented.

In addition, when you are performing the action, your mind must be free from hopes and expectations (nirasir). Hope relates to the future. By hoping, by being anxious about the future, a person dissipates all his energies. He does not succeed because the mind is not focussed on the work at hand. Hoping, expecting, fear and concern are all related to the future.

Secret of Action

#SwamiTejomayananda

(part 3)

Nirmamo relates to the past. The past is over and gone. Do not hold on to it. In Sanskrit the word for past is ‘bhoota’. It also means ghost. People are possessed by the bhoota of the past. They just cannot let go! Moreover, the mind must also be free from obsessive anxiety and attachment about objects gathered and acquired in the past.

How should we act in the present? Sri Krishna advises, “Act without excitement and agitation (vigatah jvarah)”. Be clam, be poised. Put forth your very best effort in the present; the future will take care of itself.

Most people are always worried about the future. Whenever they meet someone wearing saffron robes, they lose no time in asking, “Can you tell me what will happen in the future?”

The simple fact is that only two things can happen: that which you are expecting and that which you are not expecting!

Secret of Action

#SwamiTejomayananda

(part 4)

Finally Bhagavan says fight all your negative and low tendencies and destroy them - yudhyasva

In summary, Sri Krishna counsels us to perform action with a spiritual mind, a calm mind, focused on the work at hand, neither allowing it to wander in the ‘ghosts’ and regrets of the past, nor letting it build castles and expectations of the future. Keep the mind centered on the Lord and act.

(end)