Karma Yoga and the three Gunas

Karma-Yoga has specially to deal with these three factors. By teaching what they are and how to employ them, it helps us to do our work better. Human society is a graded organisation. We all know about morality, and we all know about duty, but at the same time we find that in different countries the significance of morality varies greatly. What is regarded as moral in one country may in another be considered perfectly immoral. For instance, in one country cousins may marry; in another, it is thought to be very immoral; in one, men may marry their sisters-in-law; in another, it is regarded as immoral; in one country people may marry only once; in another, many times; and so forth. Similarly, in all other departments of morality, we find the standard varies greatly — yet we have the idea that there must be a universal standard of morality (I, 36 – 37)

While describing Karma Yoga Swamiji considers the role of the three gunas in shaping one’s character. He advises that if we understand them properly we can utilise them to improve the quality of our work. We have to raise ourselves from tamas to rajas and from rajas to satwa. Shraddha, food, yanja. tapas, dhyana, tyaga, knowledge, karma, karta, intelligence, dhriti, happiness and swabhava - all these different aspects have been described exhaustively by Sri Krishna in Bhagavat Gita. If we study 17th and 18th chapters of Bhagavat Gita we can understand the full implications of the relation between the Gunas and  the Karma. 

Be a Master, not a Slave

We are all beggars. Whatever we do, we want a return. We are all traders. We are traders in life, we are traders in virtue, we are traders in religion. And alas! we are also traders in love.

If you come to trade, if it is a question of give-and-take, if it is a question of buy-and-sell, abide by the laws of buying and selling. There is a bad time and there is a good time; there is a rise and a fall in prices: always you expect the blow to come. It is like looking at the mirrors Your face is reflected: you make a grimace — there is one in the mirror; if you laugh, the mirror laughs. This is buying and selling, giving and taking. (II, 4)

There is only one way to achieve this. That is, to practise detachment. When we try to put this ideal  into practice, many difficulties appear in front of us. Whatever may be the temptations and even if we fail again and again we should not lose courage. We should hold on to our divine nature. Nature may compel us to take revenge, to retaliate in the same measure. But we should control ourselves and be detached. Once we are able to do this, a super divine strength will rise in us and would eradicate all our miseries. 

Here we find a great message from Swamiji. Within families, between husband and wife, among other family members, among the various groups in a society, everywhere we find such actions and reactions. Counselling does help to some extent. But that is not sufficient. We should be able to delve deep into ourselves and remove the wrong interpretations based on our ignorance. The ideal of Karma Yoga provides the best medicine to get rid of such unwanted tensions. 

Calm and well balanced mind – Secret of Work Efficiency

I have been asked many times how we can work if we do not have the passion which we generally feel for work. I also thought in that way years ago, but as I am growing older, getting more experience, I find it is not true. The less passion there is, the better we work. The calmer we are, the better for us, and the more the amount of work we can do. When we let loose our feelings, we waste so much energy, shatter our nerves, disturb our minds, and accomplish very little work. The energy which ought to have gone out as work is spent as mere feeling, which counts for nothing. It is only when the mind is very calm and collected that the whole of its energy is spent in doing good work. And if you read the lives of the great workers which the world has produced, you will find that they were wonderfully calm men. Nothing, as it were, could throw them off their balance. That is why the man who becomes angry never does a great amount of work, and the man whom nothing can make angry accomplishes so much. The man who gives way to anger, or hatred, or any other passion, cannot work; he only breaks himself to pieces, and does nothing practical. It is the calm, forgiving, equable, well-balanced mind that does the greatest amount of work. ( II -293)

This ideal of karma yoga has been put into practice in recent times by our great national leaders like Mahatma Gandhiji and Vinobha Bhave. Unfortunately none else is able to continue the great tradition. Our great rishis transformed karma into karma yoga and earned for our motherland the immortal fame of Karma Bhumi. It should be the concern of everybody why Karma Bhumi Bharat is deteriorating into an akarma bhumi and a vikarma bhumi? 

Work as worship

Help the Lord! There is a proverb in our language,

“Shall we teach the Architect of the universe how to build?” So those are the highest of mankind who do not work. The next time you see these silly phrases about the world and how we must all help God and do this or that for Him, remember this. Do not think such thoughts; they are too selfish. All the work you do is subjective, is done for your own benefit. 

God has not fallen into a ditch for you and me to help Him out by building a hospital or something of that sort. He allows you to work. He allows you to exercise your muscles in this great gymnasium, not in order to help Him but that you may help yourself. Do you think even an ant will die for want of your help? Most arrant blasphemy! 

The world does not need you at all. The world goes on you are like a drop in the ocean. A leaf does not move, the wind does not blow without Him. Blessed are we that we are given the privilege of working for Him, not of helping Him. Cut out this word “help” from your mind. You cannot help; it is blaspheming. You are here yourself at His pleasure. 

Do you mean to say, you help Him? You worship. When you give a morsel of food to the dog, you worship the dog as God. God is in that dog. He is the dog. He is all and in all. We are allowed to worship Him. Stand in that reverent attitude to the whole universe, and then will come perfect non-attachment. This should be your duty. This is the proper attitude of work. This is the secret taught by Karma-Yoga (V-245) 

Work for work’s sake

        Krishna, the “Lord of souls”, talks to Arjuna or Gudâkesha, “lord of sleep” (he who has conquered sleep). The “field of virtue” (the battlefield) is this world; the five brothers (representing righteousness) fight the hundred other brothers (all that we love and have to contend against); the most heroic brother, Arjuna (the awakened soul), is the general. We have to fight all sense-delights, the things to which we are most attached, to kill them. We have to stand alone; we are Brahman, all other ideas must be merged in this one.

        Krishna did everything but without any attachment; he was in the world, but not of it. “Do all work, but without attachment; work for work’s sake, never for yourself.” (VII, 334)

On 29th June 1895 Swamiji introduced Sri Krishna and Bhagavad Gita to his disciples. That day he came to the study class (at Thousand Island Park) with Gita in his hand. Naturally, Swamiji drew a spiritual diagram before starting the class. He started his discourse quoting Sri Ramakrishna’s words, “the boat should be on the waters, and not water in the boat”.

         It is difficult to find a greater proponent than Sri Krishna for Anasakti yoga (yoga of detachment). In many places Swamiji places Sri Buddha at par with Sri Krishna. Karma Yoga was his favourite subject and he has given to posterity a beautiful idea of “work as worship”. Mahatma Gandhi and Acharya Vinoba Bhave were most outstanding proponents of this yoga in modern times. Swamiji, unlike many of his predecessors, insisted that a true karma yogi can also attain freedom or liberation.

‘Swadharme nidhanam sreyah’

Every man should take up his own ideal and endeavour to accomplish it. That is a surer way of progress than taking up other men’s ideals, which he can never hope to accomplish. For instance, we take a child and at once give him the task of walking twenty miles. Either the little one dies, or one in a thousand crawls the twenty miles, to reach the end exhausted and half-dead. That is like what we generally try to do with the world. All the men and women, in any society, are not of the same mind, capacity, or of the same power to do things; they must have different ideals, and we have no right to sneer at any ideal. Let every one do the best he can for realising his own ideal. Nor is it right that I should be judged by your standard or you by mine. The apple tree should not be judged by the standard of the oak, nor the oak by that of the apple. To judge the apple tree you must take the apple standard, and for the oak, its own standard. (I, 41)

‘Swadharme nidhanam sreyah

Paradharmo bhayavaha’ – is explained by Sri Krishna in Bhagavat Gita. Swamiji introduces this idea in Karma Yoga. To use the modern technology, when we work in the field to which we are best suited by birth and training our work would be tension free. The reason is that it has become part of the character or Swabhava. One is able to work with great relaxation and satisfaction. As time went on, unfortunately such activities became more and more confined to particular sections (castes)  in the society,  and became concretised as Kula Dharma. However, it is a fact, that executing Kula Dharma one is able to manifest the divinity (freedom) within, which is what work is meant for. 

‘Yoga karmasu kausalam’

Gita teaches Karma-Yoga. We should work through Yoga (concentration). In such concentration in action (Karma-Yoga), there is no consciousness of the lower ego present. The consciousness that I am doing this and that is never present when one works through Yoga. The Western people do not understand this. They say that if there be no consciousness of ego, if this ego is gone, how then can a man work? But when one works with concentration, losing all consciousness of oneself the work that is done will be infinitely better, and this every one may have experienced in his own life. 

        We perform many works subconsciously, such as the digestion of food etc., many others consciously, and others again by becoming immersed in Samâdhi as it were, when there is no consciousness of the smaller ego. If the painter, losing the consciousness of his ego, becomes completely immersed in his painting, he will be able to produce masterpieces. The good cook concentrates his whole self on the food-material he handles; he loses all other consciousness for the time being. But they are only able to do perfectly a single work in this way, to which they are habituated. The Gita teaches that all works should be done thus. He who is one with the Lord through Yoga performs all his works by becoming immersed in concentration, and does not seek any personal benefit. Such a performance of work brings only good to the world, no evil can come out of it. Those who work thus never do anything for themselves.

The result of every work is mixed with good and evil. There is no good work that has not a touch of evil in it. Like smoke round the fire, some evil always clings to work. We should engage in such works as bring the largest amount of good and the smallest measure of evil. (V, 247 – 248)