I have finished reading the 5th Adhyaya. And for me, the whole of it boils down to this 12th verse:
युक्त: कर्मफलं त्यक्त्वा शान्तिमाप्नोति नैष्ठीकीम
अयुक्त: कामकारेण फले सक्तो निबध्यते
The purport goes as follows:
The steadily devoted soul attains unadulterated peace because he offers the result of all activities to Me; whereas a person who is not in union with the Divine, who is greedy for the fruits of his labor, becomes entangled.
On the theoretical level, this seems almost like a no-brainer, isn't it? The best way to get disengaged from the material world is not to renounce it completely but to be there and still be free from it. And yet, it is one of the most difficult things in life. In this day and age, who has got time to do anything just for the love of it? We all do most of the things because we have to earn our living or because it is our duty. That's precisely what gets us into the anxiety about the results of the work. Have I done it right? What if I have messed it up? What will this person say and what will that person think? Sleepless nights, increased stress levels and a complete waste of time - none of it is conducive to our well-being.
Yet, somewhere deep down, we all know that it is futile to fret over things we don't control. But we do it nonetheless. And make our lives miserable. Only if we could follow the adage 'Do your best and leave the rest to God'. Not only will we get rid of unproductive worrying, it will leave us with a lot of free time to do things we really love doing. There will be lot of peace and calm.
And who knows? In the process, we might actually be able to take ourselves a teeny weeny bit far away from the illusion that is this life.
युक्त: कर्मफलं त्यक्त्वा शान्तिमाप्नोति नैष्ठीकीम
अयुक्त: कामकारेण फले सक्तो निबध्यते
The purport goes as follows:
The steadily devoted soul attains unadulterated peace because he offers the result of all activities to Me; whereas a person who is not in union with the Divine, who is greedy for the fruits of his labor, becomes entangled.
On the theoretical level, this seems almost like a no-brainer, isn't it? The best way to get disengaged from the material world is not to renounce it completely but to be there and still be free from it. And yet, it is one of the most difficult things in life. In this day and age, who has got time to do anything just for the love of it? We all do most of the things because we have to earn our living or because it is our duty. That's precisely what gets us into the anxiety about the results of the work. Have I done it right? What if I have messed it up? What will this person say and what will that person think? Sleepless nights, increased stress levels and a complete waste of time - none of it is conducive to our well-being.
Yet, somewhere deep down, we all know that it is futile to fret over things we don't control. But we do it nonetheless. And make our lives miserable. Only if we could follow the adage 'Do your best and leave the rest to God'. Not only will we get rid of unproductive worrying, it will leave us with a lot of free time to do things we really love doing. There will be lot of peace and calm.
And who knows? In the process, we might actually be able to take ourselves a teeny weeny bit far away from the illusion that is this life.
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