Once we are into the philosophical side of life and want to
direct our lives in a more sensible way, we are right away confronted with a dictum- “To
work you have the right but don’t seek the fruit”. “Work selflessly and you
will be free”. “Nishkama karma will free you of impurities” etc. Our scriptures waste no time. It right away tells us that we suffer because we have held erroneous notion of life. This notion has further been fortified by our actions', actions spurred by attachment and desire. This dictum of "selfless work" is
such that it drains out all our joys and makes us feel sapped of all our
purposes. Suddenly we feel we are walking with iron shoes and instant drudgery
follows. While we haven’t even tried we are already feeling the weight and the
monotony.
It appears as though the scriptures have succeeded in doing
what it is known for: repelling! Then the typical, predictable, understandable
cry, “What joy is there when we can’t get excited, when we are not allowed to
be anxious? The scriptures just want to deprive us of the joys just because
someone feels it’s useless! just because someone lacks verve!”
However, let’s cheer
for the ones who put their faith amidst the contrary charms and put this dictum
to test. Believing strongly in the promise of Sri Krishna “Yatadagre vishmeva
pariname amrtopamam.. what is bitter as poison in the beginning ends up having
a nectar like effect in the end”, there are many who have put this “Nishkama”
theory to test.
Interestingly, what follows from this faith is something more
powerful in its effect and satisfying to reason. The scriptures, we find, were
not mere unreasonable dictators but were simply placing the laws of nature.
They didn't care if we followed because they had nothing to lose. Nor did they
want us to grope in dark and hammer ourselves cursing fate. At a stage when man runs recklessly claiming credit for all the good things done by him and blaming
fate for all the disasters, it clearly shows that his intellect hasn't
developed. To such a frantic man who needs help, how can reasonable arguments
work? You got to shove the spoon of “faith” down his throat and tell him,
“Trust me on this one”!.
That apart, hope and expectations from work are unavoidable
and they make for the kinetics of action.
Truly speaking, to work without hope and expectation is
possible only for those who have transcended their “body” identity to the
identity with the undying spirit. It’s possible for them because they have become
fearless. Fear and hope are closely linked.
In our stage, till we reach those planes, we will have to
work, hope and expect. But to us this dictum would mean that we would, at the
least, have to “go forward” or “move on”. If a thing works out, good! But we go
forward. If a thing goes awfully wrong, bad! But we still ‘move on’. The best
things about the ‘bad’ are the lessons embedded in them and for a man of
developed intellect these lessons become more valuable than success. Why we
have no alternate than to “move on” or “go forward” is because this seems to be
the most sensible thing to do. An aspirant’s goal is not to achieve success in
work and avoid failure but to be free and attain to peace. In the case of the
ordinary, success seems to be the driving force but in reality it is also a
form of freedom that he seeks. Freedom from being held down.
Mean while, the ones
who have persisted are mighty relieved to realize the wonderful laws that underlie this great dictum. So why should we not seek the fruits of our action? What are
these laws learning which, man gets all the more encouraged to do “selfless”
work? Probably discuss it next time.
