Reward orientation is reflective of Intellectual Imbalance-Gita Verse 2.49

Chitvish · May 1, 2008

In this verse the Lord extols the glory of Karma Yoga, the balanced state of mind and makes clear its usefulness in raising the dignity of action and bringing eternal freedom to the doer.

DooraeNa hyavaram karma, buddhiyOgaadhananjaya
Buddhau s(h)araNamanvichcha, krupaNA: phalahaethava: - 2.49

Oh, Arjuna ! Action (with motive) is indeed far inferior to the Yoga of attitude. Take refuge in this (Yoga of) attitude. Those who are motivated by results are unfortunate.

Buddhi Yoga is "balanced intellect", the balanced state of mind as explained previously.
In this state, a man is not affected by success or failure.
It is not that he consciously tries to treat loss and gain as the same – this is hypocrisy or self-deception.
He is naturally unaffected by them - this is the really good and desirable state.
An attempt to develop a conscious indifference towards results during the process of an action can only lead to tension and dullness of mind. The emphasis is on gaining pure intelligence or Being. It is the state of Being which cultures the mind to be one-pointed, thus improving its effectiveness during action (Please refer to verse 45).

Very often this verse is misinterpreted that Krishna advises people to work, but not to aim at a result! The Lord here only means to show Arjuna a principle of raising the value of action by raising the level of the mind and enabling it to rise to the state of unbounded consciousness in eternal freedom.
We can interpret Buddhi Yoga as an individual's attempt to live and act from the zone of the intellect which controls freely and steadily receives faithful obedience from the mind. In short
The objective mind
Working under the control and order of
The subjective mind
Is called Buddhi Yoga.
Vyasa uses a strong term "wretched are those who act for the results (krupaNA: phalahaethava: )
They are wretched because, in their desire prompted activities, they will incur new vasanas and their own glorious divinity will get thickly veiled by ignorance.
To exhaust our stored vasanas, unselfish work must be performed in a spirit of dedication and egoless surrender. The mind will emerge clean and discover the eternal Godhood.
Efficient activity in the present shall order true results.

Love,
Chithra.

Anandchitra · May 1, 2008

Dear Chithra
The title is really daunting. It took a few minutes to reflect and understand.
It appears that when one expects a reward for an action done reflects the state of the mind of the doer.
Like your opening statement says, the dignity of action is important and how to get freedon from this state or cycle where results are expected.
Action with an ulterior motive is definetly inferior to the action that is performed with an expectation of result.
I am so glad you explained that Krishna is showing the principle of raising the level of action by raising the level of the mind.. I have only one question if you could clarify please.. when you say unselfish work ; does that apply to every work we do.. you know day to day workor is this some special work?
Thanks again for writing on this topic.

Cheeniya · May 1, 2008

Dear Chithra
The statement that “wretched are those who act for the results” is at once confusing and misleading. In the modern context, it will be very difficult to understand how any one can perform an action without the thought of the result. Will not action without the thought of result breed indifference? How can there be a sense of involvement if an action is performed for the sake of action alone? In fact, this is where the Lord’s Teachings get a bit difficult to comprehend.

In this part of our country, the political parties conduct rallies from time to time to display their might. The size of the crowd that gathers to participate in these rallies is supposed to be an indicator of the strength and standing of the party. It is no secret that the parties concerned hire professional participants to join these rallies at a tremendous cost. A substantial percentage of the crowd is constituted by these hired professionals who can be seen participating in diverse political rallies. They will have no knowledge of the purpose of the rallies or any interest in them. At the end of the rally, they collect their wages and food packets and go back to their own routine.

Many are aware that whenever a death takes place particularly in villages, professional mourners are employed to mourn the death. They can be seen crying more than the kith and kin of the deceased. They would come to the house of the bereaved family every day for a specific period to beat their chests and cry eulogizing the qualities of the diseased. They will be performing all their actions without any feeling of grief for the departed soul. This is not the kind of attitude that the Lord prescribes here when He talks about performance of a Karma.

When we perform our duties, it will naturally be tuned towards a specific goal. There will be no positive vibe if success is not the goal of our actions. So what is emphasised here is not that our Karma should be performed unmindful of the result but that our mental equilibrium should not be disturbed by the nature of the result. When a renowned sculptor or a painter is at work, his sole aim will be to ensure that the outcome of his effort should enhance his reputation and his professional status further. He will not be thinking of the monetary value of his work. A world class musician will not tune his performance to the amount of reward that he gets for the concert. The quality of his music will be the same irrespective of what he gets by way of remuneration. His professional pride will take precedence over all other consideration.

Let us remember that our Karma should be in pursuit of excellence but not of a reward.
Sri

Chitvish · May 1, 2008

Dear AC,
The title, though daunting puts in a nutshell what this post is all about.
Unselfish work - this applies to every work we do.We must enjoy every single act like bathing, cooking etc instead dimissing them as mundane jobs.
Our very perspective changes and we enjoy every minute of action.
Love,
Chithra.

anandchitra said: ↑

Dear Chithra
The title is really daunting. It took a few minutes to reflect and understand.
It appears that when one expects a reward for an action done reflects the state of the mind of the doer.
Like your opening statement says, the dignity of action is important and how to get freedon from this state or cycle where results are expected.
Action with an ulterior motive is definetly inferior to the action that is performed with an expectation of result.
I am so glad you explained that Krishna is showing the principle of raising the level of action by raising the level of the mind.. I have only one question if you could clarify please.. when you say unselfish work ; does that apply to every work we do.. you know day to day workor is this some special work?
Thanks again for writing on this topic.
Click to expand...

Chitvish · May 1, 2008

Dear Sri,
Both the examples you have given, explain the point much better than my post.
There is no pleasure in doing a chore if we do not enjoy it - then we are very similar to the person taking part in the political rally for a wage or a professional mourner.

My teacher explains Krpanah (misers) thus.
Misers are those who have money but do not have the heart to spend it, either on themselves or on others.
Those who have no money are not misers because they have no money to spend.
Lastly, those who do have money and spend when there are occasions to spend are also not misers.
A person who has money and spends more than what he has, who does not spend judiciously is a spendthrift & as such, is as much a problem as the one who has the money and does not spend it at all.
A miser doesnot spend for fear of losing his money and wants to save for post-retirement.Sometimes, he dies before retirement & somebody else gets everything. Misers have no heart to spend because priorities are not clear to them. They do not realise what money is for!
The meaning of the word Krpanah (misers)is extended here to dicuss of one's buddhi.
It is better to become a karma yogi because it is not easy to become a sanyasi!

So we must use our intellect to make our actions yield the maximum results & bring fulfillment to our aspirations.

Thanks, for explaining so well, Sri.
Love,
Chithra.

mkthpavi · May 1, 2008

Dear Chithra Ma'am and Cheeniya Sir,
No concept could be more relevant to Kali Yuga than what has been extolled by Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita as 'Karma Yoga'. These days, many of us are acting / reacting as a response to 'having the competitive spirit', societal expectations, peer pressure etc, instead of satisfying the 'self' - the heart. Our wants and desires are increasing at a rate higher than our needs ! And adding to the turmoil is the fact that many of us do not want to accept that we are actually not happy in pursuit of material pleasures !!
Though I am not as experienced as you both, in life, I can vouch for one thing though. No amount of money or fame pursued can equal the joys experienced in the simple pleasures of life. For example, I know of couples who both work long hours and stay away from each other for months together - in order to work, earn and save money. Nothing wrong with this objective - for them the expected reward for their action is perhaps a sizeable bank balance. But still, the sheer joy of spending time with spouse has much higher value than this accordingly and thats the 'intangible' reward they are missing out perhaps ! But again, that is 'their' karma yoga may be...who knows !!
I am happy that IL and your posts are at least making me think in the right direction and help me change 'gears' where necessary

Thanks and love
Your IL disciple
Pavithra

Chitvish · May 1, 2008

Dear Pavithra,
I fully agree with you.
It is sad, in today's life, quantity seems to take an edge over quality.I cannot understand when today's parents talk of spending quality time with their children, unlike what people of our generation did! Does quality time mean, you are at your best behaviour at that time?
What you have written about is a clear example of the last category I have mentioned about - a miser saving money, but prematurely dying without enjoying it.
We have to learn to strike a judicious balance between tangible and intangible rewards.
Let me be very frank - the tangible reward, me & Sri get here is, a handful of you enjoying these posts and declaring that this does help you think in the right direction.
Love,
Chithra.

mkthpavi · May 1, 2008

Dear Chithra Ma'am..

Let me be very frank too...I feel so good every morning since I know there is sthg or the other to be learnt from elders like you all on IL. I think I am rewarded more here

Many times, honestly, I wish, I should go back to 'those good old days' when life seemed much simpler. But again, perhaps, someone might say "Pavi...the grass is always greener on the other side'

In any case, I agree with you and Cheeniya that we should work towards meaningful objectives that are long-lasting and not material pleasures which are transient.

Love
Pavithra

Kamla · May 1, 2008

Dear Chithra,

Though it sounds complicated, Karmayoga holds the mantra to peace. Afterall, we can only do our duty with dedication and we know the results do not lie in our influence. If we can build a mental equanimity to accept both the positive and negative results alike, we would achieve a certain peace.
As human beings, we only have so much in our control, rest is directed by our destiny. That being so, we get hassled about things that are out of our control and make it difficult for ourselves.
These lines are really very valuable and a worthy guidance in life.

L, Kamla

Kamla · May 1, 2008

Dear Cheeniyasir,

The Gita postings seem incomplete these days without your fbs to it!
Your first lines were very reassuring. True, how can any action gain interest unless it is binded with a goal? I think it is inherent human nature to expect a certain result for his actions, mostly positive! And there lies the crux of all trouble. Positive or negative outcome is not in our own hands and if we can realize this and be prepared mentally, it will be to our own advantage.
Well, all I can do is arm myself with these thoughts and hope it helps me in my moment of trial.
As for your very last lines, to sing for the 'professional pride' also seems to be somewhat wrong, is it not?!...talking from the Gita's learnings?!! Sing for the pure joy of it sounds fine to me ?

L, Kamla