Karma Yoga

Swami Vivekananda

Book: Karma Yoga Author: Swami Vivekananda E-book editor: Tito Dutta Price: Free License This work was published before 1 January 1!"#$ This work is in the publi% domain worldwide$ Permission You are free to %opy share distribute this &'book$ Year: (pril ")1"

CHAPTER I
KAR A I! IT" E##ECT $! CHARACTER The word Karma is derived from the Sanskrit Kri to do* all a%tion is Karma$ Te%hni%ally this word also means the effe%ts of a%tions$ +n %onne%tion with metaphysi%s it sometimes means the effe%ts of whi%h our past a%tions were the %auses$ ,ut in Karma'Yoga we have simply to do with the word Karma as meaning work$ The goal of mankind is knowledge$ That is the one ideal pla%ed before us by &astern philosophy$ -leasure is not the goal of man but knowledge$ -leasure and happiness %ome to an end$ +t is a mistake to suppose that pleasure is the goal$ The %ause of all the miseries we have in the world is that men foolishly think pleasure to be the ideal to strive for$ (fter a time man finds that it is not happiness but knowledge towards whi%h he is going and that both pleasure and pain are great tea%hers and that he learns as mu%h from evil as from good$ (s pleasure and pain pass before his soul they have upon it different pi%tures and the result of these %ombined impressions is what is %alled man.s /%hara%ter/$ +f you take the %hara%ter of any man it really is but the aggregate of tenden%ies the sum total of the bent of his mind* you will find that misery and happiness are e0ual fa%tors in the formation of that %hara%ter$ 1ood and evil have an e0ual share in moulding %hara%ter and in some instan%es misery is a greater tea%her than happiness$ +n studying the great %hara%ters the world has produ%ed + dare say in the vast ma2ority of %ases it would be found that it was misery that taught more than happiness it was poverty that taught more than wealth it was blows that brought out their inner fire more than praise$ 3ow this knowledge again is inherent in man$ 3o knowledge %omes from outside* it is all inside$ 4hat we say a man /knows/ should in stri%t psy%hologi%al language be what he /dis%overs/ or /unveils/* what a man /learns/ is really what he /dis%overs/ by taking the %over off his own soul whi%h is a mine of infinite knowledge$ 4e say 3ewton dis%overed gravitation$ 4as it sitting anywhere in a %orner waiting for him5 +t was in his own mind* the time %ame and he found it out$ (ll knowledge that the world has ever re%eived %omes from the mind* the infinite library of the universe is in your own mind$ The e6ternal world is simply the suggestion the o%%asion whi%h sets you to study your own mind but the ob2e%t of your study is always your own mind$ The falling of an apple gave the suggestion to 3ewton and he studied his own mind$ 7e rearranged all the previous links of thought in his mind and dis%overed a new link among them whi%h we %all the law of gravitation$ +t was not in the apple nor in anything in the %entre of the earth$ (ll knowledge therefore se%ular or spiritual is in the human mind$ +n many %ases it is not dis%overed but remains %overed and when the %overing is being slowly taken off we say /4e are learning / and the advan%e of knowledge is made by the advan%e of this pro%ess of un%overing$ The man from whom this veil is being lifted is the more knowing man the man upon whom it lies thi%k is ignorant and the man from whom it has entirely gone is all'knowing omnis%ient$ There have been omnis%ient men and + believe there will be yet* and that there will be myriads of them in the %y%les to %ome$ 8ike fire in a pie%e of flint knowledge e6ists in the mind* suggestion is the fri%tion whi%h brings it out$ So with all our feelings and a%tion 9 our tears and our smiles our 2oys and our griefs our weeping and our laughter our %urses and our blessings our praises and our blames 9 every one of these we may find if we %almly study our own selves to have been brought out from within ourselves by so many blows$ The result is what we are$ (ll these blows taken together are %alled Karma 9 work a%tion$ &very mental and physi%al blow that is given to the soul by whi%h as it were fire is stru%k from it and by whi%h its own power and knowledge are dis%overed is Karma this word being used in its widest sense$ Thus we are all doing Karma all the time$ + am

talking to you: that is Karma$ You are listening: that is Karma$ 4e breathe: that is Karma$ 4e walk: Karma$ &verything we do physi%al or mental is Karma and it leaves its marks on us$ There are %ertain works whi%h are as it were the aggregate the sum total of a large number of smaller works$ +f we stand near the seashore and hear the waves dashing against the shingle we think it is su%h a great noise and yet we know that one wave is really %omposed of millions and millions of minute waves$ &a%h one of these is making a noise and yet we do not %at%h it* it is only when they be%ome the big aggregate that we hear$ Similarly every pulsation of the heart is work$ ;ertain kinds of work we feel and they be%ome tangible to us* they are at the same time the aggregate of a number of small works$ +f you really want to 2udge of the %hara%ter of a man look not at his great performan%es$ &very fool may be%ome a hero at one time or another$ 4at%h a man do his most %ommon a%tions* those are indeed the things whi%h will tell you the real %hara%ter of a great man$ 1reat o%%asions rouse even the lowest of human beings to some kind of greatness but he alone is the really great man whose %hara%ter is great always the same wherever he be$ Karma in its effe%t on %hara%ter is the most tremendous power that man has to deal with$ <an is as it were a %entre and is attra%ting all the powers of the universe towards himself and in this %entre is fusing them all and again sending them off in a big %urrent$ Su%h a %entre is the real man 9 the almighty the omnis%ient 9 and he draws the whole universe towards him$ 1ood and bad misery and happiness all are running towards him and %linging round him* and out of them he fashions the mighty stream of tenden%y %alled %hara%ter and throws it outwards$ (s he has the power of drawing in anything so has he the power of throwing it out$ (ll the a%tions that we see in the world all the movements in human so%iety all the works that we have around us are simply the display of thought the manifestation of the will of man$ <a%hines or instruments %ities ships or men'of'war all these are simply the manifestation of the will of man* and this will is %aused by %hara%ter and %hara%ter is manufa%tured by Karma$ (s is Karma so is the manifestation of the will$ The men of mighty will the world has produ%ed have all been tremendous workers 9 giganti% souls with wills powerful enough to overturn worlds wills they got by persistent work through ages and ages$ Su%h a giganti% will as that of a ,uddha or a Jesus %ould not be obtained in one life for we know who their fathers were$ +t is not known that their fathers ever spoke a word for the good of mankind$ <illions and millions of %arpenters like Joseph had gone* millions are still living$ <illions and millions of petty kings like ,uddha.s father had been in the world$ +f it was only a %ase of hereditary transmission how do you a%%ount for this petty prin%e who was not perhaps obeyed by his own servants produ%ing this son whom half a world worships5 7ow do you e6plain the gulf between the %arpenter and his son whom millions of human beings worship as 1od5 +t %annot be solved by the theory of heredity$ The giganti% will whi%h ,uddha and Jesus threw over the world when%e did it %ome5 4hen%e %ame this a%%umulation of power5 +t must have been there through ages and ages %ontinually growing bigger and bigger until it burst on so%iety in a ,uddha or a Jesus even rolling down to the present day$ (ll this is determined by Karma work$ 3o one %an get anything unless he earns it$ This is an eternal law$ 4e may sometimes think it is not so but in the long run we be%ome %onvin%ed of it$ ( man may struggle all his life for ri%hes* he may %heat thousands but he finds at last that he did not deserve to be%ome ri%h and his life be%omes a trouble and a nuisan%e to him$ 4e may go on a%%umulating things for our physi%al en2oyment but only what we earn is really ours$ ( fool may buy all the books in the world and they will be in his library* but he will be able to read only those that he deserves to* and this deserving is produ%ed by Karma$ =ur Karma determines what we deserve and what we %an assimilate$ 4e are responsible for what we are* and whatever we wish ourselves to be we have the power to make ourselves$ +f what we are now has been the result of our own past a%tions it %ertainly follows that whatever we wish to be in future %an be produ%ed by our present a%tions* so we have to know how to a%t$ You will say >4hat is the use of learning how to

work5 &veryone works in some way or other in this world$? ,ut there is su%h a thing as frittering away our energies$ 4ith regard to Karma'Yoga the 1ita says that it is doing work with %leverness and as a s%ien%e* by knowing how to work one %an obtain the greatest results$ You must remember that all work is simply to bring out the power of the mind whi%h is already there to wake up the soul$ The power is inside every man so is knowing* the different works are like blows to bring them out to %ause these giants to wake up$ <an works with various motives$ There %annot be work without motive$ Some people want to get fame and they work for fame$ =thers want money and they work for money$ =thers want to have power and they work for power$ =thers want to get to heaven and they work for the same$ =thers want to leave a name when they die as they do in ;hina where no man gets a title until he is dead* and that is a better way after all than with us$ 4hen a man does something very good there they give a title of nobility to his father who is dead or to his grandfather$ Some people work for that$ Some of the followers of %ertain <ohammedan se%ts work all their lives to have a big tomb built for them when they die$ + know se%ts among whom as soon as a %hild is born a tomb is prepared for it* that is among them the most important work a man has to do and the bigger and the finer the tomb the better off the man is supposed to be$ =thers work as a penan%e* do all sorts of wi%ked things then ere%t a temple or give something to the priests to buy them off and obtain from them a passport to heaven$ They think that this kind of benefi%en%e will %lear them and they will go s%ot' free in spite of their sinfulness$ Su%h are some of the various motives for work$ 4ork for work.s sake$ There are some who are really the salt of the earth in every %ountry and who work for work.s sake who do not %are for name or fame or even to go to heaven$ They work 2ust be%ause good will %ome of it$ There are others who do good to the poor and help mankind from still higher motives be%ause they believe in doing good and love good$ The motive for name and fame seldom brings immediate results as a rule* they %ome to us when we are old and have almost done with life$ +f a man works without any selfish motive in view does he not gain anything5 Yes he gains the highest$ @nselfishness is more paying only people have not the patien%e to pra%ti%e it$ +t is more paying from the point of view of health also$ 8ove truth and unselfishness are not merely moral figures of spee%h but they form our highest ideal be%ause in them lies su%h a manifestation of power$ +n the first pla%e a man who %an work for five days or even for five minutes without any selfish motive whatever without thinking of future of heaven of punishment or anything of the kind has in him the %apa%ity to be%ome a powerful moral giant$ +t is hard to do it but in the heart of our hearts we know its value and the good it brings$ +t is the greatest manifestation of power 9 this tremendous restraint* self'restraint is a manifestation of greater power than all outgoing a%tion$ ( %arriage with four horses may rush down a hill unrestrained or the %oa%hman may %urb the horses$ 4hi%h is the greater manifestation of power to let them go or to hold them5 ( %annonball flying through the air goes a long distan%e and falls$ (nother is %ut short in its flight by striking against a wall and the impa%t generates intense heat$ (ll outgoing energy following a selfish motive is frittered away* it will not %ause power to return to you* but if restrained it will result in development of power$ This self'%ontrol will tend to produ%e a mighty will a %hara%ter whi%h makes a ;hrist or a ,uddha$ Foolish men do not know this se%ret* they nevertheless want to rule mankind$ &ven a fool may rule the whole world if he works and waits$ 8et him wait a few years restrain that foolish idea of governing* and when that idea is wholly gone he will be a power in the world$ The ma2ority of us %annot see beyond a few years 2ust as some animals %annot see beyond a few steps$ Just a little narrow %ir%le 9 that is our world$ 4e have not the patien%e to look beyond and thus be%ome immoral and wi%ked$ This is our weakness our powerlessness$ &ven the lowest forms of work are not to be despised$ 8et the man who knows no better work for selfish ends for name and fame* but everyone should always try to get towards higher and higher motives and to understand them$ /To work we have the right but not to the fruits thereof:/ 8eave

the fruits alone$ 4hy %are for results5 +f you wish to help a man never think what that man.s attitude should be towards you$ +f you want to do a great or a good work do not trouble to think what the result will be$ There arises a diffi%ult 0uestion in this ideal of work$ +ntense a%tivity is ne%essary* we must always work$ 4e %annot live a minute without work$ 4hat then be%omes of rest5 7ere is one side of the life'struggle 9 work in whi%h we are whirled rapidly round$ (nd here is the other 9 that of %alm retiring renun%iation: everything is pea%eful around there is very little of noise and show only nature with her animals and flowers and mountains$ 3either of them is a perfe%t pi%ture$ ( man used to solitude if brought in %onta%t with the surging whirlpool of the world will be %rushed by it* 2ust as the fish that lives in the deep sea water as soon as it is brought to the surfa%e breaks into pie%es deprived of the weight of water on it that had kept it together$ ;an a man who has been used to the turmoil and the rush of life live at ease if he %omes to a 0uiet pla%e5 7e suffers and per%han%e may lose his mind$ The ideal man is he who in the midst of the greatest silen%e and solitude finds the intensest a%tivity and in the midst of the intensest a%tivity finds the silen%e and solitude of the desert$ 7e has learnt the se%ret of restraint he has %ontrolled himself$ 7e goes through the streets of a big %ity with all its traffi% and his mind is as %alm as if he were in a %ave where not a sound %ould rea%h him* and he is intensely working all the time$ That is the ideal of Karma'Yoga and if you have attained to that you have really learnt the se%ret of work$ ,ut we have to begin from the beginning to take up the works as they %ome to us and slowly make ourselves more unselfish every day$ 4e must do the work and find out the motive power that prompts us* and almost without e6%eption in the first years we shall find that our motives are always selfish* but gradually this selfishness will melt by persisten%e till at last will %ome the time when we shall be able to do really unselfish work$ 4e may all hope that some day or other as we struggle through the paths of life there will %ome a time when we shall be%ome perfe%tly unselfish* and the moment we attain to that all our powers will be %on%entrated and the knowledge whi%h is ours will be manifest$

CHAPTER II
EACH I" %REAT I! HI" $&! PLACE (%%ording to the SAnkhya philosophy nature is %omposed of three for%es %alled in Sanskrit Sattva Ba2as and Tamas$ These as manifested in the physi%al world are what we may %all e0uilibrium a%tivity and inertness$ Tamas is typified as darkness or ina%tivity* Ba2as is a%tivity e6pressed as attra%tion or repulsion* and Sattva is the e0uilibrium of the two$ +n every man there are these three for%es$ Sometimes Tamas prevails$ 4e be%ome laCy we %annot move we are ina%tive bound down by %ertain ideas or by mere dullness$ (t other times a%tivity prevails and at still other times that %alm balan%ing of both$ (gain in different men one of these for%es is generally predominant$ The %hara%teristi% of one man is ina%tivity dullness and laCiness* that of another a%tivity power manifestation of energy* and in still another we find the sweetness %almness and gentleness whi%h are due to the balan%ing of both a%tion and ina%tion$ So in all %reation 9 in animals plants and men 9 we find the more or less typi%al manifestation of all these different for%es$ Karma'Yoga has spe%ially to deal with these three fa%tors$ ,y tea%hing what they are and how to employ them it helps us to do our work better$ 7uman so%iety is a graded organiCation$ 4e all know about morality and we all know about duty but at the same time we find that in different %ountries the signifi%an%e of morality varies greatly$ 4hat is regarded as moral in one %ountry may in another be %onsidered perfe%tly immoral$ For instan%e in one %ountry %ousins 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 %ountry people may marry only on%e* in another many times* and so forth$ Similarly in all other departments of morality we find the standard varies greatly 9 yet we have the idea that there must be a universal standard of morality$ So it is with duty$ The idea of duty varies mu%h among different nations$ +n one %ountry if a man does not do %ertain things people will say he has a%ted wrongly* while if he does those very things in another %ountry people will say that he did not a%t rightly 9 and yet we know that there must be some universal idea of duty$ +n the same way one %lass of so%iety thinks that %ertain things are among its duty while another %lass thinks 0uite the opposite and would be horrified if it had to do those things$ Two ways are left open to us 9 the way of the ignorant who think that there is only one way to truth and that all the rest are wrong and the way of the wise who admit that a%%ording to our mental %onstitution or the different planes of e6isten%e in whi%h we are duty and morality may vary$ The important thing is to know that there are gradations of duty and of morality 9 that the duty of one state of life in one set of %ir%umstan%es will not and %annot be that of another$ To illustrate: (ll great tea%hers have taught /Besist not evil / that non'resistan%e is the highest moral ideal$ 4e all know that if a %ertain number of us attempted to put that ma6im fully into pra%ti%e the whole so%ial fabri% would fall to pie%es the wi%ked would take possession of our properties and our lives and would do whatever they liked with us$ &ven if only one day of su%h non'resistan%e were pra%ti%ed it would lead to disaster$ Yet intuitively in our heart of hearts we feel the truth of the tea%hing /Besist not evil$/ This seems to us to be the highest ideal* yet to tea%h this do%trine only would be e0uivalent to %ondemning a vast portion of mankind$ 3ot only so it would be making men feel that they were always doing wrong and %ause in them s%ruples of %ons%ien%e in all their a%tions* it would weaken them and that %onstant self'disapproval would breed more vi%e than any other weakness would$ To the man who has begun to hate himself the gate to degeneration has already opened* and the same is true of a nation$

=ur first duty is not to hate ourselves be%ause to advan%e we must have faith in ourselves first and then in 1od$ 7e who has no faith in himself %an never have faith in 1od$ Therefore the only alternative remaining to us is to re%ognise that duty and morality vary under different %ir%umstan%es* not that the man who resists evil is doing what is always and in itself wrong but that in the different %ir%umstan%es in whi%h he is pla%ed it may be%ome even his duty to resist evil$ +n reading the ,hagavad'1ita many of you in 4estern %ountries may have felt astonished at the se%ond %hapter wherein Shri Krishna %alls (r2una a hypo%rite and a %oward be%ause of his refusal to fight or offer resistan%e on a%%ount of his adversaries being his friends and relatives making the plea that non'resistan%e was the highest ideal of love$ This is a great lesson for us all to learn that in all matters the two e6tremes are alike$ The e6treme positive and the e6treme negative are always similar$ 4hen the vibrations of light are too slow we do not see them nor do we see them when they are too rapid$ So with sound* when very low in pit%h we do not hear it* when very high we do not hear it either$ =f like nature is the differen%e between resistan%e and non'resistan%e$ =ne man does not resist be%ause he is weak laCy and %annot not be%ause he will not* the other man knows that he %an strike an irresistible blow if he likes* yet he not only does not strike but blesses his enemies$ The one who from weakness resists not %ommits a sin and as su%h %annot re%eive any benefit from the non'resistan%e* while the other would %ommit a sin by offering resistan%e$ ,uddha gave up his throne and renoun%ed his position that was true renun%iation* but there %annot be any 0uestion of renun%iation in the %ase of a beggar who has nothing to renoun%e$ So we must always be %areful about what we really mean when we speak of this non'resistan%e and ideal love$ 4e must first take %are to understand whether we have the power of resistan%e or not$ Then having the power if we renoun%e it and do not resist we are doing a grand a%t of love* but if we %annot resist and yet at the same time try to de%eive ourselves into the belief that we are a%tuated by motives of the highest love we are doing the e6a%t opposite$ (r2una be%ame a %oward at the sight of the mighty array against him* his /love/ made him forget his duty towards his %ountry and king$ That is why Shri Krishna told him that he was a hypo%rite: Thou talkest like a wise man but thy a%tions betray thee to be a %oward* therefore stand up and fightD Su%h is the %entral idea of Karma'Yoga$ The Karma'Yogi is the man who understands that the highest ideal is non'resistan%e and who also knows that this non'resistan%e is the highest manifestation of power in a%tual possession and also what is %alled the resisting of evil is but a step on the way towards the manifestation of this highest power namely non'resistan%e$ ,efore rea%hing this highest ideal man.s duty is to resist evil* let him work let him fight let him strike straight from the shoulder$ Then only when he has gained the power to resist will non'resistan%e be a virtue$ + on%e met a man in my %ountry whom + had known before as a very stupid dull person who knew nothing and had not the desire to know anything and was living the life of a brute$ 7e asked me what he should do to know 1od how he was to get free$ /;an you tell a lie5/ + asked him$ /3o / he replied$ /Then you must learn to do so$ +t is better to tell a lie than to be a brute or a log of wood$ You are ina%tive* you have not %ertainly rea%hed the highest state whi%h is beyond all a%tions %alm and serene* you are too dull even to do something wi%ked$/ That was an e6treme %ase of %ourse and + was 2oking with him* but what + meant was that a man must be a%tive in order to pass through a%tivity to perfe%t %almness$ +na%tivity should be avoided by all means$ (%tivity always means resistan%e$ Besist all evils mental and physi%al* and when you have su%%eeded in resisting then will %almness %ome$ +t is very easy to say /7ate nobody resist not evil / but we know what that kind of thing generally means in pra%ti%e$ 4hen the eyes of so%iety are turned towards us we may make a show of non'resistan%e but in our

hearts it is %anker all the time$ 4e feel the utter want of the %alm of non'resistan%e* we feel that it would be better for us to resist$ +f you desire wealth and know at the same time that the whole world regards him who aims at wealth as a very wi%ked man you perhaps will not dare to plunge into the struggle for wealth yet your mind will be running day and night after money$ This is hypo%risy and will serve no purpose$ -lunge into the world and then after a time when you have suffered and en2oyed all that is in it will renun%iation %ome* then will %almness %ome$ So fulfil your desire for power and everything else and after you have fulfilled the desire will %ome the time when you will know that they are all very little things* but until you have fulfilled this desire until you have passed through that a%tivity it is impossible for you to %ome to the state of %almness serenity and self'surrender$ These ideas of serenity and renun%iation have been prea%hed for thousands of years* everybody has heard of them from %hildhood and yet we see very few in the world who have really rea%hed that stage$ + do not know if + have seen twenty persons in my life who are really %alm and non'resisting and + have travelled over half the world$ &very man should take up his own ideal and endeavour to a%%omplish it$ That is a surer way of progress than taking up other men.s ideals whi%h he %an never hope to a%%omplish$ For instan%e we take a %hild and at on%e give him the task of walking twenty miles$ &ither the little one dies or one in a thousand %rawls the twenty miles to rea%h the end e6hausted and half'dead$ That is like what we generally try to do with the world$ (ll the men and women in any so%iety are not of the same mind %apa%ity or of the same power to do things* they must have different ideals and we have no right to sneer at any ideal$ 8et every one do the best he %an for realising his own ideal$ 3or is it right that + should be 2udged by your standard or you by mine$ The apple tree should not be 2udged by the standard of the oak nor the oak by that of the apple$ To 2udge the apple tree you must take the apple standard and for the oak its own standard$ @nity in variety is the plan of %reation$ 7owever men and women may vary individually there is unity in the ba%kground$ The different individual %hara%ters and %lasses of men and women are natural variations in %reation$ 7en%e we ought not to 2udge them by the same standard or put the same ideal before them$ Su%h a %ourse %reates only an unnatural struggle and the result is that man begins to hate himself and is hindered from be%oming religious and good$ =ur duty is to en%ourage every one in his struggle to live up to his own highest ideal and strive at the same time to make the ideal as near as possible to the truth$ +n the 7indu system of morality we find that this fa%t has been re%ognised from very an%ient times* and in their s%riptures and books on ethi%s different rules are laid down for the different %lasses of men 9 the householder the SannyAsin Ethe man who has renoun%ed the worldF and the student$ The life of every individual a%%ording to the 7indu s%riptures has its pe%uliar duties apart from what belongs in %ommon to universal humanity$ The 7indu begins life as a student* then he marries and be%omes a householder* in old age he retires* and lastly he gives up the world and be%omes a Sannyasin$ To ea%h of these stages of life %ertain duties are atta%hed$ 3o one of these stages is intrinsi%ally superior to another$ The life of the married man is 0uite as great as that of the %elibate who has devoted himself to religious work$ The s%avenger in the street is 0uite as great and glorious as the king on his throne$ Take him off his throne make him do the work of the s%avenger and see how he fares$ Take up the s%avenger and see how he will rule$ +t is useless to say that the man who lives out of the world is a greater man than he who lives in the world* it is mu%h more diffi%ult to live in the world and worship 1od than to give it up and live a free and easy life$ The four stages of life in +ndia have in later times been redu%ed to two 9 that of the householder and of the monk$ The householder marries and %arries on his duties as a %itiCen and the duty of the other is to devote his energies wholly to religion to prea%h and to worship 1od$ + shall read to you a few passages from the <ahA'3irvAna'Tantra whi%h treats of this sub2e%t and you will see that it is a very diffi%ult task

for a man to be a householder and perform all his duties perfe%tly: The householder should be devoted to 1od* the knowledge of 1od should be his goal of life$ Yet he must work %onstantly perform all his duties* he must give up the fruits of his a%tions to 1od$ +t is the most diffi%ult thing in this world to work and not %are for the result to help a man and never think that he ought to be grateful to do some good work and at the same time never look to see whether it brings you name or fame or nothing at all$ &ven the most arrant %oward be%omes brave when the world praises him$ ( fool %an do heroi% deeds when the approbation of so%iety is upon him but for a man to %onstantly do good without %aring for the approbation of his fellow men is indeed the highest sa%rifi%e man %an perform$ The great duty of the householder is to earn a living but he must take %are that he does not do it by telling lies or by %heating or by robbing others* and he must remember that his life is for the servi%e of 1od and the poor$ Knowing that mother and father are the visible representatives of 1od the householder always and by all means must please them$ +f the mother is pleased and the father 1od is pleased with the man$ That %hild is really a good %hild who never speaks harsh words to his parents$ ,efore parents one must not utter 2okes must not show restlessness must not show anger or temper$ ,efore mother or father a %hild must bow down low and stand up in their presen%e and must not take a seat until they order him to sit$ +f the householder has food and drink and %lothes without first seeing that his mother and his father his %hildren his wife and the poor are supplied he is %ommitting a sin$ The mother and the father are the %auses of this body* so a man must undergo a thousand troubles in order to do good to them$ &ven so is his duty to his wife$ 3o man should s%old his wife and he must always maintain her as if she were his own mother$ (nd even when he is in the greatest diffi%ulties and troubles he must not show anger to his wife$ 7e who thinks of another woman besides his wife if he tou%hes her even with his mind 9 that man goes to dark hell$ ,efore women he must not talk improper language and never brag of his powers$ 7e must not say >+ have done this and + have done that$? The householder must always please his wife with money %lothes love faith and words like ne%tar and never do anything to disturb her$ That man who has su%%eeded in getting the love of a %haste wife has su%%eeded in his religion and has all the virtues$ The following are duties towards %hildren: ( son should be lovingly reared up to his fourth year* he should be edu%ated till he is si6teen$ 4hen he is twenty years of age he should be employed in some work* he should then be treated affe%tionately by his father as his e0ual$ &6a%tly in the same manner the daughter should be brought up and should be edu%ated with the greatest %are$ (nd when she marries the father ought to give her 2ewels and wealth$

Then the duty of the man is towards his brothers and sisters and towards the %hildren of his brothers and sisters if they are poor and towards his other relatives his friends and his servants$ Then his duties are towards the people of the same village and the poor and any one that %omes to him for help$ 7aving suffi%ient means if the householder does not take %are to give to his relatives and to the poor know him to be only a brute* he is not a human being$ &6%essive atta%hment to food %lothes and the tending of the body and dressing of the hair should be avoided$ The householder must be pure in heart and %lean in body always a%tive and always ready for work$ To his enemies the householder must be a hero$ Them he must resist$ That is the duty of the householder$ 7e must not sit down in a %orner and weep and talk nonsense about non'resistan%e$ +f he does not show himself a hero to his enemies he has not done his duty$ (nd to his friends and relatives he must be as gentle as a lamb$ +t is the duty of the householder not to pay reveren%e to the wi%ked* be%ause if he reveren%es the wi%ked people of the world he patroniCes wi%kedness* and it will be a great mistake if he disregards those who are worthy of respe%t the good people$ 7e must not be gushing in his friendship* he must not go out of the way making friends everywhere* he must wat%h the a%tions of the men he wants to make friends with and their dealings with other men reason upon them and then make friends$ These three things he must not talk of$ 7e must not talk in publi% of his own fame* he must not prea%h his own name or his own powers* he must not talk of his wealth or of anything that has been told to him privately$ ( man must not say he is poor or that he is wealthy 9 he must not brag of his wealth$ 8et him keep his own %ounsel* this is his religious duty$ This is not mere worldly wisdom* if a man does not do so he may be held to be immoral$ The householder is the basis the prop of the whole so%iety$ 7e is the prin%ipal earner$ The poor the weak the %hildren and the women who do not work 9 all live upon the householder* so there must be %ertain duties that he has to perform and these duties must make him feel strong to perform them and not make him think that he is doing things beneath his ideal$ Therefore if he has done something weak or has made some mistake he must not say so in publi%* and if he is engaged in some enterprise and knows he is sure to fail in it he must not speak of it$ Su%h self'e6posure is not only un%alled for but also unnerves the man and makes him unfit for the performan%e of his legitimate duties in life$ (t the same time he must struggle hard to a%0uire these things 9 firstly knowledge and se%ondly wealth$ +t is his duty and if he does not do his duty he is nobody$ ( householder who does not struggle to get wealth is immoral$ +f he is laCy and %ontent to lead an idle life he is immoral be%ause upon him depend hundreds$ +f he gets ri%hes hundreds of others will be thereby supported$ +f there were not in this %ity hundreds who had striven to be%ome ri%h and who had a%0uired wealth where would all this %iviliCation and these alms'houses and great houses be5 1oing after wealth in su%h a %ase is not bad be%ause that wealth is for distribution$ The householder is the %entre of life and so%iety$ +t is a worship for him to a%0uire and spend wealth nobly for the householder who struggles to be%ome ri%h by good means and for good purposes is doing pra%ti%ally the same thing for the attainment of salvation as the an%horite does in his %ell when he is

praying* for in them we see only the different aspe%ts of the same virtue of self'surrender and self' sa%rifi%e prompted by the feeling of devotion to 1od and to all that is 7is$ 7e must struggle to a%0uire a good name by all means$ 7e must not gamble he must not move in the %ompany of the wi%ked he must not tell lies and must not be the %ause of trouble to others$ =ften people enter into things they have not the means to a%%omplish with the result that they %heat others to attain their own ends$ Then there is in all things the time fa%tor to be taken into %onsideration* what at one time might be a failure would perhaps at another time be a very great su%%ess$ The householder must speak the truth and speak gently using words whi%h people like whi%h will do good to others* nor should he talk of the business of other men$ The householder by digging tanks by planting trees on the roadsides by establishing rest'houses for men and animals by making roads and building bridges goes towards the same goal as the greatest Yogi$ This is one part of the do%trine of Karma'Yoga 9 a%tivity the duty of the householder$ There is a passage later on where it says that /if the householder dies in battle fighting for his %ountry or his religion he %omes to the same goal as the Yogi by meditation / showing thereby that what is duty for one is not duty for another$ (t the same time it does not say that this duty is lowering and the other elevating$ &a%h duty has its own pla%e and a%%ording to the %ir%umstan%es in whi%h we are pla%ed we must perform our duties$ =ne idea %omes out of all this 9 the %ondemnation of all weakness$ This is a parti%ular idea in all our tea%hings whi%h + like either in philosophy or in religion or in work$ +f you read the Vedas you will find this word always repeated 9 fearlessness 9 fear nothing$ Fear is a sign of weakness$ ( man must go about his duties without taking noti%e of the sneers and the ridi%ule of the world$ +f a man retires from the world to worship 1od he must not think that those who live in the world and work for the good of the world are not worshipping 1od: neither must those who live in the world for wife and %hildren think that those who give up the world are low vagabonds$ &a%h is great in his own pla%e$ This thought + will illustrate by a story$ ( %ertain king used to in0uire of all the Sannyasins that %ame to his %ountry /4hi%h is the greater man 9 he who gives up the world and be%omes a Sannyasin or he who lives in the world and performs his duties as a house holder5/ <any wise men sought to solve the problem$ Some asserted that the Sannyasin was the greater upon whi%h the king demanded that they should prove their assertion$ 4hen they %ould not he ordered them to marry and be%ome householders$ Then others %ame and said /The householder who performs his duties is the greater man$/ =f them too the king demanded proofs$ 4hen they %ould not give them he made them also settle down as householders$ (t last there %ame a young Sannyasin and the king similarly in0uired of him also$ 7e answered /&a%h = king is e0ually great in his pla%e$/ /-rove this to me / asked the king$ /+ will prove it to you / said the Sannyasin /but you must first %ome and live as + do for a few days that + may be able to prove to you what + say$/ The king %onsented and followed the Sannyasin out of his own

territory and passed through many other %ountries until they %ame to a great kingdom$ +n the %apital of that kingdom a great %eremony was going on$ The king and the Sannyasin heard the noise of drums and musi% and heard also the %riers* the people were assembled in the streets in gala dress and a great pro%lamation was being made$ The king and the Sannyasin stood there to see what was going on$ The %rier was pro%laiming loudly that the prin%ess daughter of the king of that %ountry was about to %hoose a husband from among those assembled before her$ +t was an old %ustom in +ndia for prin%esses to %hoose husbands in this way$ &a%h prin%ess had %ertain ideas of the sort of man she wanted for a husband$ Some would have the handsomest man others would have only the most learned others again the ri%hest and so on$ (ll the prin%es of the neighbourhood put on their bravest attire and presented themselves before her$ Sometimes they too had their own %riers to enumerate their advantages and the reasons why they hoped the prin%ess would %hoose them$ The prin%ess was taken round on a throne in the most splendid array and looked at and heard about them$ +f she was not pleased with what she saw and heard she said to her bearers /<ove on / and no more noti%e was taken of the re2e%ted suitors$ +f however the prin%ess was pleased with any one of them she threw a garland of flowers over him and he be%ame her husband$ The prin%ess of the %ountry to whi%h our king and the Sannyasin had %ome was having one of these interesting %eremonies$ She was the most beautiful prin%ess in the world and the husband of the prin%ess would be ruler of the kingdom after her father.s death$ The idea of this prin%ess was to marry the handsomest man but she %ould not find the right one to please her$ Several times these meetings had taken pla%e but the prin%ess %ould not sele%t a husband$ This meeting was the most splendid of all* more people than ever had %ome to it$ The prin%ess %ame in on a throne and the bearers %arried her from pla%e to pla%e$ She did not seem to %are for any one and every one be%ame disappointed that this meeting also was going to be a failure$ Just then %ame a young man a Sannyasin handsome as if the sun had %ome down to the earth and stood in one %orner of the assembly wat%hing what was going on$ The throne with the prin%ess %ame near him and as soon as she saw the beautiful Sannyasin she stopped and threw the garland over him$ The young Sannyasin seiCed the garland and threw it off e6%laiming /4hat nonsense is this5 + am a Sannyasin$ 4hat is marriage to me5/ The king of that %ountry thought that perhaps this man was poor and so dared not marry the prin%ess and said to him /4ith my daughter goes half my kingdom now and the whole kingdom after my deathD/ and put the garland again on the Sannyasin$ The young man threw it off on%e more saying /3onsenseD + do not want to marry / and walked 0ui%kly away from the assembly$ 3ow the prin%ess had fallen so mu%h in love with this young man that she said /+ must marry this man or + shall die/* and she went after him to bring him ba%k$ Then our other Sannyasin who had brought the king there said to him /King let us follow this pair/* so they walked after them but at a good distan%e behind$ The young Sannyasin who had refused to marry the prin%ess walked out into the %ountry for several miles$ 4hen he %ame to a forest and entered into it the prin%ess followed him and the other two followed them$ 3ow this young Sannyasin was well a%0uainted with that forest and knew all the intri%ate paths in it$ 7e suddenly passed into one of these and disappeared and the prin%ess %ould not dis%over him$ (fter trying for a long time to find him she sat down under a tree and began to weep for she did not know the way out$ Then our king and the other Sannyasin %ame up to her and said /Do not weep* we will show you the way out of this forest but it is too dark for us to find it now$ 7ere is a big tree* let us rest under it and in the morning we will go early and show you the road$/ 3ow a little bird and his wife and their three little ones lived on that tree in a nest$ This little bird looked down and saw the three people under the tree and said to his wife /<y dear what shall we

do5 7ere are some guests in the house and it is winter and we have no fire$/ So he flew away and got a bit of burning firewood in his beak and dropped it before the guests to whi%h they added fuel and made a blaCing fire$ ,ut the little bird was not satisfied$ 7e said again to his wife /<y dear what shall we do5 There is nothing to give these people to eat and they are hungry$ 4e are householders* it is our duty to feed any one who %omes to the house$ + must do what + %an + will give them my body$/ So he plunged into the midst of the fire and perished$ The guests saw him falling and tried to save him but he was too 0ui%k for them$ The little bird.s wife saw what her husband did and she said /7ere are three persons and only one little bird for them to eat$ +t is not enough* it is my duty as a wife not to let my husband.s effort go in vain* let them have my body also$/ Then she fell into the fire and was burned to death$ Then the three baby'birds when they saw what was done and that there was still not enough food for the three guests said /=ur parents have done what they %ould and still it is not enough$ +t is our duty to %arry on the work of our parents* let our bodies go too$/ (nd they all dashed down into the fire also$ (maCed at what they saw the three people %ould not of %ourse eat these birds$ They passed the night without food and in the morning the king and the Sannyasin showed the prin%ess the way and she went ba%k to her father$ Then the Sannyasin said to the king /King you have seen that ea%h is great in his own pla%e$ +f you want to live in the world live like those birds ready at any moment to sa%rifi%e yourself for others$ +f you want to renoun%e the world be like that young man to whom the most beautiful woman and a kingdom were as nothing$ +f you want to be a householder hold your life a sa%rifi%e for the welfare of others* and if you %hoose the life of renun%iation do not even look at beauty and money and power$ &a%h is great in his own pla%e but the duty of the one is not the duty of the other$

CHAPTER III
THE "ECRET $# &$RK 7elping others physi%ally by removing their physi%al needs is indeed great but the help is great a%%ording as the need is greater and a%%ording as the help is far rea%hing$ +f a man.s wants %an be removed for an hour it is helping him indeed* if his wants %an be removed for a year it will be more help to him* but if his wants %an be removed for ever it is surely the greatest help that %an be given him$ Spiritual knowledge is the only thing that %an destroy our miseries for ever* any other knowledge satisfies wants only for a time$ +t is only with the knowledge of the spirit that the fa%ulty of want is annihilated for ever* so helping man spiritually is the highest help that %an be given to him$ 7e who gives man spiritual knowledge is the greatest benefa%tor of mankind and as su%h we always find that those were the most powerful of men who helped man in his spiritual needs be%ause spirituality is the true basis of all our a%tivities in life$ ( spiritually strong and sound man will be strong in every other respe%t if he so wishes$ @ntil there is spiritual strength in man even physi%al needs %annot be well satisfied$ 3e6t to spiritual %omes intelle%tual help$ The gift of knowledge is a far higher gift than that of food and %lothes* it is even higher than giving life to a man be%ause the real life of man %onsists of knowledge$ +gnoran%e is death knowledge is life$ 8ife is of very little value if it is a life in the dark groping through ignoran%e and misery$ 3e6t in order %omes of %ourse helping a man physi%ally$ Therefore in %onsidering the 0uestion of helping others we must always strive not to %ommit the mistake of thinking that physi%al help is the only help that %an be given$ +t is not only the last but the least be%ause it %annot bring about permanent satisfa%tion$ The misery that + feel when + am hungry is satisfied by eating but hunger returns* my misery %an %ease only when + am satisfied beyond all want$ Then hunger will not make me miserable* no distress no sorrow will be able to move me$ So that help whi%h tends to make us strong spiritually is the highest ne6t to it %omes intelle%tual help and after that physi%al help$ The miseries of the world %annot be %ured by physi%al help only$ @ntil man.s nature %hanges these physi%al needs will always arise and miseries will always be felt and no amount of physi%al help will %ure them %ompletely$ The only solution of this problem is to make mankind pure$ +gnoran%e is the mother of all the evil and all the misery we see$ 8et men have light let them be pure and spiritually strong and edu%ated then alone will misery %ease in the world not before$ 4e may %onvert every house in the %ountry into a %harity asylum we may fill the land with hospitals but the misery of man will still %ontinue to e6ist until man.s %hara%ter %hanges$ 4e read in the ,hagavad'1ita again and again that we must all work in%essantly$ (ll work is by nature %omposed of good and evil$ 4e %annot do any work whi%h will not do some good somewhere* there %annot be any work whi%h will not %ause some harm somewhere$ &very work must ne%essarily be a mi6ture of good and evil* yet we are %ommanded to work in%essantly$ 1ood and evil will both have their results will produ%e their Karma$ 1ood a%tion will entail upon us good effe%t* bad a%tion bad$ ,ut good and bad are both bondages of the soul$ The solution rea%hed in the 1ita in regard to this bondage'produ%ing nature of work is that if we do not atta%h ourselves to the work we do it will not have any binding effe%t on our soul$ 4e shall try to understand what is meant by this >non'atta%hment to? to work$ This is the one %entral idea in the 1ita: work in%essantly but be not atta%hed to it$ SamskAra %an be translated very nearly by /inherent tenden%y/$ @sing the simile of a lake for the mind every ripple every wave that rises in the mind when it subsides does not die out entirely but leaves a mark and a future possibility of that wave %oming out again$ This mark with the possibility of the wave reappearing is what is %alled SamskAra$ &very work that we do every movement of the body every

thought that we think leaves su%h an impression on the mind'stuff and even when su%h impressions are not obvious on the surfa%e they are suffi%iently strong to work beneath the surfa%e sub%ons%iously$ 4hat we are every moment is determined by the sum total of these impressions on the mind$ 4hat + am 2ust at this moment is the effe%t of the sum total of all the impressions of my past life$ This is really what is meant by %hara%ter* ea%h man.s %hara%ter is determined by the sum total of these impressions$ +f good impressions prevail the %hara%ter be%omes good* if bad it be%omes bad$ +f a man %ontinuously hears bad words thinks bad thoughts does bad a%tions his mind will be full of bad impressions* and they will influen%e his thought and work without his being %ons%ious of the fa%t$ +n fa%t these bad impressions are always working and their resultant must be evil and that man will be a bad man* he %annot help it$ The sum total of these impressions in him will %reate the strong motive power for doing bad a%tions$ 7e will be like a ma%hine in the hands of his impressions and they will for%e him to do evil$ Similarly if a man thinks good thoughts and does good works the sum total of these impressions will be good* and they in a similar manner will for%e him to do good even in spite of himself$ 4hen a man has done so mu%h good work and thought so many good thoughts that there is an irresistible tenden%y in him to do good in spite of himself and even if he wishes to do evil his mind as the sum total of his tenden%ies will not allow him to do so* the tenden%ies will turn him ba%k* he is %ompletely under the influen%e of the good tenden%ies$ 4hen su%h is the %ase a man.s good %hara%ter is said to be established$ (s the tortoise tu%ks its feet and head inside the shell and you may kill it and break it in pie%es and yet it will not %ome out even so the %hara%ter of that man who has %ontrol over his motives and organs is un%hangeably established$ 7e %ontrols his own inner for%es and nothing %an draw them out against his will$ ,y this %ontinuous refle6 of good thoughts good impressions moving over the surfa%e of the mind the tenden%y for doing good be%omes strong and as the result we feel able to %ontrol the +ndriyas Ethe sense'organs the nerve'%entresF$ Thus alone will %hara%ter be established then alone a man gets to truth$ Su%h a man is safe for ever* he %annot do any evil$ You may pla%e him in any %ompany there will be no danger for him$ There is a still higher state than having this good tenden%y and that is the desire for liberation$ You must remember that freedom of the soul is the goal of all Yogas and ea%h one e0ually leads to the same result$ ,y work alone men may get to where ,uddha got largely by meditation or ;hrist by prayer$ ,uddha was a working JnAni ;hrist was a ,hakta but the same goal was rea%hed by both of them$ The diffi%ulty is here$ 8iberation means entire freedom 9 freedom from the bondage of good as well as from the bondage of evil$ ( golden %hain is as mu%h a %hain as an iron one$ There is a thorn in my finger and + use another to take the first one out* and when + have taken it out + throw both of them aside* + have no ne%essity for keeping the se%ond thorn be%ause both are thorns after all$ So the bad tenden%ies are to be %ountera%ted by the good ones and the bad impressions on the mind should be removed by the fresh waves of good ones until all that is evil almost disappears or is subdued and held in %ontrol in a %orner of the mind* but after that the good tenden%ies have also to be %on0uered$ Thus the /atta%hed/ be%omes the /unatta%hed/$ 4ork but let not the a%tion or the thought produ%e a deep impression on the mind$ 8et the ripples %ome and go let huge a%tions pro%eed from the mus%les and the brain but let them not make any deep impression on the soul$ 7ow %an this be done5 4e see that the impression of any a%tion to whi%h we atta%h ourselves remains$ + may meet hundreds of persons during the day and among them meet also one whom + love* and when + retire at night + may try to think of all the fa%es + saw but only that fa%e %omes before the mind 9 the fa%e whi%h + met perhaps only for one minute and whi%h + loved* all the others have vanished$ <y atta%hment to this parti%ular person %aused a deeper impression on my mind than all the other fa%es$ -hysiologi%ally the impressions have all been the same* every one of the fa%es that + saw pi%tured itself on the retina and the brain took the pi%tures in and yet there was no similarity of effe%t upon the mind$ <ost of the fa%es perhaps were entirely new fa%es about whi%h + had never thought before but that one fa%e of whi%h + got only a glimpse found asso%iations

inside$ -erhaps + had pi%tured him in my mind for years knew hundreds of things about him and this one new vision of him awakened hundreds of sleeping memories in my mind* and this one impression having been repeated perhaps a hundred times more than those of the different fa%es together will produ%e a great effe%t on the mind$ Therefore be /unatta%hed/* let things work* let brain %entres work* work in%essantly but let not a ripple %on0uer the mind$ 4ork as if you were a stranger in this land a so2ourner* work in%essantly but do not bind yourselves* bondage is terrible$ This world is not our habitation it is only one of the many stages through whi%h we are passing$ Bemember that great saying of the SAnkhya /The whole of nature is for the soul not the soul for nature$/ The very reason of nature.s e6isten%e is for the edu%ation of the soul* it has no other meaning* it is there be%ause the soul must have knowledge and through knowledge free itself$ +f we remember this always we shall never be atta%hed to nature* we shall know that nature is a book in whi%h we are to read and that when we have gained the re0uired knowledge the book is of no more value to us$ +nstead of that however we are identifying ourselves with nature* we are thinking that the soul is for nature that the spirit is for the flesh and as the %ommon saying has it we think that man /lives to eat/ and not /eats to live/$ 4e are %ontinually making this mistake* we are regarding nature as ourselves and are be%oming atta%hed to it* and as soon as this atta%hment %omes there is the deep impression on the soul whi%h binds us down and makes us work not from freedom but like slaves$ The whole gist of this tea%hing is that you should work like a master and not as a slave* work in%essantly but do not do slave.s work$ Do you not see how everybody works5 3obody %an be altogether at rest* ninety'nine per %ent of mankind work like slaves and the result is misery* it is all selfish work$ 4ork through freedomD 4ork through loveD The word /love/ is very diffi%ult to understand* love never %omes until there is freedom$ There is no true love possible in the slave$ +f you buy a slave and tie him down in %hains and make him work for you he will work like a drudge but there will be no love in him$ So when we ourselves work for the things of the world as slaves there %an be no love in us and our work is not true work$ This is true of work done for relatives and friends and is true of work done for our own selves$ Selfish work is slave.s work* and here is a test$ &very a%t of love brings happiness* there is no a%t of love whi%h does not bring pea%e and blessedness as its rea%tion$ Beal e6isten%e real knowledge and real love are eternally %onne%ted with one another the three in one: where one of them is the others also must be* they are the three aspe%ts of the =ne without a se%ond 9 the &6isten%e ' Knowledge ' ,liss$ 4hen that e6isten%e be%omes relative we see it as the world* that knowledge be%omes in its turn modified into the knowledge of the things of the world* and that bliss forms the foundation of all true love known to the heart of man$ Therefore true love %an never rea%t so as to %ause pain either to the lover or to the beloved$ Suppose a man loves a woman* he wishes to have her all to himself and feels e6tremely 2ealous about her every movement* he wants her to sit near him to stand near him and to eat and move at his bidding$ 7e is a slave to her and wishes to have her as his slave$ That is not love* it is a kind of morbid affe%tion of the slave insinuating itself as love$ +t %annot be love be%ause it is painful* if she does not do what he wants it brings him pain$ 4ith love there is no painful rea%tion* love only brings a rea%tion of bliss* if it does not it is not love* it is mistaking something else for love$ 4hen you have su%%eeded in loving your husband your wife your %hildren the whole world the universe in su%h a manner that there is no rea%tion of pain or 2ealousy no selfish feeling then you are in a fit state to be unatta%hed$ Krishna says /8ook at <e (r2unaD +f + stop from work for one moment the whole universe will die$ + have nothing to gain from work* + am the one 8ord but why do + work5 ,e%ause + love the world$/ 1od is unatta%hed be%ause 7e loves* that real love makes us unatta%hed$ 4herever there is atta%hment the %linging to the things of the world you must know that it is all physi%al attra%tion between sets of parti%les of matter 9 something that attra%ts two bodies nearer and nearer all the

time and if they %annot get near enough produ%es pain* but where there is real love it does not rest on physi%al atta%hment at all$ Su%h lovers may be a thousand miles away from one another but their love will be all the same* it does not die and will never produ%e any painful rea%tion$ To attain this unatta%hment is almost a life'work but as soon as we have rea%hed this point we have attained the goal of love and be%ome free* the bondage of nature falls from us and we see nature as she is* she forges no more %hains for us* we stand entirely free and take not the results of work into %onsideration* who then %ares for what the results may be5 Do you ask anything from your %hildren in return for what you have given them5 +t is your duty to work for them and there the matter ends$ +n whatever you do for a parti%ular person a %ity or a state assume the same attitude towards it as you have towards your %hildren 9 e6pe%t nothing in return$ +f you %an invariably take the position of a giver in whi%h everything given by you is a free offering to the world without any thought of return then will your work bring you no atta%hment$ (tta%hment %omes only where we e6pe%t a return$ +f working like slaves results in selfishness and atta%hment working as master of our own mind gives rise to the bliss of non'atta%hment$ 4e often talk of right and 2usti%e but we find that in the world right and 2usti%e are mere baby.s talk$ There are two things whi%h guide the %ondu%t of men: might and mer%y$ The e6er%ise of might is invariably the e6er%ise of selfishness$ (ll men and women try to make the most of whatever power or advantage they have$ <er%y is heaven itself* to be good we have all to be mer%iful$ &ven 2usti%e and right should stand on mer%y$ (ll thought of obtaining return for the work we do hinders our spiritual progress* nay in the end it brings misery$ There is another way in whi%h this idea of mer%y and selfless %harity %an be put into pra%ti%e* that is by looking upon work as /worship/ in %ase we believe in a -ersonal 1od$ 7ere we give up all the fruits our work unto the 8ord and worshipping 7im thus we have no right to e6pe%t anything from man kind for the work we do$ The 8ord 7imself works in%essantly and is ever without atta%hment$ Just as water %annot wet the lotus leaf so work %annot bind the unselfish man by giving rise to atta%hment to results$ The selfless and unatta%hed man may live in the very heart of a %rowded and sinful %ity* he will not be tou%hed by sin$ This idea of %omplete self'sa%rifi%e is illustrated in the following story: (fter the battle of Kurukshetra the five -Andava brothers performed a great sa%rifi%e and made very large gifts to the poor$ (ll people e6pressed amaCement at the greatness and ri%hness of the sa%rifi%e and said that su%h a sa%rifi%e the world had never seen before$ ,ut after the %eremony there %ame a little mongoose half of whose body was golden and the other half brown* and he began to roll on the floor of the sa%rifi%ial hall$ 7e said to those around /You are all liars* this is no sa%rifi%e$/ /4hatD/ they e6%laimed /you say this is no sa%rifi%e* do you not know how money and 2ewels were poured out to the poor and every one be%ame ri%h and happy5 This was the most wonderful sa%rifi%e any man ever performed$/ ,ut the mongoose said /There was on%e a little village and in it there dwelt a poor ,rahmin with his wife his son and his son.s wife$ They were very poor and lived on small gifts made to them for prea%hing and tea%hing$ There %ame in that land a three years. famine and the poor ,rahmin suffered more than ever$ (t last when the family had starved for days the father brought home one morning a little barley flour whi%h he had been fortunate enough to obtain and he divided it into four parts one for ea%h member of the family$ They prepared it for their meal and 2ust as they were about to eat there was a kno%k at the door$ The father opened it and there stood a guest$ 3ow in +ndia a guest is a sa%red person* he is as a god for the time being and must be treated as su%h$ So the poor ,rahmin said .;ome in sir* you are wel%ome . 7e set before the guest his own portion of the food whi%h the guest 0ui%kly ate and said .=h sir you have killed me* + have been starving for ten days and this little bit has but in%reased my hunger$. Then the wife said to her husband .1ive him my share . but the husband said .3ot so$. The wife however insisted saying

.7ere is a poor man and it is our duty as householders to see that he is fed and it is my duty as a wife to give him my portion seeing that you have no more to offer him$. Then she gave her share to the guest whi%h he ate and said he was still burning with hunger$ So the son said .Take my portion also* it is the duty of a son to help his father to fulfil his obligations$. The guest ate that but remained still unsatisfied* so the son.s wife gave him her portion also$ That was suffi%ient and the guest departed blessing them$ That night those four people died of starvation$ ( few granules of that flour had fallen on the floor* and when + rolled my body on them half of it be%ame golden as you see$ Sin%e then + have been travelling all over the world hoping to find another sa%rifi%e like that but nowhere have + found one* nowhere else has the other half of my body been turned into gold$ That is why + say this is no sa%rifi%e$/ This idea of %harity is going out of +ndia* great men are be%oming fewer and fewer$ 4hen + was first learning &nglish + read an &nglish story book in whi%h there was a story about a dutiful boy who had gone out to work and had given some of his money to his old mother and this was praised in three or four pages$ 4hat was that5 3o 7indu boy %an ever understand the moral of that story$ 3ow + understand it when + hear the 4estern idea 9 every man for himself$ (nd some men take everything for themselves and fathers and mothers and wives and %hildren go to the wall$ That should never and nowhere be the ideal of the householder$ 3ow you see what Karma'Yoga means* even at the point of death to help any one without asking 0uestions$ ,e %heated millions of times and never ask a 0uestion and never think of what you are doing$ 3ever vaunt of your gifts to the poor or e6pe%t their gratitude but rather be grateful to them for giving you the o%%asion of pra%ti%ing %harity to them$ Thus it is plain that to be an ideal householder is a mu%h more diffi%ult task than to be an ideal Sannyasin* the true life of work is indeed as hard as if not harder than the e0ually true life of renun%iation$

CHAPTER I'
&HAT I" ()TY* +t is ne%essary in the study of Karma'Yoga to know what duty is$ +f + have to do something + must first know that it is my duty and then + %an do it$ The idea of duty again is different in different nations$ The <ohammedan says what is written in his book the Koran is his duty* the 7indu says what is in the Vedas is his duty* and the ;hristian says what is in the ,ible is his duty$ 4e find that there are varied ideas of duty differing a%%ording to different states in life different histori%al periods and different nations$ The term /duty/ like every other universal abstra%t term is impossible %learly to define* we %an only get an idea of it by knowing its pra%ti%al operations and results$ 4hen %ertain things o%%ur before us we have all a natural or trained impulse to a%t in a %ertain manner towards them* when this impulse %omes the mind begins to think about the situation$ Sometimes it thinks that it is good to a%t in a parti%ular manner under the given %onditions* at other times it thinks that it is wrong to a%t in the same manner even in the very same %ir%umstan%es$ The ordinary idea of duty everywhere is that every good man follows the di%tates of his %ons%ien%e$ ,ut what is it that makes an a%t a duty5 +f a ;hristian finds a pie%e of beef before him and does not eat it to save his own life or will not give it to save the life of another man he is sure to feel that he has not done his duty$ ,ut if a 7indu dares to eat that pie%e of beef or to give it to another 7indu he is e0ually sure to feel that he too has not done his duty* the 7indu.s training and edu%ation make him feel that way$ +n the last %entury there were notorious bands of robbers in +ndia %alled thugs* they thought it their duty to kill any man they %ould and take away his money* the larger the number of men they killed the better they thought they were$ =rdinarily if a man goes out into the street and shoots down another man he is apt to feel sorry for it thinking that he has done wrong$ ,ut if the very same man as a soldier in his regiment kills not one but twenty he is %ertain to feel glad and think that he has done his duty remarkably well$ Therefore we see that it is not the thing done that defines a duty$ To give an ob2e%tive definition of duty is thus entirely impossible$ Yet there is duty from the sub2e%tive side$ (ny a%tion that makes us go 1odward is a good a%tion and is our duty* any a%tion that makes us go downward is evil and is not our duty$ From the sub2e%tive standpoint we may see that %ertain a%ts have a tenden%y to e6alt and ennoble us while %ertain other a%ts have a tenden%y to degrade and to brutalise us$ ,ut it is not possible to make out with %ertainty whi%h a%ts have whi%h kind of tenden%y in relation to all persons of all sorts and %onditions$ There is however only one idea of duty whi%h has been universally a%%epted by all mankind of all ages and se%ts and %ountries and that has been summed up in a Sanskrit aphorism thus: >Do not in2ure any being* not in2uring any being is virtue in2uring any being is sin$? The ,hagavad'1ita fre0uently alludes to duties dependent upon birth and position in life$ ,irth and position in life and in so%iety largely determine the mental and moral attitude of individuals towards the various a%tivities of life$ +t is therefore our duty to do that work whi%h will e6alt and ennoble us in a%%ordan%e with the ideals and a%tivities of the so%iety in whi%h we are born$ ,ut it must be parti%ularly remembered that the same ideals and a%tivities do not prevail in all so%ieties and %ountries* our ignoran%e of this is the main %ause of mu%h of the hatred of one nation towards another$ (n (meri%an thinks that whatever an (meri%an does in a%%ordan%e with the %ustom of his %ountry is the best thing to do and that whoever does not follow his %ustom must be a very wi%ked man$ ( 7indu thinks that his %ustoms are the only right ones and are the best in the world and that whosoever does not obey them must be the most wi%ked man living$ This is 0uite a natural mistake whi%h all of us are apt to make$ ,ut it is very harmful* it is the %ause of half the un%haritableness found in the world$ 4hen + %ame to this %ountry and was going through the ;hi%ago Fair a man from behind pulled at my turban$ + looked ba%k and saw that he was a very gentlemanly'looking man neatly dressed$ + spoke to him* and when he found that + knew &nglish he be%ame very mu%h abashed$ =n another o%%asion in the same Fair another man gave me a push$ 4hen + asked him the

reason he also was ashamed and stammered out an apology saying /4hy do you dress that way5/ The sympathies of these men were limited within the range of their own language and their own fashion of dress$ <u%h of the oppression of powerful nations on weaker ones is %aused by this pre2udi%e$ +t dries up their fellow feeling for fellow men$ That very man who asked me why + did not dress as he did and wanted to ill'treat me be%ause of my dress may have been a very good man a good father and a good %itiCen* but the kindliness of his nature died out as soon as he saw a man in a different dress$ Strangers are e6ploited in all %ountries be%ause they do not know how to defend themselves* thus they %arry home false impressions of the peoples they have seen$ Sailors soldiers and traders behave in foreign lands in very 0ueer ways although they would not dream of doing so in their own %ountry* perhaps this is why the ;hinese %all &uropeans and (meri%ans /foreign devils/$ They %ould not have done this if they had met the good the kindly sides of 4estern life$ Therefore the one point we ought to remember is that we should always try to see the duty of others through their own eyes and never 2udge the %ustoms of other peoples by our own standard$ + am not the standard of the universe$ + have to a%%ommodate myself to the world and not the world to me$ So we see that environments %hange the nature of our duties and doing the duty whi%h is ours at any parti%ular time is the best thing we %an do in this world$ 8et us do that duty whi%h is ours by birth* and when we have done that let us do the duty whi%h is ours by our position in life and in so%iety$ There is however one great danger in human nature viC that man never e6amines himself$ 7e thinks he is 0uite as fit to be on the throne as the king$ &ven if he is he must first show that he has done the duty of his own position* and then higher duties will %ome to him$ 4hen we begin to work earnestly in the world nature gives us blows right and left and soon enables us to find out our position$ 3o man %an long o%%upy satisfa%torily a position for whi%h he is not fit$ There is no use in grumbling against nature.s ad2ustment$ 7e who does the lower work is not therefore a lower man$ 3o man is to be 2udged by the mere nature of his duties but all should be 2udged by the manner and the spirit in whi%h they perform them$ 8ater on we shall find that even this idea of duty undergoes %hange and that the greatest work is done only when there is no selfish motive to prompt it$ Yet it is work through the sense of duty that leads us to work without any idea of duty* when work will be%ome worship 9 nay something higher 9 then will work be done for its own sake$ 4e shall find that the philosophy of duty whether it be in the form of ethi%s or of love is the same as in every other Yoga 9 the ob2e%t being the attenuating of the lower self so that the real higher Self may shine forth 9 the lessening of the frittering away of energies on the lower plane of e6isten%e so that the soul may manifest itself on the higher ones$ This is a%%omplished by the %ontinuous denial of low desires whi%h duty rigorously re0uires$ The whole organisation of so%iety has thus been developed %ons%iously or un%ons%iously in the realms of a%tion and e6perien%e where by limiting selfishness we open the way to an unlimited e6pansion of the real nature of man$ Duty is seldom sweet$ +t is only when love greases its wheels that it runs smoothly* it is a %ontinuous fri%tion otherwise$ 7ow else %ould parents do their duties to their %hildren husbands to their wives and vi%e versa5 Do we not meet with %ases of fri%tion every day in our lives5 Duty is sweet only through love and love shines in freedom alone$ Yet is it freedom to be a slave to the senses to anger to 2ealousies and a hundred other petty things that must o%%ur every day in human life5 +n all these little roughnesses that we meet with in life the highest e6pression of freedom is to forbear$ 4omen slaves to their own irritable 2ealous tempers are apt to blame their husbands and assert their own /freedom/ as they think not knowing that thereby they only prove that they are slaves$ So it is with husbands who eternally find fault with their wives$ ;hastity is the first virtue in man or woman and the man who however he may have strayed away

%annot be brought to the right path by a gentle and loving and %haste wife is indeed very rare$ The world is not yet as bad as that$ 4e hear mu%h about brutal husbands all over the world and about the impurity of men but is it not true that there are 0uite as many brutal and impure women as men5 +f all women were as good and pure as their own %onstant assertions would lead one to believe + am perfe%tly satisfied that there would not be one impure man in the world$ 4hat brutality is there whi%h purity and %hastity %annot %on0uer5 ( good %haste wife who thinks of every other man e6%ept her own husband as her %hild and has the attitude of a mother towards all men will grow so great in the power of her purity that there %annot be a single man however brutal who will not breathe an atmosphere of holiness in her presen%e$ Similarly every husband must look upon all women e6%ept his own wife in the light of his own mother or daughter or sister$ That man again who wants to be a tea%her of religion must look upon every woman as his mother and always behave towards her as su%h$ The position of the mother is the highest in the world as it is the one pla%e in whi%h to learn and e6er%ise the greatest unselfishness$ The love of 1od is the only love that is higher than a mother.s love* all others are lower$ +t is the duty of the mother to think of her %hildren first and then of herself$ ,ut instead of that if the parents are always thinking of themselves first the result is that the relation between parents and %hildren be%omes the same as that between birds and their offspring whi%h as soon as they are fledged do not re%ognise any parents$ ,lessed indeed is the man who is able to look upon woman as the representative of the motherhood of 1od$ ,lessed indeed is the woman to whom man represents the fatherhood of 1od$ ,lessed are the %hildren who look upon their parents as Divinity manifested on earth$ The only way to rise is by doing the duty ne6t to us and thus gathering strength go on until we rea%h the highest state$ ( young SannyAsin went to a forest* there he meditated worshipped and pra%ti%ed Yoga for a long time$ (fter years of hard work and pra%ti%e he was one day sitting under a tree when some dry leaves fell upon his head$ 7e looked up and saw a %row and a %rane fighting on the top of the tree whi%h made him very angry$ 7e said /4hatD Dare you throw these dry leaves upon my headD/ (s with these words he angrily glan%ed at them a flash of fire went out of his head 9 su%h was the Yogi.s power 9 and burnt the birds to ashes$ 7e was very glad almost over2oyed at this development of power 9 he %ould burn the %row and the %rane by a look$ (fter a time he had to go to the town to beg his bread$ 7e went stood at a door and said /<other give me food$/ ( voi%e %ame from inside the house /4ait a little my son$/ The young man thought /You wret%hed woman how dare you make me waitD You do not know my power yet$/ 4hile he was thinking thus the voi%e %ame again: /,oy don.t be thinking too mu%h of yourself$ 7ere is neither %row nor %rane$/ 7e was astonished* still he had to wait$ (t last the woman %ame and he fell at her feet and said /<other how did you know that5/ She said /<y boy + do not know your Yoga or your pra%ti%es$ + am a %ommon everyday woman$ + made you wait be%ause my husband is ill and + was nursing him$ (ll my life + have struggled to do my duty$ 4hen + was unmarried + did my duty to my parents* now that + am married + do my duty to my husband* that is all the Yoga + pra%ti%e$ ,ut by doing my duty + have be%ome illumined* thus + %ould read your thoughts and know what you had done in the forest$ +f you want to know something higher than this go to the market of su%h and su%h a town where you will find a VyAdha EThe lowest %lass of people in +ndia who used to live as hunters and but%hers$F who will tell you something that you will be very glad to learn$/ The Sannyasin thought /4hy should + go to that town and to a Vyadha5/ ,ut after what he had seen his mind opened a little so he went$ 4hen he %ame near the town he found the market and there saw at a distan%e a big fat Vyadha %utting meat with big knives talking and bargaining with different people$ The young man said /8ord help meD +s this the man from whom + am going to learn5 7e is the in%arnation of a demon if he is anything$/ +n the meantime this man looked up and said /= Swami did that lady send you here5 Take a seat until + have done my business$/ The Sannyasin thought /4hat %omes to me here5/ 7e took his seat* the man went on with his work and after he had

finished he took his money and said to the Sannyasin /;ome sir %ome to my home$/ =n rea%hing home the Vyadha gave him a seat saying /4ait here / and went into the house$ 7e then washed his old father and mother fed them and did all he %ould to please them after whi%h he %ame to the Sannyasin and said /3ow sir you have %ome here to see me* what %an + do for you5/ The Sannyasin asked him a few 0uestions about soul and about 1od and the Vyadha gave him a le%ture whi%h forms a part of the <ahAbhArata %alled the VyAdha'1itA$ +t %ontains one of the highest flights of the Vedanta$ 4hen the Vyadha finished his tea%hing the Sannyasin felt astonished$ 7e said /4hy are you in that body5 4ith su%h knowledge as yours why are you in a Vyadha.s body and doing su%h filthy ugly work5/ /<y son / replied the Vyadha /no duty is ugly no duty is impure$ <y birth pla%ed me in these %ir%umstan%es and environments$ +n my boyhood + learnt the trade* + am unatta%hed and + try to do my duty well$ + try to do my duty as a householder and + try to do all + %an to make my father and mother happy$ + neither know your Yoga nor have + be%ome a Sannyasin nor did + go out of the world into a forest* nevertheless all that you have heard and seen has %ome to me through the unatta%hed doing of the duty whi%h belongs to my position$/ There is a sage in +ndia a great Yogi one of the most wonderful men + have ever seen in my life$ 7e is a pe%uliar man he will not tea%h any one* if you ask him a 0uestion he will not answer$ +t is too mu%h for him to take up the position of a tea%her he will not do it$ +f you ask a 0uestion and wait for some days in the %ourse of %onversation he will bring up the sub2e%t and wonderful light will he throw on it$ 7e told me on%e the se%ret of work /8et the end and the means be 2oined into one$/ 4hen you are doing any work do not think of anything beyond$ Do it as worship as the highest worship and devote your whole life to it for the time being$ Thus in the story the Vyadha and the woman did their duty with %heerfulness and whole'heartedness* and the result was that they be%ame illuminated %learly showing that the right performan%e of the duties of any station in life without atta%hment to results leads us to the highest realisation of the perfe%tion of the soul$ +t is the worker who is atta%hed to results that grumbles about the nature of the duty whi%h has fallen to his lot* to the unatta%hed worker all duties are e0ually good and form effi%ient instruments with whi%h selfishness and sensuality may be killed and the freedom of the soul se%ured$ 4e are all apt to think too highly of ourselves$ =ur duties are determined by our deserts to a mu%h larger e6tent than we are willing to grant$ ;ompetition rouses envy and it kills the kindliness of the heart$ To the grumbler all duties are distasteful* nothing will ever satisfy him and his whole life is doomed to prove a failure$ 8et us work on doing as we go whatever happens to be our duty and being ever ready to put our shoulders to the wheel$ Then surely shall we see the 8ightD

CHAPTER '
&E HELP $)R"EL'E"+ !$T THE &$RL( ,efore %onsidering further how devotion to duty helps us in our spiritual progress let me pla%e before you in a brief %ompass another aspe%t of what we in +ndia mean by Karma$ +n every religion there are three parts: philosophy mythology and ritual$ -hilosophy of %ourse is the essen%e of every religion* mythology e6plains and illustrates it by means of the more or less legendary lives of great men stories and fables of wonderful things and so on* ritual gives to that philosophy a still more %on%rete form so that every one may grasp it 9 ritual is in fa%t %on%retised philosophy$ This ritual is Karma* it is ne%essary in every religion be%ause most of us %annot understand abstra%t spiritual things until we grow mu%h spiritually$ +t is easy for men to think that they %an understand anything* but when it %omes to pra%ti%al e6perien%e they find that abstra%t ideas are often very hard to %omprehend$ Therefore symbols are of great help and we %annot dispense with the symboli%al method of putting things before us$ From time immemorial symbols have been used by all kinds of religions$ +n one sense we %annot think but in symbols* words themselves are symbols of thought$ +n another sense everything in the universe may be looked upon as a symbol$ The whole universe is a symbol and 1od is the essen%e behind$ This kind of symbology is not simply the %reation of man* it is not that %ertain people belonging to a religion sit down together and think out %ertain symbols and bring them into e6isten%e out of their own minds$ The symbols of religion have a natural growth$ =therwise why is it that %ertain symbols are asso%iated with %ertain ideas in the mind of almost every one5 ;ertain symbols are universally prevalent$ <any of you may think that the %ross first %ame into e6isten%e as a symbol in %onne%tion with the ;hristian religion but as a matter of fa%t it e6isted before ;hristianity was before <oses was born before the Vedas were given out before there was any human re%ord of human things$ The %ross may be found to have been in e6isten%e among the (Cte%s and the -hoeni%ians* every ra%e seems to have had the %ross$ (gain the symbol of the %ru%ified Saviour of a man %ru%ified upon a %ross appears to have been known to almost every nation$ The %ir%le has been a great symbol throughout the world$ Then there is the most universal of all symbols the Swastika$ (t one time it was thought that the ,uddhists %arried it all over the world with them but it has been found out that ages before ,uddhism it was used among nations$ +n =ld ,abylon and in &gypt it was to be found$ 4hat does this show5 (ll these symbols %ould not have been purely %onventional$ There must be some reason for them* some natural asso%iation between them and the human mind$ 8anguage is not the result of %onvention* it is not that people ever agreed to represent %ertain ideas by %ertain words* there never was an idea without a %orresponding word or a word without a %orresponding idea* ideas and words are in their nature inseparable$ The symbols to represent ideas may be sound symbols or %olour symbols$ Deaf and dumb people have to think with other than sound symbols$ &very thought in the mind has a form as its %ounterpart$ This is %alled in Sanskrit philosophy 3Ama'Bupa 9 name and form$ +t is as impossible to %reate by %onvention a system of symbols as it is to %reate a language$ +n the world.s ritualisti% symbols we have an e6pression of the religious thought of humanity$ +t is easy to say that there is no use of rituals and temples and all su%h paraphernalia* every baby says that in modern times$ ,ut it must be easy for all to see that those who worship inside a temple are in many respe%ts different from those who will not worship there$ Therefore the asso%iation of parti%ular temples rituals and other %on%rete forms with parti%ular religions has a tenden%y to bring into the minds of the followers of those religions the thoughts for whi%h those %on%rete things stand as symbols* and it is not wise to ignore rituals and symbology altogether$ The study and pra%ti%e of these things form naturally a part of Karma'Yoga$ There are many other aspe%ts of this s%ien%e of work$ =ne among them is to know the relation between thought and word and what %an be a%hieved by the power of the word$ +n every religion the

power of the word is re%ognised so mu%h so that in some of them %reation itself is said to have %ome out of the word$ The e6ternal aspe%t of the thought of 1od is the 4ord and as 1od thought and willed before 7e %reated %reation %ame out of the 4ord$ +n this stress and hurry of our materialisti% life our nerves lose sensibility and be%ome hardened$ The older we grow the longer we are kno%ked about in the world the more %allous we be%ome* and we are apt to negle%t things that even happen persistently and prominently around us$ 7uman nature however asserts itself sometimes and we are led to in0uire into and wonder at some of these %ommon o%%urren%es* wondering thus is the first step in the a%0uisition of light$ (part from the higher philosophi% and religious value of the 4ord we may see that sound symbols play a prominent part in the drama of human life$ + am talking to you$ + am not tou%hing you* the pulsations of the air %aused by my speaking go into your ear they tou%h your nerves and produ%e effe%ts in your minds$ You %annot resist this$ 4hat %an be more wonderful than this5 =ne man %alls another a fool and at this the other stands up and %len%hes his fist and lands a blow on his nose$ 8ook at the power of the wordD There is a woman weeping and miserable* another woman %omes along and speaks to her a few gentle words the doubled up frame of the weeping woman be%omes straightened at on%e her sorrow is gone and she already begins to smile$ Think of the power of wordsD They are a great for%e in higher philosophy as well as in %ommon life$ Day and night we manipulate this for%e without thought and without in0uiry$ To know the nature of this for%e and to use it well is also a part of Karma'Yoga$ =ur duty to others means helping others* doing good to the world$ 4hy should we do good to the world5 (pparently to help the world but really to help ourselves$ 4e should always try to help the world that should be the highest motive in us* but if we %onsider well we find that the world does not re0uire our help at all$ This world was not made that you or + should %ome and help it$ + on%e read a sermon in whi%h it was said /(ll this beautiful world is very good be%ause it gives us time and opportunity to help others$/ (pparently this is a very beautiful sentiment but is it not a blasphemy to say that the world needs our help5 4e %annot deny that there is mu%h misery in it* to go out and help others is therefore the best thing we %an do although in the long run we shall find that helping others is only helping ourselves$ (s a boy + had some white mi%e$ They were kept in a little bo6 in whi%h there were little wheels and when the mi%e tried to %ross the wheels the wheels turned and turned and the mi%e never got anywhere$ So it is with the world and our helping it$ The only help is that we get moral e6er%ise$ This world is neither good nor evil* ea%h man manufa%tures a world for himself$ +f a blind man begins to think of the world it is either as soft or hard or as %old or hot$ 4e are a mass of happiness or misery* we have seen that hundreds of times in our lives$ (s a rule the young are optimisti% and the old pessimisti%$ The young have life before them* the old %omplain their day is gone* hundreds of desires whi%h they %annot fulfil struggle in their hearts$ ,oth are foolish nevertheless$ 8ife is good or evil a%%ording to the state of mind in whi%h we look at it it is neither by itself$ Fire by itself is neither good nor evil$ 4hen it keeps us warm we say /7ow beautiful is fireD/ 4hen it burns our fingers we blame it$ Still in itself it is neither good nor bad$ (%%ording as we use it it produ%es in us the feeling of good or bad* so also is this world$ +t is perfe%t$ ,y perfe%tion is meant that it is perfe%tly fitted to meet its ends$ 4e may all be perfe%tly sure that it will go on beautifully well without us and we need not bother our heads wishing to help it$ Yet we must do good* the desire to do good is the highest motive power we have if we know all the time that it is a privilege to help others$ Do not stand on a high pedestal and take five %ents in your hand and say /7ere my poor man / but be grateful that the poor man is there so that by making a gift to him you are able to help yourself$ +t is not the re%eiver that is blessed but it is the giver$ ,e thankful that you are allowed to e6er%ise your power of benevolen%e and mer%y in the world and thus be%ome pure and perfe%t$ (ll good a%ts tend to make us pure and perfe%t$ 4hat %an we do at best5 ,uild a hospital make roads or ere%t %harity asylums$ 4e may organise a %harity and %olle%t

two or three millions of dollars build a hospital with one million with the se%ond give balls and drink %hampagne and of the third let the offi%ers steal half and leave the rest finally to rea%h the poor* but what are all these5 =ne mighty wind in five minutes %an break all your buildings up$ 4hat shall we do then5 =ne vol%ani% eruption may sweep away all our roads and hospitals and %ities and buildings$ 8et us give up all this foolish talk of doing good to the world$ +t is not waiting for your or my help* yet we must work and %onstantly do good be%ause it is a blessing to ourselves$ That is the only way we %an be%ome perfe%t$ 3o beggar whom we have helped has ever owed a single %ent to us* we owe everything to him be%ause he has allowed us to e6er%ise our %harity on him$ +t is entirely wrong to think that we have done or %an do good to the world or to think that we have helped su%h and su%h people$ +t is a foolish thought and all foolish thoughts bring misery$ 4e think that we have helped some man and e6pe%t him to thank us and be%ause he does not unhappiness %omes to us$ 4hy should we e6pe%t anything in return for what we do5 ,e grateful to the man you help think of him as 1od$ +s it not a great privilege to be allowed to worship 1od by helping our fellow men5 +f we were really unatta%hed we should es%ape all this pain of vain e6pe%tation and %ould %heerfully do good work in the world$ 3ever will unhappiness or misery %ome through work done without atta%hment$ The world will go on with its happiness and misery through eternity$ There was a poor man who wanted some money* and somehow he had heard that if he %ould get hold of a ghost he might %ommand him to bring money or anything else he liked* so he was very an6ious to get hold of a ghost$ 7e went about sear%hing for a man who would give him a ghost and at last he found a sage with great powers and besought his help$ The sage asked him what he would do with a ghost$ + want a ghost to work for me* tea%h me how to get hold of one sir* + desire it very mu%h / replied the man$ ,ut the sage said /Don.t disturb yourself go home$/ The ne6t day the man went again to the sage and began to weep and pray /1ive me a ghost* + must have a ghost sir to help me$/ (t last the sage was disgusted and said /Take this %harm repeat this magi% word and a ghost will %ome and whatever you say to him he will do$ ,ut beware* they are terrible beings and must be kept %ontinually busy$ +f you fail to give him work he will take your life$/ The man replied /That is easy* + %an give him work for all his life$/ Then he went to a forest and after long repetition of the magi% word a huge ghost appeared before him and said /+ am a ghost$ + have been %on0uered by your magi%* but you must keep me %onstantly employed$ The moment you fail to give me work + will kill you$/ The man said /,uild me a pala%e / and the ghost said /+t is done* the pala%e is built$/ /,ring me money / said the man$ /7ere is your money / said the ghost$ /;ut this forest down and build a %ity in its pla%e$/ /That is done / said the ghost /anything more5/ 3ow the man began to be frightened and thought he %ould give him nothing more to do* he did everything in a tri%e$ The ghost said /1ive me something to do or + will eat you up$/ The poor man %ould find no further o%%upation for him and was frightened$ So he ran and ran and at last rea%hed the sage and said /=h sir prote%t my lifeD/ The sage asked him what the matter was and the man replied /+ have nothing to give the ghost to do$ &verything + tell him to do he does in a moment and he threatens to eat me up if + do not give him work$/ Just then the ghost arrived saying /+.ll eat you up / and he would have swallowed the man$ The man began to shake and begged the sage to save his life$ The sage said /+ will find you a way out$ 8ook at that dog with a %urly tail$ Draw your sword 0ui%kly and %ut the tail off and give it to the ghost to straighten out$/ The man %ut off the dog.s tail and gave it to the ghost saying /Straighten that out for me$/ The ghost took it and slowly and %arefully straightened it out but as soon as he let it go it instantly %urled up again$ =n%e more he laboriously straightened it out only to find it again %urled up as soon as he attempted to let go of it$ (gain he patiently straightened it out but as soon as he let it go it %urled up again$ So he went on for days and days until he was e6hausted and said /+ was never in su%h trouble before in my life$ + am an old veteran ghost but never before was + in su%h trouble$/ /+ will make a %ompromise with you */ he said to the man /you let me off and + will let you keep all + have given you and will promise not to harm you$/ The man was mu%h pleased and a%%epted the offer gladly$

This world is like a dog.s %urly tail and people have been striving to straighten it out for hundreds of years* but when they let it go it has %urled up again$ 7ow %ould it be otherwise5 =ne must first know how to work without atta%hment then one will not be a fanati%$ 4hen we know that this world is like a dog.s %urly tail and will never get straightened we shall not be%ome fanati%s$ +f there were no fanati%ism in the world it would make mu%h more progress than it does now$ +t is a mistake to think that fanati%ism %an make for the progress of mankind$ =n the %ontrary it is a retarding element %reating hatred and anger and %ausing people to fight ea%h other and making them unsympatheti%$ 4e think that whatever we do or possess is the best in the world and what we do not do or possess is of no value$ So always remember the instan%e of the %urly tail of the dog whenever you have a tenden%y to be%ome a fanati%$ You need not worry or make yourself sleepless about the world* it will go on without you$ 4hen you have avoided fanati%ism then alone will you work well$ +t is the level'headed man the %alm man of good 2udgment and %ool nerves of great sympathy and love who does good work and so does good to himself$ The fanati% is foolish and has no sympathy* he %an never straighten the world nor himself be%ome pure and perfe%t$ To re%apitulate the %hief points in today.s le%ture: First we have to bear in mind that we are all debtors to the world and the world does not owe us anything$ +t is a great privilege for all of us to be allowed to do anything for the world$ +n helping the world we really help ourselves$ The se%ond point is that there is a 1od in this universe$ +t is not true that this universe is drifting and stands in need of help from you and me$ 1od is ever present therein 7e is undying and eternally a%tive and infinitely wat%hful$ 4hen the whole universe sleeps 7e sleeps not* 7e is working in%essantly* all the %hanges and manifestations of the world are 7is$ Thirdly we ought not to hate anyone$ This world will always %ontinue to be a mi6ture of good and evil$ =ur duty is to sympathise with the weak and to love even the wrongdoer$ The world is a grand moral gymnasium wherein we have all to take e6er%ise so as to be%ome stronger and stronger spiritually$ Fourthly we ought not to be fanati%s of any kind be%ause fanati%ism is opposed to love$ You hear fanati%s glibly saying /+ do not hate the sinner$ + hate the sin / but + am prepared to go any distan%e to see the fa%e of that man who %an really make a distin%tion between the sin and the sinner$ +t is easy to say so$ +f we %an distinguish well between 0uality and substan%e we may be%ome perfe%t men$ +t is not easy to do this$ (nd further the %almer we are and the less disturbed our nerves the more shall we love and the better will our work be$

CHAPTER 'I
!$!-ATTACH E!T I" C$ PLETE "EL#-AB!E%ATI$! Just as every a%tion that emanates from us %omes ba%k to us as rea%tion even so our a%tions may a%t on other people and theirs on us$ -erhaps all of you have observed it as a fa%t that when persons do evil a%tions they be%ome more and more evil and when they begin to do good they be%ome stronger and stronger and learn to do good at all times$ This intensifi%ation of the influen%e of a%tion %annot be e6plained on any other ground than that we %an a%t and rea%t upon ea%h other$ To take an illustration from physi%al s%ien%e when + am doing a %ertain a%tion my mind may be said to be in a %ertain state of vibration* all minds whi%h are in similar %ir%umstan%es will have the tenden%y to be affe%ted by my mind$ +f there are different musi%al instruments tuned alike in one room all of you may have noti%ed that when one is stru%k the others have the tenden%y to vibrate so as to give the same note$ So all minds that have the same tension so to say will be e0ually affe%ted by the same thought$ =f %ourse this influen%e of thought on mind will vary a%%ording to distan%e and other %auses but the mind is always open to affe%tion$ Suppose + am doing an evil a%t my mind is in a %ertain state of vibration and all minds in the universe whi%h are in a similar state have the possibility of being affe%ted by the vibration of my mind$ So when + am doing a good a%tion my mind is in another state of vibration* and all minds similarly strung have the possibility of being affe%ted by my mind* and this power of mind upon mind is more or less a%%ording as the for%e of the tension is greater or less$ Following this simile further it is 0uite possible that 2ust as light waves may travel for millions of years before they rea%h any ob2e%t so thought waves may also travel hundreds of years before they meet an ob2e%t with whi%h they vibrate in unison$ +t is 0uite possible therefore that this atmosphere of ours is full of su%h thought pulsations both good and evil$ &very thought pro2e%ted from every brain goes on pulsating as it were until it meets a fit ob2e%t that will re%eive it$ (ny mind whi%h is open to re%eive some of these impulses will take them immediately$ So when a man is doing evil a%tions he has brought his mind to a %ertain state of tension and all the waves whi%h %orrespond to that state of tension and whi%h may be said to be already in the atmosphere will struggle to enter into his mind$ That is why an evil'doer generally goes on doing more and more evil$ 7is a%tions be%ome intensified$ Su%h also will be the %ase with the doer of good* he will open himself to all the good waves that are in the atmosphere and his good a%tions also will be%ome intensified$ 4e run therefore a twofold danger in doing evil: first we open ourselves to all the evil influen%es surrounding us* se%ondly we %reate evil whi%h affe%ts others may be hundreds of years hen%e$ +n doing evil we in2ure ourselves and others also$ +n doing good we do good to ourselves and to others as well* and like all other for%es in man these for%es of good and evil also gather strength from outside$ (%%ording to Karma'Yoga the a%tion one has done %annot be destroyed until it has borne its fruit* no power in nature %an stop it from yielding its results$ +f + do an evil a%tion + must suffer for it* there is no power in this universe to stop or stay it$ Similarly if + do a good a%tion there is no power in the universe whi%h %an stop its bearing good results$ The %ause must have its effe%t* nothing %an prevent or restrain this$ 3ow %omes a very fine and serious 0uestion about Karma'Yoga 9 namely that these a%tions of ours both good and evil are intimately %onne%ted with ea%h other$ 4e %annot put a line of demar%ation and say this a%tion is entirely good and this entirely evil$ There is no a%tion whi%h does not bear good and evil fruits at the same time$ To take the nearest e6ample: + am talking to you and some of you perhaps think + am doing good* and at the same time + am perhaps killing thousands of mi%robes in the atmosphere* + am thus doing evil to something else$ 4hen it is very near to us and affe%ts those we know we say that it is very good a%tion if it affe%ts them in a good manner$ For instan%e you may %all my speaking to you very good but the mi%robes

will not* the mi%robes you do not see but yourselves you do see$ The way in whi%h my talk affe%ts you is obvious to you but how it affe%ts the mi%robes is not so obvious$ (nd so if we analyse our evil a%tions also we may find that some good possibly results from them somewhere$ 7e who in good a%tion sees that there is something evil in it and in the midst of evil sees that there is something good in it somewhere has known the se%ret of work$ ,ut what follows from it5 That howsoever we may try there %annot be any a%tion whi%h is perfe%tly pure or any whi%h is perfe%tly impure taking purity and impurity in the sense of in2ury and non'in2ury$ 4e %annot breathe or live without in2uring others and every bit of the food we eat is taken away from anotherGs mouth$ =ur very lives are %rowding out other lives$ +t may be men or animals or small mi%robes but some one or other of these we have to %rowd out$ That being the %ase it naturally follows that perfe%tion %an never be attained by work$ 4e may work through all eternity but there will be no way out of this intri%ate maCe$ You may work on and on and on* there will be no end to this inevitable asso%iation of good and evil in the results of work$ The se%ond point to %onsider is what is the end of work5 4e find the vast ma2ority of people in every %ountry believing that there will be a time when this world will be%ome perfe%t when there will be no disease nor death nor unhappiness nor wi%kedness$ That is a very good idea a very good motive power to inspire and uplift the ignorant* but if we think for a moment we shall find on the very fa%e of it that it %annot be so$ 7ow %an it be seeing that good and evil are the obverse and reverse of the same %oin5 7ow %an you have good without evil at the same time5 4hat is meant by perfe%tion5 ( perfe%t life is a %ontradi%tion in terms$ 8ife itself is a state of %ontinuous struggle between ourselves and everything outside$ &very moment we are fighting a%tually with e6ternal nature and if we are defeated our life has to go$ +t is for instan%e a %ontinuous struggle for food and air$ +f food or air fails we die$ 8ife is not a simple and smoothly flowing thing but it is a %ompound effe%t$ This %omple6 struggle between something inside and the e6ternal world is what we %all life$ So it is %lear that when this struggle %eases there will be an end of life$ 4hat is meant by ideal happiness is the %essation of this struggle$ ,ut then life will %ease for the struggle %an only %ease when life itself has %eased$ 4e have seen already that in helping the world we help ourselves$ The main effe%t of work done for others is to purify ourselves$ ,y means of the %onstant effort to do good to others we are trying to forget ourselves* this forgetfulness of self is the one great lesson we have to learn in life$ <an thinks foolishly that he %an make himself happy and after years of struggle finds out at last that true happiness %onsists in killing selfishness and that no one %an make him happy e6%ept himself$ &very a%t of %harity every thought of sympathy every a%tion of help every good deed is taking so mu%h of self'importan%e away from our little selves and making us think of ourselves as the lowest and the least and therefore it is all good$ 7ere we find that JnAna ,hakti and Karma 9 all %ome to one point$ The highest ideal is eternal and entire self'abnegation where there is no /+ / but all is /Thou/* and whether he is %ons%ious or un%ons%ious of it Karma'Yoga leads man to that end$ ( religious prea%her may be%ome horrified at the idea of an +mpersonal 1od* he may insist on a -ersonal 1od and wish to keep up his own identity and individuality whatever he may mean by that$ ,ut his ideas of ethi%s if they are really good %annot but be based on the highest self'abnegation$ +t is the basis of all morality* you may e6tend it to men or animals or angels it is the one basi% idea the one fundamental prin%iple running through all ethi%al systems$ You will find various %lasses of men in this world$ First there are the 1od'men whose self' abnegation is %omplete and who do only good to others even at the sa%rifi%e of their own lives$ These are the highest of men$ +f there are a hundred of su%h in any %ountry that %ountry need never despair$ ,ut they are unfortunately too few$ Then there are the good men who do good to others so long as it does not in2ure themselves$ (nd there is a third %lass who to do good to themselves

in2ure others$ +t is said by a Sanskrit poet that there is a fourth unnamable %lass of people who in2ure others merely for in2ury.s sake$ Just as there are at one pole of e6isten%e the highest good men who do good for the sake of doing good so at the other pole there are others who in2ure others 2ust for the sake of the in2ury$ They do not gain anything thereby but it is their nature to do evil$ 7ere are two Sanskrit words$ The one is -ravritti whi%h means revolving towards and the other is 3ivritti whi%h means revolving away$ The /revolving towards/ is what we %all the world the /+ and mine?* it in%ludes all those things whi%h are always enri%hing that /me/ by wealth and money and power and name and fame and whi%h are of a grasping nature always tending to a%%umulate everything in one %entre that %entre being /myself/$ That is the -ravritti the natural tenden%y of every human being* taking everything from everywhere and heaping it around one %entre that %entre being man.s own sweet self$ 4hen this tenden%y begins to break when it is 3ivritti or /going away from / then begin morality and religion$ ,oth -ravritti and 3ivritti are of the nature of work: the former is evil work and the latter is good work$ This 3ivritti is the fundamental basis of all morality and all religion and the very perfe%tion of it is entire self'abnegation readiness to sa%rifi%e mind and body and everything for another being$ 4hen a man has rea%hed that state he has attained to the perfe%tion of Karma'Yoga$ This is the highest result of good works$ (lthough a man has not studied a single system of philosophy although he does not believe in any 1od and never has believed although he has not prayed even on%e in his whole life if the simple power of good a%tions has brought him to that state where he is ready to give up his life and all else for others he has arrived at the same point to whi%h the religious man will %ome through his prayers and the philosopher through his knowledge* and so you may find that the philosopher the worker and the devotee all meet at one point that one point being self'abnegation$ 7owever mu%h their systems of philosophy and religion may differ all mankind stand in reveren%e and awe before the man who is ready to sa%rifi%e himself for others$ 7ere it is not at all any 0uestion of %reed or do%trine 9 even men who are very mu%h opposed to all religious ideas when they see one of these a%ts of %omplete self'sa%rifi%e feel that they must revere it$ 7ave you not seen even a most bigoted ;hristian when he reads &dwin (rnold.s 8ight of (sia stand in reveren%e of ,uddha who -rea%hed no 1od prea%hed nothing but self'sa%rifi%e5 The only thing is that the bigot does not know that his own end and aim in life is e6a%tly the same as that of those from whom he differs$ The worshipper by keeping %onstantly before him the idea of 1od and a surrounding of good %omes to the same point at last and says /Thy will be done / and keeps nothing to himself$ That is self'abnegation$ The philosopher with his knowledge sees that the seeming self is a delusion and easily gives it up$ +t is self'abnegation$ So Karma ,hakti and Jnana all meet here* and this is what was meant by all the great prea%hers of an%ient times when they taught that 1od is not the world$ There is one thing whi%h is the world and another whi%h is 1od* and this distin%tion is very true$ 4hat they mean by world is selfishness$ @nselfishness is 1od$ =ne may live on a throne in a golden pala%e and be perfe%tly unselfish* and then he is in 1od$ (nother may live in a hut and wear rags and have nothing in the world* yet if he is selfish he is intensely merged in the world$ To %ome ba%k to one of our main points we say that we %annot do good without at the same time doing some evil or do evil without doing some good$ Knowing this how %an we work5 There have therefore been se%ts in this world who have in an astoundingly preposterous way prea%hed slow sui%ide as the only means to get out of the world be%ause if a man lives he has to kill poor little animals and plants or do in2ury to something or some one$ So a%%ording to them the only way out of the world is to die$ The Jains have prea%hed this do%trine as their highest ideal$ This tea%hing seems to be very logi%al$ ,ut the true solution is found in the 1ita$ +t is the theory of non'atta%hment to be atta%hed to nothing while doing our work of life$ Know that you are separated entirely from the world though you are in the world and that whatever you may be doing in it you are not doing that for your own sake$ (ny a%tion that you do for yourself will bring its effe%t to bear upon you$ +f it is a good a%tion you will have to take the good effe%t and if bad you will have to take the bad effe%t*

but any a%tion that is not done for your own sake whatever it be will have no effe%t on you$ There is to be found a very e6pressive senten%e in our s%riptures embodying this idea: /&ven if he kill the whole universe Eor be himself killedF he is neither the killer nor the killed when he knows that he is not a%ting for himself at all$/ Therefore Karma'Yoga tea%hes /Do not give up the world* live in the world imbibe its influen%es as mu%h as you %an* but if it be for your own en2oyment.s sake work not at all$/ &n2oyment should not be the goal$ First kill your self and then take the whole world as yourself* as the old ;hristians used to say /The old man must die$/ This old man is the selfish idea that the whole world is made for our en2oyment$ Foolish parents tea%h their %hildren to pray /= 8ord Thou hast %reated this sun for me and this moon for me / as if the 8ord has had nothing else to do than to %reate everything for these babies$ Do not tea%h your %hildren su%h nonsense$ Then again there are people who are foolish in another way: they tea%h us that all these animals were %reated for us to kill and eat and that this universe is for the en2oyment of men$ That is all foolishness$ ( tiger may say /<an was %reated for me/ and pray /= 8ord how wi%ked are these men who do not %ome and pla%e themselves before me to be eaten* they are breaking Your law$/ +f the world is %reated for us we are also %reated for the world$ That this world is %reated for our en2oyment is the most wi%ked idea that holds us down$ This world is not for our sake$ <illions pass out of it every year* the world does not feel it* millions of others are supplied in their pla%e$ Just as mu%h as the world is for us so we also are for the world$ To work properly therefore you have first to give up the idea of atta%hment$ Se%ondly do not mi6 in the fray hold yourself as a witness and go on working$ <y master used to say /8ook upon your %hildren as a nurse does$/ The nurse will take your baby and fondle it and play with it and behave towards it as gently as if it were her own %hild* but as soon as you give her noti%e to 0uit she is ready to start off bag and baggage from the house$ &verything in the shape of atta%hment is forgotten* it will not give the ordinary nurse the least pang to leave your %hildren and take up other %hildren$ &ven so are you to be with all that you %onsider your own$ You are the nurse and if you believe in 1od believe that all these things whi%h you %onsider yours are really 7is$ The greatest weakness often insinuates itself as the greatest good and strength$ +t is a weakness to think that any one is dependent on me and that + %an do good to another$ This belief is the mother of all our atta%hment and through this atta%hment %omes all our pain$ 4e must inform our minds that no one in this universe depends upon us* not one beggar depends on our %harity* not one soul on our kindness* not one living thing on our help$ (ll are helped on by nature and will be so helped even though millions of us were not here$ The %ourse of nature will not stop for su%h as you and me* it is as already pointed out only a blessed privilege to you and to me that we are allowed in the way of helping others to edu%ate ourselves$ This is a great lesson to learn in life and when we have learned it fully we shall never be unhappy* we %an go and mi6 without harm in so%iety anywhere and everywhere$ You may have wives and husbands and regiments of servants and kingdoms to govern* if only you a%t on the prin%iple that the world is not for you and does not inevitably need you they %an do you no harm$ This very year some of your friends may have died$ +s the world waiting without going on for them to %ome again5 +s its %urrent stopped5 3o it goes on$ So drive out of your mind the idea that you have to do something for the world* the world does not re0uire any help from you$ +t is sheer nonsense on the part of any man to think that he is born to help the world* it is simply pride it is selfishness insinuating itself in the form of virtue$ 4hen you have trained your mind and your nerves to realise this idea of the world.s non'dependen%e on you or on anybody there will then be no rea%tion in the form of pain resulting from work$ 4hen you give something to a man and e6pe%t nothing 9 do not even e6pe%t the man to be grateful 9 his ingratitude will not tell upon you be%ause you never e6pe%ted anything never thought you had any right to anything in the way of a return$ You gave him what he deserved* his own Karma got it for him* your Karma made you the %arrier thereof$ 4hy should you be proud of having given away something5 You are the porter that %arried the money or other kind of gift and the world deserved it by its own Karma$ 4here is then the reason for pride in you5 There is nothing very great in what you give to the world$ 4hen you have a%0uired the feeling of non'atta%hment there will then be

neither good nor evil for you$ +t is only selfishness that %auses the differen%e between good and evil$ +t is a very hard thing to understand but you will %ome to learn in time that nothing in the universe has power over you until you allow it to e6er%ise su%h a power$ 3othing has power over the Self of man until the Self be%omes a fool and loses independen%e$ So by non'atta%hment you over%ome and deny the power of anything to a%t upon you$ +t is very easy to say that nothing has the right to a%t upon you until you allow it to do so* but what is the true sign of the man who really does not allow anything to work upon him who is neither happy nor unhappy when a%ted upon by the e6ternal world5 The sign is that good or ill fortune %auses no %hange in his mind: in all %onditions he %ontinues to remain the same$ There was a great sage in +ndia %alled VyAsa$ This VyAsa is known as the author of the Vedanta aphorisms and was a holy man$ 7is father had tried to be%ome a very perfe%t man and had failed$ 7is grandfather had also tried and failed$ 7is great'grandfather had similarly tried and failed$ 7e himself did not su%%eed perfe%tly but his son Shuka was born perfe%t$ Vyasa taught his son wisdom* and after tea%hing him the knowledge of truth himself he sent him to the %ourt of King Janaka$ 7e was a great king and was %alled Janaka Videha$ Videha means /without a body/$ (lthough a king he had entirely forgotten that he was a body* he felt that he was a spirit all the time$ This boy Shuka was sent to be taught by him$ The king knew that Vyasa.s son was %oming to him to learn wisdom: so he made %ertain arrangements beforehand$ (nd when the boy presented himself at the gates of the pala%e the guards took no noti%e of him whatsoever$ They only gave him a seat and he sat there for three days and nights nobody speaking to him nobody asking him who he was or when%e he was$ 7e was the son of a very great sage his father was honoured by the whole %ountry and he himself was a most respe%table person* yet the low vulgar guards of the pala%e would take no noti%e of him$ (fter that suddenly the ministers of the king and all the big offi%ials %ame there and re%eived him with the greatest honours$ They %ondu%ted him in and showed him into splendid rooms gave him the most fragrant baths and wonderful dresses and for eight days they kept him there in all kinds of lu6ury$ That solemnly serene fa%e of Shuka did not %hange even to the smallest e6tent by the %hange in the treatment a%%orded to him* he was the same in the midst of this lu6ury as when waiting at the door$ Then he was brought before the king$ The king was on his throne musi% was playing and dan%ing and other amusements were going on$ The king then gave him a %up of milk full to the brim and asked him to go seven times round the hall without spilling even a drop$ The boy took the %up and pro%eeded in the midst of the musi% and the attra%tion of the beautiful fa%es$ (s desired by the king seven times did he go round and not a drop of the milk was spilt$ The boy.s mind %ould not be attra%ted by anything in the world unless he allowed it to affe%t him$ (nd when he brought the %up to the king the king said to him /4hat your father has taught you and what you have learned yourself + %an only repeat$ You have known the Truth* go home$/ Thus the man that has pra%ti%ed %ontrol over himself %annot be a%ted upon by anything outside* there is no more slavery for him$ 7is mind has be%ome free$ Su%h a man alone is fit to live well in the world$ 4e generally find men holding two opinions regarding the world$ Some are pessimists and say >7ow horrible this world is how wi%kedD/ Some others are optimists and say /7ow beautiful this world is how wonderfulD/ To those who have not %ontrolled their own minds the world is either full of evil or at best a mi6ture of good and evil$ This very world will be%ome to us an optimisti% world when we be%ome masters of our own minds$ 3othing will then work upon us as good or evil* we shall find everything to be in its proper pla%e to be harmonious$ Some men who begin by saying that the world is a hell often end by saying that it is a heaven when they su%%eed in the pra%ti%e of self'%ontrol$ +f we are genuine Karma'Yogis and wish to train ourselves to that attainment of this state wherever we may begin we are sure to end in perfe%t self'abnegation* and as soon as this seeming self has gone the whole world whi%h at first appears to us to be filled with evil will appear to be heaven itself and full of blessedness$ +ts very atmosphere will be blessed*

every human fa%e there will be god$ Su%h is the end and aim of Karma'Yoga and su%h is its perfe%tion in pra%ti%al life$ =ur various Yogas do not %onfli%t with ea%h other* ea%h of them leads us to the same goal and makes us perfe%t$ =nly ea%h has to be strenuously pra%ti%ed$ The whole se%ret is in pra%ti%ing$ First you have to hear then think and then pra%ti%e$ This is true of every Yoga$ You have first to hear about it and understand what it is* and many things whi%h you do not understand will be made %lear to you by %onstant hearing and thinking$ +t is hard to understand everything at on%e$ The e6planation of everything is after all in yourself$ 3o one was ever really taught by another* ea%h of us has to tea%h himself$ The e6ternal tea%her offers only the suggestion whi%h rouses the internal tea%her to work to understand things$ Then things will be made %learer to us by our own power of per%eption and thought and we shall realise them in our own souls* and that realisation will grow into the intense power of will$ First it is feeling then it be%omes willing and out of that willing %omes the tremendous for%e for work that will go through every vein and nerve and mus%le until the whole mass of your body is %hanged into an instrument of the unselfish Yoga of work and the desired result of perfe%t self'abnegation and utter unselfishness is duly attained$ This attainment does not depend on any dogma or do%trine or belief$ 4hether one is ;hristian or Jew or 1entile it does not matter$ (re you unselfish5 That is the 0uestion$ +f you are you will be perfe%t without reading a single religious book without going into a single %hur%h or temple$ &a%h one of our Yogas is fitted to make man perfe%t even without the help of the others be%ause they have all the same goal in view$ The Yogas of work of wisdom and of devotion are all %apable of serving as dire%t and independent means for the attainment of <oksha$ /Fools alone say that work and philosophy are different not the learned$? The learned know that though apparently different from ea%h other they at last lead to the same goal of human perfe%tion$

CHAPTER 'II
#REE($ +n addition to meaning work we have stated that psy%hologi%ally the word Karma also implies %ausation$ (ny work any a%tion any thought that produ%es an effe%t is %alled a Karma$ Thus the law of Karma means the law of %ausation of inevitable %ause and se0uen%e$ 4heresoever there is a %ause there an effe%t must be produ%ed* this ne%essity %annot be resisted and this law of Karma a%%ording to our philosophy is true throughout the whole universe$ 4hatever we see or feel or do whatever a%tion there is anywhere in the universe while being the effe%t of past work on the one hand be%omes on the other a %ause in its turn and produ%es its own effe%t$ +t is ne%essary together with this to %onsider what is meant by the word /law/$ ,y law is meant the tenden%y of a series to repeat itself$ 4hen we see one event followed by another or sometimes happening simultaneously with another we e6pe%t this se0uen%e or %o'e6isten%e to re%ur$ =ur old logi%ians and philosophers of the 3yAyA s%hool %all this law by the name of VyApti$ (%%ording to them all our ideas of law are due to asso%iation$ ( series of phenomena be%omes asso%iated with things in our mind in a sort of invariable order so that whatever we per%eive at any time is immediately referred to other fa%ts in the mind$ (ny one idea or a%%ording to our psy%hology any one wave that is produ%ed in the mind' stuff ;hitta must always give rise to many similar waves$ This is the psy%hologi%al idea of asso%iation and %ausation is only an aspe%t of this grand pervasive prin%iple of asso%iation$ This pervasiveness of asso%iation is what is in Sanskrit %alled VyApti$ +n the e6ternal world the idea of law is the same as in the internal 9 the e6pe%tation that a parti%ular phenomenon will be followed by another and that the series will repeat itself$ Beally speaking therefore law does not e6ist in nature$ -ra%ti%ally it is an error to say that gravitation e6ists in the earth or that there is any law e6isting ob2e%tively anywhere in nature$ 8aw is the method the manner in whi%h our mind grasps a series of phenomena* it is all in the mind$ ;ertain phenomena happening one after another or together and followed by the %onvi%tion of the regularity of their re%urren%e 9 thus enabling our minds to grasp the method of the whole series 9 %onstitute what we %all law$ The ne6t 0uestion for %onsideration is what we mean by law being universal$ =ur universe is that portion of e6isten%e whi%h is %hara%teriCed by what the Sanskrit psy%hologists %all Desha'kAla' nimitta or what is known to &uropean psy%hology as spa%e time and %ausation$ This universe is only a part of infinite e6isten%e thrown into a pe%uliar mould %omposed of spa%e time and %ausation$ +t ne%essarily follows that law is possible only within this %onditioned universe* beyond it there %annot be any law$ 4hen we speak of the universe we only mean that portion of e6isten%e whi%h is limited by our mind 9 the universe of the senses whi%h we %an see feel tou%h hear think of imagine$ This alone is under law* but beyond it e6isten%e %annot be sub2e%t to law be%ause %ausation does not e6tend beyond the world of our minds$ (nything beyond the range of our mind and our senses is not bound by the law of %ausation as there is no mental asso%iation of things in the region beyond the senses and no %ausation without asso%iation of ideas$ +t is only when /being/ or e6isten%e gets moulded into name and form that it obeys the law of %ausation and is said to be under law* be%ause all law has its essen%e in %ausation$ Therefore we see at on%e that there %annot be any su%h thing as free will* the very words are a %ontradi%tion be%ause will is what we know and everything that we know is within our universe and everything within our universe is moulded by the %onditions of spa%e time and %ausation$ &verything that we know or %an possibly know must be sub2e%t to %ausation and that whi%h obeys the law of %ausation %annot be free$ +t is a%ted upon by other agents and be%omes a %ause in its turn$ ,ut that whi%h has be%ome %onverted into the will whi%h was not the will before but whi%h when it fell into this mould of spa%e time and %ausation be%ame %onverted into the human will is free* and when this will gets out of this mould of spa%e time and %ausation it will be free again$ From freedom it %omes and be%omes moulded into this bondage and it gets out and goes ba%k to freedom again$

The 0uestion has been raised as to from whom this universe %omes in whom it rests and to whom it goes* and the answer has been given that from freedom it %omes in bondage it rests and goes ba%k into that freedom again$ So when we speak of man as no other than that infinite being whi%h is manifesting itself we mean that only one very small part thereof is man* this body and this mind whi%h we see are only one part of the whole only one spot of the infinite being$ This whole universe is only one spe%k of the infinite being* and all our laws our bondages our 2oys and our sorrows our happinesses and our e6pe%tations are only within this small universe* all our progression and digression are within its small %ompass$ So you see how %hildish it is to e6pe%t a %ontinuation of this universe 9 the %reation of our minds 9 and to e6pe%t to go to heaven whi%h after all must mean only a repetition of this world that we know$ You see at on%e that it is an impossible and %hildish desire to make the whole of infinite e6isten%e %onform to the limited and %onditioned e6isten%e whi%h we know$ 4hen a man says that he will have again and again this same thing whi%h he is hating now or as + sometimes put it when he asks for a comfortable religion you may know that he has be%ome so degenerate that he %annot think of anything higher than what he is now* he is 2ust his little present surroundings and nothing more$ 7e has forgotten his infinite nature and his whole idea is %onfined to these little 2oys and sorrows and heart'2ealousies of the moment$ 7e thinks that this finite thing is the infinite* and not only so he will not let this foolishness go$ 7e %lings on desperately unto TrishnA and the thirst after life what the ,uddhists %all TanhA and TissA$ There may be millions of kinds of happiness and beings and laws and progress and %ausation all a%ting outside the little universe that we know* and after all the whole of this %omprises but one se%tion of our infinite nature$ To a%0uire freedom we have to get beyond the limitations of this universe* it %annot be found here$ -erfe%t e0uilibrium or what the ;hristians %all the pea%e that passeth all understanding %annot be had in this universe nor in heaven nor in any pla%e where our mind and thoughts %an go where the senses %an feel or whi%h the imagination %an %on%eive$ 3o su%h pla%e %an give us that freedom be%ause all su%h pla%es would be within our universe and it is limited by spa%e time and %ausation$ There may be pla%es that are more ethereal than this earth of ours where en2oyments may be keener but even those pla%es must be in the universe and therefore in bondage to law* so we have to go beyond and real religion begins where this little universe ends$ These little 2oys and sorrows and knowledge of things end there and the reality begins$ @ntil we give up the thirst after life the strong atta%hment to this our transient %onditioned e6isten%e we have no hope of %at%hing even a glimpse of that infinite freedom beyond$ +t stands to reason then that there is only one way to attain to that freedom whi%h is the goal of all the noblest aspirations of mankind and that is by giving up this little life giving up this little universe giving up this earth giving up heaven giving up the body giving up the mind giving up everything that is limited and %onditioned$ +f we give up our atta%hment to this little universe of the senses or of the mind we shall be free immediately$ The only way to %ome out of bondage is to go beyond the limitations of law to go beyond %ausation$ ,ut it is a most diffi%ult thing to give up the %linging to this universe* few ever attain to that$ There are two ways to do that mentioned in our books$ =ne is %alled the /3eti 3eti/ Enot this not thisF the other is %alled /+ti/ EthisF* the former is the negative and the latter is the positive way$ The negative way is the most diffi%ult$ +t is only possible to the men of the very highest e6%eptional minds and giganti% wills who simply stand up and say /3o + will not have this / and the mind and body obey their will and they %ome out su%%essful$ ,ut su%h people are very rare$ The vast ma2ority of mankind %hoose the positive way the way through the world making use of all the bondages themselves to break those very bondages$ This is also a kind of giving up* only it is done slowly and gradually by knowing things en2oying things and thus obtaining e6perien%e and knowing the nature of things until the mind lets them all go at last and be%omes unatta%hed$ The former way of obtaining non'atta%hment is by reasoning and the latter way is through work and e6perien%e$ The

first is the path of JnAna'Yoga and is %hara%teriCed by the refusal to do any work* the se%ond is that of Karma'Yoga in whi%h there is no %essation from work$ &very one must work in the universe$ =nly those who are perfe%tly satisfied with the Self whose desires do not go beyond the Self whose mind never strays out of the Self to whom the Self is all in all only those do not work$ The rest must work$ ( %urrent rushing down of its own nature falls into a hollow and makes a whirlpool and after running a little in that whirlpool it emerges again in the form of the free %urrent to go on un%he%ked$ &a%h human life is like that %urrent$ +t gets into the whirl gets involved in this world of spa%e time and %ausation whirls round a little %rying out /my father my brother my name my fame/ and so on and at last emerges out of it and regains its original freedom$ The whole universe is doing that$ 4hether we know it or not whether we are %ons%ious or un%ons%ious of it we are all working to get out of the dream of the world$ <an.s e6perien%e in the world is to enable him to get out of its whirlpool$ 4hat is Karma'Yoga5 The knowledge of the se%ret of work$ 4e see that the whole universe is working$ For what5 For salvation for liberty* from the atom to the highest being working for the one end liberty for the mind for the body for the spirit$ (ll things are always trying to get freedom flying away from bondage$ The sun the moon the earth the planets all are trying to fly away from bondage$ The %entrifugal and the %entripetal for%es of nature are indeed typi%al of our universe$ +nstead of being kno%ked about in this universe and after long delay and thrashing getting to know things as they are we learn from Karma'Yoga the se%ret of work the method of work the organising power of work$ ( vast mass of energy may be spent in vain if we do not know how to utilise it$ Karma'Yoga makes a s%ien%e of work* you learn by it how best to utilise all the workings of this world$ 4ork is inevitable it must be so* but we should work to the highest purpose$ Karma' Yoga makes us admit that this world is a world of five minutes that it is a something we have to pass through* and that freedom is not here but is only to be found beyond$ To find the way out of the bondages of the world we have to go through it slowly and surely$ There may be those e6%eptional persons about whom + 2ust spoke those who %an stand aside and give up the world as a snake %asts off its skin and stands aside and looks at it$ There are no doubt these e6%eptional beings* but the rest of mankind have to go slowly through the world of work$ Karma'Yoga shows the pro%ess the se%ret and the method of doing it to the best advantage$ 4hat does it say5 /4ork in%essantly but give up all atta%hment to work$/ Do not identify yourself with anything$ 7old your mind free$ (ll this that you see the pains and the miseries are but the ne%essary %onditions of this world* poverty and wealth and happiness are but momentary* they do not belong to our real nature at all$ =ur nature is far beyond misery and happiness beyond every ob2e%t of the senses beyond the imagination* and yet we must go on working all the time$ /<isery %omes through atta%hment not through work$/ (s soon as we identify ourselves with the work we do we feel miserable* but if we do not identify ourselves with it we do not feel that misery$ +f a beautiful pi%ture belonging to another is burnt a man does not generally be%ome miserable* but when his own pi%ture is burnt how miserable he feelsD 4hy5 ,oth were beautiful pi%tures perhaps %opies of the same original* but in one %ase very mu%h more misery is felt than in the other$ +t is be%ause in one %ase he identifies himself with the pi%ture and not in the other$ This /+ and mine/ %auses the whole misery$ 4ith the sense of possession %omes selfishness and selfishness brings on misery$ &very a%t of selfishness or thought of selfishness makes us atta%hed to something and immediately we are made slaves$ &a%h wave in the ;hitta that says /+ and mine/ immediately puts a %hain round us and makes us slaves* and the more we say /+ and mine/ the more slavery grows the more misery in%reases$ Therefore Karma'Yoga tells us to en2oy the beauty of all the pi%tures in the world but not to identify ourselves with any of them$ 3ever say /mine/$ 4henever we say a thing is /mine/ misery will immediately %ome$ Do not even say /my %hild/ in your mind$ -ossess the %hild but do not say /mine/$ +f you do then will %ome the misery$ Do not say >my house / do not say /my body/$ The whole diffi%ulty is there$ The body is neither yours nor mine nor anybody.s$

These bodies are %oming and going by the laws of nature but we are free standing as witness$ This body is no more free than a pi%ture or a wall$ 4hy should we be atta%hed so mu%h to a body5 +f somebody paints a pi%ture he does it and passes on$ Do not pro2e%t that tenta%le of selfishness /+ must possess it/$ (s soon as that is pro2e%ted misery will begin$ So Karma'Yoga says first destroy the tenden%y to pro2e%t this tenta%le of selfishness and when you have the power of %he%king it hold it in and do not allow the mind to get into the ways of selfishness$ Then you may go out into the world and work as mu%h as you %an$ <i6 everywhere go where you please* you will never be %ontaminated with evil$ There is the lotus leaf in the water* the water %annot tou%h and adhere to it* so will you be in the world$ This is %alled /VairAgya/ dispassion or non'atta%hment$ + believe + have told you that without non'atta%hment there %annot be any kind of Yoga$ 3on'atta%hment is the basis of all the Yogas$ The man who gives up living in houses wearing fine %lothes and eating good food and goes into the desert may be a most atta%hed person$ 7is only possession his own body may be%ome everything to him* and as he lives he will be simply struggling for the sake of his body$ 3on'atta%hment does not mean anything that we may do in relation to our e6ternal body it is all in the mind$ The binding link of /+ and mine/ is in the mind$ +f we have not this link with the body and with the things of the senses we are non'atta%hed wherever and whatever we may be$ ( man may be on a throne and perfe%tly non'atta%hed* another man may be in rags and still very mu%h atta%hed$ First we have to attain this state of non' atta%hment and then to work in%essantly$ Karma'Yoga gives us the method that will help us in giving up all atta%hment though it is indeed very hard$ 7ere are the two ways of giving up all atta%hment$ The one is for those who do not believe in 1od or in any outside help$ They are left to their own devi%es* they have simply to work with their own will with the powers of their mind and dis%rimination saying /+ must be non'atta%hed/$ For those who believe in 1od there is another way whi%h is mu%h less diffi%ult$ They give up the fruits of work unto the 8ord* they work and are never atta%hed to the results$ 4hatever they see feel hear or do is for 7im$ For whatever good work we may do let us not %laim any praise or benefit$ +t is the 8ordGs* give up the fruits unto 7im$ 8et us stand aside and think that we are only servants obeying the 8ord our <aster and that every impulse for a%tion %omes from 7im every moment$ 4hatever thou worshippest whatever thou per%eivest whatever thou doest give up all unto 7im and be at rest$ 8et us be at pea%e perfe%t pea%e with ourselves and give up our whole body and mind and everything as an eternal sa%rifi%e unto the 8ord$ +nstead of the sa%rifi%e of pouring oblations into the fire perform this one great sa%rifi%e day and night 9 the sa%rifi%e of your little self$ /+n sear%h of wealth in this world Thou art the only wealth + have found* + sa%rifi%e myself unto Thee$ +n sear%h of some one to be loved Thou art the only one beloved + have found* + sa%rifi%e myself unto Thee$/ 8et us repeat this day and night and say /3othing for me* no matter whether the thing is good bad or indifferent* + do not %are for it* + sa%rifi%e all unto Thee$/ Day and night let us renoun%e our seeming self until it be%omes a habit with us to do so until it gets into the blood the nerves and the brain and the whole body is every moment obedient to this idea of self' renun%iation$ 1o then into the midst of the battlefield with the roaring %annon and the din of war and you will find yourself to be free and at pea%e$ Karma'Yoga tea%hes us that the ordinary idea of duty is on the lower plane* nevertheless all of us have to do our duty$ Yet we may see that this pe%uliar sense of duty is very often a great %ause of misery$ Duty be%omes a disease with us* it drags us ever forward$ +t %at%hes hold of us and makes our whole life miserable$ +t is the bane of human life$ This duty this idea of duty is the midday summer sun whi%h s%or%hes the innermost soul of mankind$ 8ook at those poor slaves to dutyD Duty leaves them no time to say prayers no time to bathe$ Duty is ever on them$ They go out and work$ Duty is on themD They %ome home and think of the work for the ne6t day$ Duty is on themD +t is living a slave.s life at last dropping down in the street and dying in harness like a horse$ This is

duty as it is understood$ The only true duty is to be unatta%hed and to work as free beings to give up all work unto 1od$ (ll our duties are 7is$ ,lessed are we that we are ordered out here$ 4e serve our time* whether we do it ill or well who knows5 +f we do it well we do not get the fruits$ +f we do it ill neither do we get the %are$ ,e at rest be free and work$ This kind of freedom is a very hard thing to attain$ 7ow easy it is to interpret slavery as duty 9 the morbid atta%hment of flesh for flesh as dutyD <en go out into the world and struggle and fight for money or for any other thing to whi%h they get atta%hed$ (sk them why they do it$ They say /+t is a duty?$ +t is the absurd greed for gold and gain and they try to %over it with a few flowers$ 4hat is duty after all5 +t is really the impulsion of the flesh of our atta%hment* and when an atta%hment has be%ome established we %all it duty$ For instan%e in %ountries where there is no marriage there is no duty between husband and wife* when marriage %omes husband and wife live together on a%%ount of atta%hment* and that kind of living together be%omes settled after generations* and when it be%omes so settled it be%omes a duty$ +t is so to say a sort of %hroni% disease$ 4hen it is a%ute we %all it disease* when it is %hroni% we %all it nature$ +t is a disease$ So when atta%hment be%omes %hroni% we baptise it with the high sounding name of duty$ 4e strew flowers upon it trumpets sound for it sa%red te6ts are said over it and then the whole world fights and men earnestly rob ea%h other for this duty.s sake$ Duty is good to the e6tent that it %he%ks brutality$ To the lowest kinds of men who %annot have any other ideal it is of some good* but those who want to be Karma'Yogis must throw this idea of duty overboard$ There is no duty for you and me$ 4hatever you have to give to the world do give by all means but not as a duty$ Do not take any thought of that$ ,e not %ompelled$ 4hy should you be %ompelled5 Everything that you do under compulsion goes to build up attachment$ 4hy should you have any duty5 Besign everything unto 1od$ +n this tremendous fiery furna%e where the fire of duty s%or%hes everybody drink this %up of ne%tar and be happy$ 4e are all simply working out 7is will and have nothing to do with rewards and punishments$ +f you want the reward you must also have the punishment* the only way to get out of the punishment is to give up the reward$ The only way of getting out of misery is by giving up the idea of happiness be%ause these two are linked to ea%h other$ =n one side there is happiness on the other there is misery$ =n one side there is life on the other there is death$ The only way to get beyond death is to give up the love of life$ 8ife and death are the same thing looked at from different points$ So the idea of happiness without misery or of life without death is very good for s%hool'boys and %hildren* but the thinker sees that it is all a %ontradi%tion in terms and gives up both$ Seek no praise no reward for anything you do$ 3o sooner do we perform a good a%tion than we begin to desire %redit for it$ 3o sooner do we give money to some %harity than we want to see our names blaConed in the papers$ <isery must %ome as the result of su%h desires$ The greatest men in the world have passed away unknown$ The ,uddhas and the ;hrists that we know are but se%ond'rate heroes in %omparison with the greatest men of whom the world knows nothing$ 7undreds of these unknown heroes have lived in every %ountry working silently$ Silently they live and silently they pass away* and in time their thoughts find e6pression in ,uddhas or ;hrists and it is these latter that be%ome known to us$ The highest men do not seek to get any name or fame from their knowledge$ They leave their ideas to the world* they put forth no %laims for themselves and establish no s%hools or systems in their name$ Their whole nature shrinks from su%h a thing$ They are the pure SAttvikas who %an never make any stir but only melt down in love$ + have seen one su%h Yogi who lives in a %ave in +ndia$ 7e is one of the most wonderful men + have ever seen$ 7e has so %ompletely lost the sense of his own individuality that we may say that the man in him is %ompletely gone leaving behind only the all %omprehending sense of the divine$ +f an animal bites one of his arms he is ready to give it his other arm also and say that it is the 8ord.s will$ &verything that %omes to him is from the 8ord$ 7e does not show himself to men and yet he is a magaCine of love and of true and sweet ideas$ 3e6t in order %ome the men with more Ba2as or a%tivity %ombative natures who take up the ideas

of the perfe%t ones and prea%h them to the world$ The highest kind of men silently %olle%t true and noble ideas and others 9 the ,uddhas and ;hrists 9 go from pla%e to pla%e prea%hing them and working for them$ +n the life of 1autama ,uddha we noti%e him %onstantly saying that he is the twenty'fifth ,uddha$ The twenty'four before him are unknown to history although the ,uddha known to history must have built upon foundations laid by them$ The highest men are %alm silent and unknown$ They are the men who really know the power of thought* they are sure that even if they go into a %ave and %lose the door and simply think five true thoughts and then pass away these five thoughts of theirs will live through eternity$ +ndeed su%h thoughts will penetrate through the mountains %ross the o%eans and travel through the world$ They will enter deep into human hearts and brains and raise up men and women who will give them pra%ti%al e6pression in the workings of human life$ These Sattvika men are too near the 8ord to be a%tive and to fight to be working struggling prea%hing and doing good as they say here on earth to humanity$ The a%tive workers however good have still a little remnant of ignoran%e left in them$ 4hen our nature has yet some impurities left in it then alone %an we work$ +t is in the nature of work to be impelled ordinarily by motive and by atta%hment$ +n the presen%e of an ever a%tive -roviden%e who notes even the sparrow.s fall how %an man atta%h any importan%e to his own work5 4ill it not be a blasphemy to do so when we know that 7e is taking %are of the minutest things in the world5 4e have only to stand in awe and reveren%e before 7im saying /Thy will be done/$ The highest men %annot work for in them there is no atta%hment$ Those whose whole soul is gone into the Self those whose desires are %onfined in the Self who have be%ome ever asso%iated with the Self for them there is no work$ Su%h are indeed the highest of mankind* but apart from them every one else has to work$ +n so working we should never think that we %an help on even the least thing in this universe$ 4e %annot$ 4e only help ourselves in this gymnasium of the world$ This is the proper attitude of work$ +f we work in this way if we always remember that our present opportunity to work thus is a privilege whi%h has been given to us we shall never be atta%hed to anything$ <illions like you and me think that we are great people in the world* but we all die and in five minutes the world forgets us$ ,ut the life of 1od is infinite$ /4ho %an live a moment breathe a moment if this all'powerful =ne does not will it5/ 7e is the ever a%tive -roviden%e$ (ll power is 7is and within 7is %ommand$ Through 7is %ommand the winds blow the sun shines the earth lives and death stalks upon the earth$ 7e is the all in all* 7e is all and in all$ 4e %an only worship 7im$ 1ive up all fruits of work* do good for its own sake* then alone will %ome perfe%t non'atta%hment$ The bonds of the heart will thus break and we shall reap perfe%t freedom$ This freedom is indeed the goal of Karma'Yoga$

CHAPTER 'III
THE I(EAL $# KAR A-Y$%A The grandest idea in the religion of the Vedanta is that we may rea%h the same goal by different paths* and these paths + have generalised into four viC those of work love psy%hology and knowledge$ ,ut you must at the same time remember that these divisions are not very marked and 0uite e6%lusive of ea%h other$ &a%h blends into the other$ ,ut a%%ording to the type whi%h prevails we name the divisions$ +t is not that you %an find men who have no other fa%ulty than that of work nor that you %an find men who are no more than devoted worshippers only nor that there are men who have no more than mere knowledge$ These divisions are made in a%%ordan%e with the type or the tenden%y that may be seen to prevail in a man$ 4e have found that in the end all these four paths %onverge and be%ome one$ (ll religions and all methods of work and worship lead us to one and the same goal$ + have already tried to point out that goal$ +t is freedom as + understand it$ &verything that we per%eive around us is struggling towards freedom from the atom to the man from the insentient lifeless parti%le of matter to the highest e6isten%e on earth the human soul$ The whole universe is in fa%t the result of this struggle for freedom$ +n all %ombinations every parti%le is trying to go on its own way to fly from the other parti%les* but the others are holding it in %he%k$ =ur earth is trying to fly away from the sun and the moon from the earth$ &verything has a tenden%y to infinite dispersion$ (ll that we see in the universe has for its basis this one struggle towards freedom* it is under the impulse of this tenden%y that the saint prays and the robber robs$ 4hen the line of a%tion taken is not a proper one we %all it evil* and when the manifestation of it is proper and high we %all it good$ ,ut the impulse is the same the struggle towards freedom$ The saint is oppressed with the knowledge of his %ondition of bondage and he wants to get rid of it* so he worships 1od$ The thief is oppressed with the idea that he does not possess %ertain things and he tries to get rid of that want to obtain freedom from it* so he steals$ Freedom is the one goal of all nature sentient or insentient* and %ons%iously or un%ons%iously everything is struggling towards that goal$ The freedom whi%h the saint seeks is very different from that whi%h the robber seeks* the freedom loved by the saint leads him to the en2oyment of infinite unspeakable bliss while that on whi%h the robber has set his heart only forges other bonds for his soul$ There is to be found in every religion the manifestation of this struggle towards freedom$ +t is the groundwork of all morality of unselfishness whi%h means getting rid of the idea that men are the same as their little body$ 4hen we see a man doing good work helping others it means that he %annot be %onfined within the limited %ir%le of /me and mine/$ There is no limit to this getting out of selfishness$ (ll the great systems of ethi%s prea%h absolute unselfishness as the goal$ Supposing this absolute unselfishness %an be rea%hed by a man what be%omes of him5 7e is no more the little <r$ So'and'so* he has a%0uired infinite e6pansion$ The little personality whi%h he had before is now lost to him for ever* he has be%ome infinite and the attainment of this infinite e6pansion is indeed the goal of all religions and of all moral and philosophi%al tea%hings$ The personalist when he hears this idea philosophi%ally put gets frightened$ (t the same time if he prea%hes morality he after all tea%hes the very same idea himself$ 7e puts no limit to the unselfishness of man$ Suppose a man be%omes perfe%tly unselfish under the personalisti% system how are we to distinguish him from the perfe%ted ones in other system5 7e has be%ome one with the universe and to be%ome that is the goal of all* only the poor personalist has not the %ourage to follow out his own reasoning to its right %on%lusion$ Karma'Yoga is the attaining through unselfish work of that freedom whi%h is the goal of all human nature$ &very selfish a%tion therefore retards our rea%hing the goal and every unselfish a%tion takes us towards the goal* that is why the only definition that %an be given of

morality is this: That whi%h is selfish is immoral and that whi%h is unselfish is moral$ ,ut if you %ome to details the matter will not be seen to be 0uite so simple$ For instan%e environment often makes the details different as + have already mentioned$ The same a%tion under one set of %ir%umstan%es may be unselfish and under another set 0uite selfish$ So we %an give only a general definition and leave the details to be worked out by taking into %onsideration the differen%es in time pla%e and %ir%umstan%es$ +n one %ountry one kind of %ondu%t is %onsidered moral and in another the very same is immoral be%ause the %ir%umstan%es differ$ The goal of all nature is freedom and freedom is to be attained only by perfe%t unselfishness* every thought word or deed that is unselfish takes us towards the goal and as su%h is %alled moral$ That definition you will find holds good in every religion and every system of ethi%s$ +n some systems of thought morality is derived from a Superior ,eing 9 1od$ +f you ask why a man ought to do this and not that their answer is: /,e%ause su%h is the %ommand of 1od$/ ,ut whatever be the sour%e from whi%h it is derived their %ode of ethi%s also has the same %entral idea 9 not to think of self but to give up self$ (nd yet some persons in spite of this high ethi%al idea are frightened at the thought of having to give up their little personalities$ 4e may ask the man who %lings to the idea of little personalities to %onsider the %ase of a person who has be%ome perfe%tly unselfish who has no thought for himself who does no deed for himself who speaks no word for himself and then say where his /himself/ is$ That /himself/ is known to him only so long as he thinks a%ts or speaks for himself$ +f he is only %ons%ious of others of the universe and of the all where is his /himself/5 +t is gone for ever$ Karma'Yoga therefore is a system of ethi%s and religion intended to attain freedom through unselfishness and by good works$ The Karma'Yogi need not believe in any do%trine whatever$ 7e may not believe even in 1od may not ask what his soul is nor think of any metaphysi%al spe%ulation$ 7e has got his own spe%ial aim of realising selflessness* and he has to work it out himself$ &very moment of his life must be realisation be%ause he has to solve by mere work without the help of do%trine or theory the very same problem to whi%h the JnAni applies his reason and inspiration and the ,hakta his love$ 3ow %omes the ne6t 0uestion: 4hat is this work5 4hat is this doing good to the world5 ;an we do good to the world5 +n an absolute sense no* in a relative sense yes$ 3o permanent or everlasting good %an be done to the world* if it %ould be done the world would not be this world$ 4e may satisfy the hunger of a man for five minutes but he will be hungry again$ &very pleasure with whi%h we supply a man may be seen to be momentary$ 3o one %an permanently %ure this ever're%urring fever of pleasure and pain$ ;an any permanent happiness be given to the world5 +n the o%ean we %annot raise a wave without %ausing a hollow somewhere else$ The sum total of the good things in the world has been the same throughout in its relation to man.s need and greed$ +t %annot be in%reased or de%reased$ Take the history of the human ra%e as we know it today$ Do we not find the same miseries and the same happiness the same pleasures and pains the same differen%es in position5 (re not some ri%h some poor some high some low some healthy some unhealthy5 (ll this was 2ust the same with the &gyptians the 1reeks and the Bomans in an%ient times as it is with the (meri%ans today$ So far as history is known it has always been the same* yet at the same time we find that running along with all these in%urable differen%es of pleasure and pain there has ever been the struggle to alleviate them$ &very period of history has given birth to thousands of men and women who have worked hard to smooth the passage of life for others$ (nd how far have they su%%eeded5 4e %an only play at driving the ball from one pla%e to another$ 4e take away pain from the physi%al plane and it goes to the mental one$ +t is like that pi%ture in Dante.s hell where the misers were given a mass of gold to roll up a hill$ &very time they rolled it up a little it again rolled down$ (ll our talks about the millennium are very ni%e as s%hool'boys. stories but they are no better than that$ (ll nations that dream of the millennium also think that of all peoples in the world they

will have the best of it then for themselves$ This is the wonderfully unselfish idea of the millenniumD 4e %annot add happiness to this world* similarly we %annot add pain to it either$ The sum total of the energies of pleasure and pain displayed here on earth will be the same throughout$ 4e 2ust push it from this side to the other side and from that side to this but it will remain the same be%ause to remain so is its very nature$ This ebb and flow this rising and falling is in the world.s very nature* it would be as logi%al to hold otherwise as to say that we may have life without death$ This is %omplete nonsense be%ause the very idea of life implies death and the very idea of pleasure implies pain$ The lamp is %onstantly burning out and that is its life$ +f you want to have life you have to die every moment for it$ 8ife and death are only different e6pressions of the same thing looked at from different standpoints* they are the falling and the rising of the same wave and the two form one whole$ =ne looks at the /fall/ side and be%omes a pessimist another looks at the /rise/ side and be%omes an optimist$ 4hen a boy is going to s%hool and his father and mother are taking %are of him everything seems blessed to him* his wants are simple he is a great optimist$ ,ut the old man with his varied e6perien%e be%omes %almer and is sure to have his warmth %onsiderably %ooled down$ So old nations with signs of de%ay all around them are apt to be less hopeful than new nations$ There is a proverb in +ndia: /( thousand years a %ity and a thousand years a forest$/ This %hange of %ity into forest and vi%e versa is going on everywhere and it makes people optimists or pessimists a%%ording to the side they see of it$ The ne6t idea we take up is the idea of e0uality$ These millennium ideas have been great motive powers to work$ <any religions prea%h this as an element in them 9 that 1od is %oming to rule the universe and that then there will be no differen%e at all in %onditions$ The people who prea%h this do%trine are mere fanati%s and fanati%s are indeed the sin%erest of mankind$ ;hristianity was prea%hed 2ust on the basis of the fas%ination of this fanati%ism and that is what made it so attra%tive to the 1reek and the Boman slaves$ They believed that under the millennial religion there would be no more slavery that there would be plenty to eat and drink* and therefore they flo%ked round the ;hristian standard$ Those who prea%hed the idea first were of %ourse ignorant fanati%s but very sin%ere$ +n modern times this millennial aspiration takes the form of e0uality 9 of liberty e0uality and fraternity$ This is also fanati%ism$ True e0uality has never been and never %an be on earth$ 7ow %an we all be e0ual here5 This impossible kind of e0uality implies total death$ 4hat makes this world what it is5 8ost balan%e$ +n the primal state whi%h is %alled %haos there is perfe%t balan%e$ 7ow do all the formative for%es of the universe %ome then5 ,y struggling %ompetition %onfli%t$ Suppose that all the parti%les of matter were held in e0uilibrium would there be then any pro%ess of %reation5 4e know from s%ien%e that it is impossible$ Disturb a sheet of water and there you find every parti%le of the water trying to be%ome %alm again one rushing against the other* and in the same way all the phenomena whi%h we %all the universe 9 all things therein 9 are struggling to get ba%k to the state of perfe%t balan%e$ (gain a disturban%e %omes and again we have %ombination and %reation$ +ne0uality is the very basis of %reation$ (t the same time the for%es struggling to obtain e0uality are as mu%h a ne%essity of %reation as those whi%h destroy it$ (bsolute e0uality that whi%h means a perfe%t balan%e of all the struggling for%es in all the planes %an never be in this world$ ,efore you attain that state the world will have be%ome 0uite unfit for any kind of life and no one will be there$ 4e find therefore that all these ideas of the millennium and of absolute e0uality are not only impossible but also that if we try to %arry them out they will lead us surely enough to the day of destru%tion$ 4hat makes the differen%e between man and man5 +t is largely the differen%e in the brain$ 3owadays no one but a lunati% will say that we are all born with the same brain power$ 4e %ome into the world with une0ual endowments* we %ome as greater men or as lesser men and there is no getting away from that pre'natally determined %ondition$ The (meri%an +ndians were in this %ountry for thousands of years and a few handfuls of your an%estors

%ame to their land$ 4hat differen%e they have %aused in the appearan%e of the %ountryD 4hy did not the +ndians make improvements and build %ities if all were e0ual5 4ith your an%estors a different sort of brain power %ame into the land different bundles of past impressions %ame and they worked out and manifested themselves$ (bsolute non'differentiation is death$ So long as this world lasts differentiation there will and must be and the millennium of perfe%t e0uality will %ome only when a %y%le of %reation %omes to its end$ ,efore that e0uality %annot be$ Yet this idea of realising the millennium is a great motive power$ Just as ine0uality is ne%essary for %reation itself so the struggle to limit it is also ne%essary$ +f there were no struggle to be%ome free and get ba%k to 1od there would be no %reation either$ +t is the differen%e between these two for%es that determines the nature of the motives of men$ There will always be these motives to work some tending towards bondage and others towards freedom$ This world.s wheel within wheel is a terrible me%hanism* if we put our hands in it as soon as we are %aught we are gone$ 4e all think that when we have done a %ertain duty we shall be at rest* but before we have done a part of that duty another is already in waiting$ 4e are all being dragged along by this mighty %omple6 world'ma%hine$ There are only two ways out of it* one is to give up all %on%erns with the ma%hine to let it go and stand aside to give up our desires$ That is very easy to say but is almost impossible to do$ + do not know whether in twenty millions of men one %an do that$ The other way is to plunge into the world and learn the se%ret of work and that is the way of Karma'Yoga$ Do not fly away from the wheels of the world'ma%hine but stand inside it and learn the se%ret of work$ Through proper work done inside it is also possible to %ome out$ Through this ma%hinery itself is the way out$ 4e have now seen what work is$ +t is a part of natures foundation and goes on always$ Those that believe in 1od understand this better be%ause they know that 1od is not su%h an in%apable being as will need our help$ (lthough this universe will go on always our goal is freedom our goal is unselfishness* and a%%ording to Karma'Yoga that goal is to be rea%hed through work$ (ll ideas of making the world perfe%tly happy may be good as motive powers for fanati%s* but we must know that fanati%ism brings forth as mu%h evil as good$ The Karma'Yogi asks why you re0uire any motive to work other than the inborn love of freedom$ ,e beyond the %ommon worldly motives$ /To work you have the right but not to the fruits thereof$/ <an %an train himself to know and to pra%ti%e that says the Karma'Yogi$ 4hen the idea of doing good be%omes a part of his very being then he will not seek for any motive outside$ 8et us do good be%ause it is good to do good* he who does good work even in order to get to heaven binds himself down says the Karma'Yogi$ (ny work that is done with any the least selfish motive instead of making us free forges one more %hain for our feet$ So the only way is to give up all the fruits of work to be unatta%hed to them$ Know that this world is not we nor are we this world* that we are really not the body* that we really do not work$ 4e are the Self eternally at rest and at pea%e$ 4hy should we be bound by anything5 +t is very good to say that we should be perfe%tly non'atta%hed but what is the way to do it5 &very good work we do without any ulterior motive instead of forging a new %hain will break one of the links in the e6isting %hains$ &very good thought that we send to the world without thinking of any return will be stored up there and break one link in the %hain and make us purer and purer until we be%ome the purest of mortals$ Yet all this may seem to be rather 0ui6oti% and too philosophi%al more theoreti%al than pra%ti%al$ + have read many arguments against the ,hagavad'1ita and many have said that without motives you %annot work$ They have never seen unselfish work e6%ept under the influen%e of fanati%ism and therefore they speak in that way$ 8et me tell you in %on%lusion a few words about one man who a%tually %arried this tea%hing of Karma'Yoga into pra%ti%e$ That man is ,uddha$ 7e is the one man who ever %arried this into perfe%t

pra%ti%e$ (ll the prophets of the world e6%ept ,uddha had e6ternal motives to move them to unselfish a%tion$ The prophets of the world with this single e6%eption may be divided into two sets one set holding that they are in%arnations of 1od %ome down on earth and the other holding that they are only messengers from 1od* and both draw their impetus for work from outside e6pe%t reward from outside however highly spiritual may be the language they use$ ,ut ,uddha is the only prophet who said /+ do not %are to know your various theories about 1od$ 4hat is the use of dis%ussing all the subtle do%trines about the soul5 Do good and be good$ (nd this will take you to freedom and to whatever truth there is$/ 7e was in the %ondu%t of his life absolutely without personal motives* and what man worked more than he5 Show me in history one %hara%ter who has soared so high above all$ The whole human ra%e has produ%ed but one su%h %hara%ter su%h high philosophy su%h wide sympathy$ This great philosopher prea%hing the highest philosophy yet had the deepest sympathy for the lowest of animals and never put forth any %laims for himself$ 7e is the ideal Karma'Yogi a%ting entirely without motive and the history of humanity shows him to have been the greatest man ever born* beyond %ompare the greatest %ombination of heart and brain that ever e6isted the greatest soul'power that has even been manifested$ 7e is the first great reformer the world has seen$ 7e was the first who dared to say /,elieve not be%ause some old manus%ripts are produ%ed believe not be%ause it is your national belief be%ause you have been made to believe it from your %hildhood* but reason it all out and after you have analysed it then if you find that it will do good to one and all believe it live up to it and help others to live up to it$/ 7e works best who works without any motive neither for money nor for fame nor for anything else* and when a man %an do that he will be a ,uddha and out of him will %ome the power to work in su%h a manner as will transform the world$ This man represents the very highest ideal of Karma' Yoga$