How does one balance the Karma and yet remain unconnected or attached to it. The god likes the Stitha pragna who remains undisturbed. For instance, you need a laptop to connect to net and it is to be in good order. You need to keep your gadgets in order. Do you keep them in good order without being attached. We are consumers even with regard to religion, I suppose.
|| karmanyEvAdhikAraste mA phalEShu kadAchana||
mA karmaphala heturbhooh mA te sangostvakarmaNi ||
"Your right is only to work, and never to its fruits.
Don't let the fruits of work be thy motive.. Nor should you be attached to inaction"
Your Question is all about this.This is one of the most beautiful verses of the Geeta and also the most commonly misunderstood.
Many think that we should just work without any motivation and not even expect a wage and let ourselves be exploited.
This Shloka does not say we cant be motivated as it does say not to be attached to inaction but its stresses upon our motive.
Our motive should not be for monetary gain achieved either by adharmic means or by not putting in the required action.
When we work its the Dharma of the employer to pay his employee and if he doesnt pay his employee the employee has every right to ask for his rightful salary cos we are entitled to a wage as a outcome of preforming our duties cos for every action there is a reaction.
And wage is just a reaction for our work.
Ok now what does it mean not to be attached to our fruits of action..
I will give you a personal example..
Ok as a private doctor..some days are very busy and some days can be moderately busy..so on the very busy days income is more.
Ok..so i just see the patients for the day and go home with whatever income for that day.
I have a friend who tells me he does this.
He sets a target for the day that he has to earn at least RM 3000 a day(Ringgit) thats about Rupees 42,000
Ok when he sees the trend of the day is a not as busy..he starts charging more to patients to meet his target of RM 3000 a day.
Now thats being driven by the Fruits of thy action.
The rest of us doctors just take home the cash for the day no matter if its RM 3000 or RM 1000 cos we just do our duty.
But this doesnt mean that if we notice the practise shows a decline in income we should keep singing this shloka and do nothing about it.
We can be motivated and jump into action and try to improve services and conditions cos we have the right to maintain our work as to generate an income but with non selfish motives.
See by improving our bussiness we provide money for ourselves,family,kids,employees too.
These are not selfish motives but our Kartavyam.
I hope you understand what i am trying to say here.
Ok next you said
God likes the Stitha pragna who remains undisturbed.
Frankly speaking God doesnt have preferences as He is above Dualities.
Sthipragna is the best state for any human being.
Here i would like to caution that outwardly sometimes Sattva and Tamas might look the same but there is a thin line of difference.
Ok for example we see 2 individuals.
Both are never disturbed by any situation.
1st one who is Sattva remains calm becos he uses his Viveka and weighs the situation and reacts accordingly without being affected by the outcome cos he leaves everything to God after doing what he has to do.
This state is not achieved over night..It involves conditioning over many births and neither is it attained through frustration.
2nd one-- who is Tamas also appears unaffected cos in his mind he feels "who cares about life now..i didnt get what i wanted and who cares about myself or others now..to hell with the world"
See the difference?
Ok now coming to your next Q..
For instance, you need a laptop to connect to net and it is to be in good order. You need to keep your gadgets in order. Do you keep them in good order without being attached. We are consumers even with regard to religion, I suppose.[/QUOTE]
We need to keep even our body in good order cos thats the temple of God..its has to be in good working condition both inside and outside to be able to tune in to Divine data inputs.
Ok coming to your lap top..Ok simple see through your lap top you are tuning here in TB to discuss this and its your Action to make sure it works well to be able to tune in here.
If something in your lap top doesnt work..get it checked and replace the parts..thats just Action.
I disagree that we are consumers even in religion even though majority are..You see majority pray to God for something..how many really sing the glory of God without expecting anything in return? Hardly..thats why as Gopaindu mentioned in his post.
Krishna says that very few seek salvation from the cycle of births and death. Out of these very few, a handful of people achieve success in various grades.Of the handful, only one is successful in attaining Me
Its not that its an impossible task but very few qualify for it cos they havent shed their motives for their action.
So now doesnt this post by Thilak rings a bell..
Money, wife, children, domestic animals, house and other property, accumulated wealth consisting of lands, elephants, treasury etc., - what real joy can all such fleeting objects of enjoyment give to a man in a life-time that is so short and transitory? like the enjoyments of the world, the joys obtained in the heavenly regions through the performance of vedic rituals are also temporary, impure and variable. therefore in loving devotion, you worship the lord, the supreme being, the one unaffected by decay or any blemish for the attainment of the highest spiritual fulfilment.
So dear Ramamurthy doesnt Jnana and Bhakthi go hand in hand?