30 Jan 2025
[Ms. Thrylokya asked:- Swami, some elders at my home are saying that even if I dedicate my life in propagating the true spiritual knowledge of God, this world is not going to change and I would end up wasting my time and energy. Please help me answer them.]
Swami replied:- God sees the intensity of your dedication in His practical service, which indicates the intensity of your love to God. He does not see the fruit, which is whether you succeeded in your service or not. The fruit is immaterial for Him because He does not need the fruit of anybody's service. For example, God Rama saw the involvement of the monkeys in constructing the bridge over the sea and in fighting the war with demons subsequently. He did not need their help really because by mere wish, God Rama can turn all the demons including Ravana into ash in a fraction of a second and Sita will stand on His left side. When angels requested God to give an opportunity to serve Him, God allowed them to be born as monkeys in His time and serve Him. God did not ask them to come along with Him and help Him. This is the reason why God Krishna told Arjuna to do the work with detachment without attaching to its fruit. God Krishna told Arjuna that Arjuna need not help Him in establishing justice and destroying injustice, which is God's work. He told that He Himself will kill all the devilish people and Arjuna shall stand as fighter just for namesake. God Krishna told that the devotee is concerned with the service (work) only without bothering about the fruit of his/her service to God (Karmṇyevādhikāraste mā phaleṣu kadācana - Gita). Thus, this verse is told in the Gita in the context of the devotee doing the service (work) to God. This context is confined to the devotee doing the work of God and is not concerned with every Tom, Dick and Harry doing worldly work.
In worldly work, this concept does not apply because in the world, any work is done aspiring for the fruit only. If you take this concept in general and apply to worldly work, you will be fooled because you will work sincerely in your office without aspiring for the salary! Your boss will fool you by not giving the salary!! The third line of this Shloka says that you should not become the cause of the fruit because if you are linked to the fruit, you'll get tension if you are defeated in your work. You must do the work of God to the best of your sincerity without bothering about your success or defeat in the stage of seeing the proper fruit (Mā karmaphala heturbhūḥ). The fourth line says that you should do the God's work and should not avoid God's work (Mā te saṅgostvakarmaṇi).
In the Gita, everywhere the word action (karma) means God's work only. Arjuna fighting the war to destroy injustice and to establish justice is God's work only. General worldly works are not referred by the word 'karma' in the Gita. Ignorant people are applying the concepts of Karma Yoga for every petty worldly work like going to pass urine! They remember this verse and go on trying to pass urine without getting tension even if the urine does not come due to the problem of prostate gland! One should not apply this verse in that context since he should consult a doctor for treating the problem. If you follow this verse in such context, the illness will become more serious! In the Gita, the word action or karma indicates Karma Yoga or God's work, which every human being must do.
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