Relinquishing the results while performing our duty!

Why there are so much of complexities in life? Why our life on earth is not smooth? Why we are confronted with troubles very often? Yes, these are all the vital questions one should try to answer. For every event in the world, there must be some cause! The cause may not be visible now since the cause may lie in the hoary past. Performance of good deeds in the past won’t go in vain. Likewise, the bad deeds will recoil upon us for sure one day or other. Each little action performed in the past is like a seed waiting to sprout. Only it needs a fertile ground. In our case, it is the appropriate circumstances which will trigger the effects on us. If you have misbehaved with someone in the past, you will be subjected to the same sooner or later. It is in the natural course of events that every act of the past will boomerang on us at a later time.

Hence our elders have warned us, “If you sow a bitter seed now, you will have to reap the same later. Hence the adage, “sow mango, reap mango”. This is a simple but irrevocable law of the universe! Even if you hurt a innocent animal, the hurt will come back later. Every entry in the ledger has to be accounted for and for escaping from this mundane existence, the balance should be nil. Hence there should be no merits or evil to undergo. Then, one becomes perfectly nude without any past effects. In Buddhism, this condition is called “Nirvana”, which is the ultimate aim of Buddhism! How can we become ‘zeros’? Since every action of us produces either positive or negative effects, how can we become free? One option is not to perform any task! But we cannot remain idle, having taken a human birth! In fact, even if we are not exerting ourselves physically, thinking and breathing too constitute work. Even taking food or drinking water is a work. Though they are not conscious works, yet they are termed as ‘karmas’ in the scriptures!

The warrior Arjuna developed a great doubt about the performance of duties, during the great war of Kurukshethra! When he was in a perplexed mood after viewing his close relations in the opposing army, his conscious never allowed him to undertake a sin of killing one’s own kith and kin! Hence, he asked Krishna, “How can I aim my sharp arrows at my venerable great grandfather and preceptor. All those who are arrayed against me are my close relatives. None is my enemy in the true sense! Krishna pitied about the agitation that affect Arjuna! The great Bagawat Gita teachings form his reply to the confused Arjuna! He told Arjuna, “You are wailing at the prospect of decimating your own kith and kin in this war. Every warrior who step into the war field is aware of the dangers of war. At any time, he will be killed by the arrow of enemies. The entire army from both sides is fully prepared for such eventuality! If it is death in the war, people will ascend heaven. If one wins the war, he will claim back his legitimate land!

This particular war has not been planned by you. Since the evil cousins have refused to give even five villages, war was necessitated. Even I went to their palace to avoid this war. But I failed to convince them! (It was the will of Krishna that the peace mission must fail, so that the evil forces are rooted out from earth) Hence, you are forced into this war by the evil designs of your cousins! None is willing to participate in a war but as enjoined in the scriptures, a warrior cannot abduct his duty when confronted with opposite forces. Hence, take up your bow and engage in the war thinking Me. Why Krishna asked Arjuna to remember Krishna? Krishna was an incarnation of God, took birth on earth to eradicate evil from the face of the earth. At that time, evil was personified in the form of Kaurava brothers and Sakuni, their maternal uncle. Hence by killing the evil forms of Kauravas, Righteousness could be restored on earth!

Now Arjuna was caught up in a dilemma! By killing so many soldiers and generals, my hand will be drenched in blood. All the killings are for the sake of retrieving a part of Kingdom which was their legitimate due! After vanquishing all, how can I enjoy the Kingdom? Here Krishna came to the pivotal part of the teaching! Arjuna! You are not going to kill them! All of them are already slain by Me! Be thou my instrument and engage in the war! Do not think about the pros and cons of the war! Do not worry about the end result. Just perform your duty, thinking of Me alone! Then no sin or merit will accrue you! You will be free from the effects of the war! In fact, this is the central teaching of Gita, which is applicable to entire mankind! While performing the tasks, we are always concerned with the result beforehand! Here Krishna has given the core Truth of performance our legitimate duties. We have the right to perform the duties! We have no right to become anxious about the end results. The results need not be our concern. Do your duty and leave the rest to God! By this process, we do not gather further effects and slowly by this ‘desire less actions’, we are rendered pure! Our conscious will be rid of impurities if we just perform the duty and leave the results to God! This is the real surrender which the Lord exhorts Arjuna. Through the medium of Arjuna, Lord Krishna has given seminal teachings of Gita to the entire mankind. These teachings are not for a particular set of people or people of particular religion.

Today, we are living in a scientific and technological universe. Many people are engaged in many works in great Institutions. If everyone starts performing their action in a desire less manner, the work will become a sacrifice. Also, the works will tend to become perfect. If you anticipate results, you cannot focus fully on the job at hand. By relinquishing the desire for end result, we tend to perform the work in a perfect manner! Thus we can avoid gathering merits or sins and ultimately we will become FREE forever!