[Advaita-l] Dharma

Kiran B.R. kiran.br at gmail.com
Sun Dec 5 22:32:06 CST 2004


What appears as random quotes to you is a logical set of quotes to me

An understanding which sets out to prove that "there is no crisis",
and "nothing need be done" in the garb of a quest for "right
understanding" is the intellectual diarrhoea of a coward.

> > anAshritaH karmaphalaM kAryaM karma karOti yaH |
> > sa saMnyAsI cha yOgI cha na niragnirna chAkriyaH ||
> It is not a definition of sannyasi or yogi but an explanation of
> the dividing line between the conventional man and such people.  The
> dividing line between a [karma]yogi and a sannyasi is explained elsewhere.

In the shloka, "such people" (=sannyasi/yogi) are described as they
who perform works, and not those who do not.

> > (3)
> > yadyadAcharati shrEShTastattadEvEtarO janaH |
> > sa yatpramANaM kurutE lOkastadanuvartatE ||
> > (2)
> > na mE pArthAsti kartavyaM triShu lOkEShu kiMchana |
> > nAnavAptamavAptavyaM varta Eva cha karmaNi ||
> ...Again there is nothing relevant to your thesis here.  Bhagavan is
> demonstrating His place as the upholder of Pravrtti Dharma even though
> Nivrtti Dharma is superior.

The relevance is this:

Although there is no karma for kRuShNa in any of the three worlds, he
works. Repeat - he works. Being the shrEShTha, he doesn't want to put
people on the wrong path by not working. (Apparently, many did go on
the wrong path!)

Also, why would he uphold that which is not superior? As the upholder
of the inferior, he would cease to be worthy of being known as an
avatAra.

> na mAM karmANi liMpaMti na mE karmaphalE spRuhA |
> iti mAM yO&bhijAnAti karmabhirna sa badhyatE ||

Your verbose response to this misses the bus. What you fail to see is
- that kRuShNa, the shrEShTha, works.

> The karmayogi does not stop to pontificate whether his
> actions are really non-actions or not.  He should just get on with doing
> his job.

That is the limited karmayogi you've built up in your mind with the
aim of worshipping inaction and buying an intellectual holiday from
work (just as you describe the human body as a mass of urine and
excreta with the aim of deviating people from any work for keeping the
body fit, healthy and glowing). The true karmayogi is described thus:

naiva kiMchitkarOmIti yuktO manyEta tatvavit |
pashyan shRuNvan spRushan jighran ashnan gacChan svapan shvasan ||
pralapan visRujan gRuhNannunmishannimishannapi |
iMdriyANIMdriyArthEShu vartaMta iti dhArayan ||
brahmaNyAdAya karmANi saMgaM tyaktvA karOti yaH |
lipyatE na sa pApEna padmapatramivAMbhasA || (B.G. Ch.5.)

The knower of truth "pontificates" "I do nothing at all", and even
while seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, eating, going, sleeping,
breathing, talking, letting go, holding, opening and closing the eyes,
sees that the senses engage in sense objects. Performing action
without attachment and offering them to brahman, he is untouched by
sin like a lotus leaf untouched by water.

> Action for the sake of action will not improve things in the slightest.

I'm not advocating for this. I'm advocating for action for the sake of
improvement without the guilty feeling of doing something stupid
vis-a-vis mOkSha, thinking "mOksha comes through sitting in the cave
and giving up all work".

> The Gita teaches enlightened action and part of that is knowing the limits
> of action.

The enlightened person has no problem performing action. Even if
"Kartik has covered this one", I quote the shloka again:

naiva tasya kRutEnArthO nAkRutEnEha kaSchana |
na chAsya sarvabhUtEShu kaSchidarthavyapAshrayaH || (B.G. Ch 3)

Here's one more shlOka knitting together sanyAsa and yOga:

yaM saMnyAsamiti prAhuryOgaM taM viddhi pAMDava |
na hyasanyasta saMkalpO yOgI bhavati kaSchana || (B.G. 6.2)

That which they call saMnyAsa, know that to be [karma]yOga. No one
becomes a [karma]yOgI without renouncing saMkalpa.

Cheers
Kiran

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