[Advaita-l] Reply to Sri Vidyamanya Tirtha's observations

[Nithin Sridhar]

Very Concise and beautifully explained Sadananda ji. :)


On Tue, Nov 12, 2013 at 8:23 PM, kuntimaddi sadananda <
kuntimaddisada at yahoo.com> wrote:

> PraNAms to all
> There seems to be some confusion in terms of karma phala tyagam and karma
> sanyaasam. Couple of years ago in response to a question I posted series of
> articles with the title A perspective. Here  I copying part of one of the
> articles that relates to this topic for those who are interested.
> Hari Om!
> Sadananda
>
> -------------------------------------------
>
> Karma phala tyaaga is what it says – I am renouncing the results of an
> action – What does that mean or what does that really involve. Let us take
> one example. I worked very hard for a month and as a result I got paid, the
> salary that is due to me. Now scripture says I have to practice karma phala
> thyaaga for my chitta suddhi or for purification of my mind.  Does that
> involve renouncing my salary? If so, pretty soon I will be on the streets
> begging for food. In addition, I will be dragging all others who depend on
> that salary. Obviously that is not what karma phala tyaaga implies. When it
> says that I have to renounce the results of my action, I can do so only if
> there is feeling that the results are mine. That is, there is a mamakaara
> associated with the results. I cannot definitely renounce anything which
> does not belong to me. There is a famous saying in Telugu – attagari sommu
> alluDu daanamu cesinaTTu – that is it is like mother-in-laws wealth
>  the son-in-law is readily and freely donating to others. Hence, I have to
> own it for me to renounce. The salary belongs to me since I worked hard and
> earned out with my sweat; we say. That is our attitude when we perform an
> action and gets the results of the action.  We think we deserve. By the by,
> there is a booklet with the title - Serve & Deserve - by Swami
> Tejomayanandaji glorifying Hanuman who serves without any expectations and
> returns; hence deserves to be revered as God himself.  The essence of the
> teaching is -  I have to serve in order for me to deserve.
>
> The renunciation of fruits of the action, therefore, involves a change in
> the attitude with which I receive the fruits of my actions. I have
> recognized the presence of the Lord in every set up, and perform the action
> as best as I can and offer the action with devotion as a prayer to the
> Lord. Since the result of action comes from Him, I accept the result as
> prasaadam, that is, with reverential attitude, since it comes from Him.
> This means there is no mamakaara in the result when I accept the result as
> His prasadam. I have no attachment to the result. In the temples, when
> someone offers as Lord’s prasaadam, my attitude in receiving it is an
> attitude of reverence, since it comes from Him. Irrespective of whether it
> is a sweet, hot, or bitter; food, flower, or water, I accept it without
> questioning why or why not –thus only with a reverential attitude without
> any likes and dislikes superimposed on it. Thus the result is accepted
> without a reaction.
>
> Coming back to the main topic, the karma phala tyaaga involves 1.
> performance of action as a duty (which is called service) and accepting the
> result as prasaadam – without reaction, only with a reverential attitude.
> In the process, mamakaara or notion that this is mine goes away – What I
> have is His gift and what I do with what I have is my gift to Him- says
> Swami Chinmayanandaji – this continuous exchange of gifts forms dhaarmic
> wheel of action set forth by the creator himself in the beginning of
> creation, says Krishna. This is the essence of karma phala tyaagam.
>
> Karma Sanyaasa:
>
> The next level of understanding comes with jnaana where I understand that
> I am not even a doer, to claim the result.  Here there is no karma phala
> tyaaga since karma itself does not belong to me. It is clear understanding
> that I was and I am never a doer to begin with. This understanding comes
> with jnaana where I understand that I am akarthaa – in spite of actions
> being done by the body, mind and intellect, BMI. When that understanding
> sinks in, I recognize that BMI belongs to the prakRiti which is nothing but
> maayaa only – maayantu prakRitim viddhyaat,  says Swetasvatara Up.  I
> recognize that I am pure saakshii, and prakRiti becomes dynamic in my
> presence and performs an action.  Sat-chit-ananda that I am is never gets
> affected by the actions or inactions of the prakRiti. Hence, Krishna says:
>
> prakRiti eva ca karmaaNi kriyamaanaani sarvaShaH|,
> yaH pasyati tat aatmaanam akartaaram sa pasyati||
>
> – All actions are done by prakRiti alone and whoever recognizes that I am
> never a doer – he alone sees the truth. Hence jnaani understands that
> actions do not belong to him but to prakRiti but that prakRiti acts in his
> presence only. He remains akarthaa or non-doer in spite of any action that
> is being done in his presence. Krishna discusses action, inaction and
> unaction exhaustively in Ch. 4 saying that many have misconceptions about
> it.
>
> With this understanding we can look at the question – what does the sarva
> karma sanyaasa – renunciation of all actions implies. This cannot be done
> by giving up the action as Krishna discusses in the 18th Ch. Gita. He
> starts the Geetopadesha with the statement that no one can remain even for
> a second without performing an action. If so, how can I give up an action?
> However if I understand correctly that I am never an actor in spite of the
> action that is being done at BMI level, then I have – as though – renounced
> any notion that I am actor – that forms the essence of sarva karma sanyaasa
> – giving up all the actions without any exception. Hence the statement
> essentially means there is no more kartRitva bhaavam, that is, the notion
> that I am doer is gone in the awakening of the knowledge that I am pure
> saakshii swaruupam. Clear understanding of this fact is sarva karma
> sanyaasa. It is essentially renouncing the wrong notions that I am doer and
>  therefore I have to give up the doing. If I am never a doer, where is
> there then to give up. Therefore karma sanyaasa should imply I am
> renouncing the notion that I am a doer. That can happen only when I
> understand the fact that I am pure sat-chit-ananda swaruupa. Hence Krishna
> says:
>
> naivakinchit karomiiti yukto manyeta tattavavit|
> pasyanshRinvanspRishan jigran ashnan gacchanswapansvasan||
> pralayan visRijan gRahanan unmiShannimiShannapi|
> indriyanindriyaartheShu vartanta iti dharayan||
>
> All activities are being done by the senses as they are programmed and
> jnaani understands that he is never a doer –Krishna lists all the
> activities at BMI level as being performed by the prakRiti itself.
>
> That understanding is sarva karma sanyaasa – it is not really renouncing
> actions that I never did or do, but renouncing the notion that I am doer.
> These notions will get removed only in the awakening of the true knowledge.
>
> Hari Om!
> Sadananda
>
> --------------------------------------------
> On Tue, 11/12/13, Venkatesh Murthy <vmurthy36 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
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