The Dhaarmik Traditions - Indic Studies Foundation

(Gita 2.47, 48)
"seek to perform your duty. but lay not claim to its fruits. be you not the producer of
the fruits of karma; neither shall you lean towards inaction."
These are the famous verses in the Gita embodying the concept of Desireless Action.
One is hard pressed to act without any motive. Most are busy either to gain something
or to ward off something unwanted. in the absence of such a motive generally there is
little action.
But Bhagavan induces Arjuna not to be motivated and at the same time to be intensely
active. Yes, here in lies the turning point in life from 'Preyas to Sreyas'.
good accrues from detachment and never from attachment.
Karma (action) in itself is no evil; but it becomes so when mixed up with desire. desire
tainted karma gives continuity to the wheel of birth and death. Conquerors of desire
are they who care not for the fruits of karma. Freedom from desire is real freedom.
When duty is discharged untarnished by desire, clarity of understanding ensues.
karma therefore has to be performed perfectly by the aspirant unmindful of the fruits
thereof.
"a boat may be floating on the water, but no water should be allowed to get into it. man
may live in the world, but no worldly desire ought to take possession of him.
- Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa"
how the desireless one works and lives in the world is explained in the next verse:
"perform action, o Dhananjaya, being fixed in yoga, renouncing attachments, and
even-minded in success and failure; equilibrium is verily yoga."
The surrendered yogi, the Bhakta holds all the activities taking place in him as the
doings of lord. he places himself in the position of a willing servant, ever ready to
execute orders.
An attitude of this kind eliminates attachment. The devoted yogi holds the successes
and failures in his endeavors free from attachment and aversion.
this even-mindedness is equilibrium. he is a yogi who keeps the mind in this poised
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