Sharing Sanjivani (Sanjivani - Life Saving Herb)

Chapter (71) How could a Sadhak remain aloof from 'pride and ego' ?

(71)     How could a Sadhak remain aloof from ‘pride and ego’ while performing his duties?

        Lord Krishna explains Arjun that karma is not the cause of bondage ‘Attachment to doer but attachment to karma creates bondage .Even great saints do not have to do karma but they do karma to play their destined roles for the welfare of people. Even I, lord Krishna need not do any karma but I am also playing my role as a chariot driver in this war of Mahabharat because while doing our karma we can attain salvation. Here Lord Krishna explains Arjun that you do your karma , follow your SWADHARMA but not for the selfish motive of fulfillment of any of anybody’s desires but for the welfare of the people because as a kshyatriya ‘war affairs’ is your SWADHARMA and it is not a notorious karma for you. You have to fight, perform your role in the best possible manner to do welfare of the people. When you do karma for the benefits of others, your attachments would be abolished. Your greed and jealousy, pride and ego would be vanished totally.

        Attachment means to get attached to the opposite kind. ‘This body is mine’ and the thought that ‘I am the body’ the attachment to all the perishable things get tucked into the minds and hearts and attachment is created. This attachment becomes the cause of greed and anger lust and jealously, pride and ego and it becomes the cause of ‘downfall in life. When a person thinks his body and senses, mind and intellect and perishable things as his own property, he wants their possession for his own comforts and rest, entertainment and luxuries and does various types of karma. This karma creates attachment to the family and friends, relations and mentors and it becomes the cause of rebirth. A person who is attached to his own possessions and relations would not do welfare of others. Only when he detached from all relations and passions, he could think of welfare of others and service to the nature and giving back all that he gets or paying back his obligations and debt to the society and nature. Until a person learns to serve nature and people selflessly and paying their debt , he has to take rebirth again and again to repay his all the debts and he adds new obligations and debts in every new birth upon him.

Every Sadhak decides that he should not get attached to any possession or relations and while living his life on this earth he has to perform his role or to complete his destined karma he would do as duty only and not to get attached to his possessions and relations emotionally. When Sansar is already changing every moment, how could ‘attachment’ to any one thing or relation remain steady forever? A karmayogi thinks that he has been given everything for this Sansar and Almighty and he has to give back them to Sansar .

TWADIYAM VASTU GOVINDAM TUBHYAMEV SAMARPAYET He would be free from the pride of ownership of possession and relations and free from the ego of karta,Karmauogi remains free from enjoying anything for his selfish purposes .When he does his karma for the welfare of people ,his total energy and strength, resources and skills get involved in that karma .When a shopkeeper serves his customer he never thinks about the caste and color, area or nature of his customer , he wants to do only business and his professional relations do not create bondage but he is interested in the collection of money and profit only. Hence in sansar a businessman or a shopkeeper though professionally expert do not create attachment to any customer and all the relations are temporary as customers go on changing sansar is also changing all the time and a person cannot maintain any permanent relations with Sansar .But when a karm yogi serves humanity and nature , shares everything he has for the welfare of mankind with eternity and to serve Almighty in every form, he serves steady and unalterable universal God.Hence his Unification with Almighty can be permenant and steady.Hence when any kartavya of a Sadhak unites with duty towards God,he never feel ‘pride or ego’ as karta.His pride of doing duty is abolished. His unification with his motive of welfare of others connects him with eternity.

Every karma of all the livings has beginning and the end. Not a single karma is permanent. But when a person thinks himself as karta and does everything for his selfish motive, he nurtures ‘pride and suffers from ego just as an orator on the stage expects listener to listen him quietly is natural but after the speech is over,if he thinks that listener would obey and follow him and thinks that he is superior to his listeners and expects money and respect, name and fame, it would be proved ridiculous because to think himself as karta . When we eat food we are ‘Bhokta’ but we do not eat food all the time and we are not Bhokta for 24*7*366 days. If an orator has to serve people in the hospitals or if he has been given the task of cleaning the streets, he should not feel degraded or feel insulted. His role as an ‘orator’ is now completed now he has to be a servant for the patient and a cleaner for the society. If he can do this naturally ,he is free from the pride and ego. Just as in the drama an artist performs role of king or a beggar with the same intensity and forget about his role when he is not on the stage he would behave as a normal person .He is considered as a karmayogi.

A karma yogi serves all the relations with due love and care , but he is attached to them only for the purpose of serving them as his duty as a son or husband, brother or friend, leader or a social servant of the society. He knows that relations with everybody is temporary .Nobody knows ‘who’s who’ in the past birth or ‘who’s who’ would be in the next birth. Everybody has to perform his role honestly and with sincere sense of duty. If a wife or a husband, brother or a pupil is doing something wrong or on the wrong path, a karma yogi tries to explains him or her, his mistakes in choosing the wrong way. But he would never deny to serve them because they are full of vices but he would try to show them ‘the right way’ .But if they do not follow or listen to him, he should not feel good or bad about it because nobody knows anybody’s past deeds and nobody has to worry about anybody’s good or bad karma. A karmayogi only tries to convey the righteous path as his duty towards them but he would never nurture the pride of being ‘good’ and pious for himself and thinking others bad and full of vices.If he has to feed his dishonest wife or a criminal son ,husband or father. He could not run away from his duty as it is his destined karma that he had them as ‘relatives’. He could be free from them only after ‘giving back’ them all the services in this birth he has to provide as a husband or father. Only by performing his duty .he could be free from his pat deeds and obligations. It is not is ‘duty’ to see the eligibility of the beneficiary whoever demands his services and money, resources and skills because a karmayogi is well aware that nothing is permanent in life and hence he could remain free from the pride of karta and ego of being a ‘God father’ to whomever he serves. Life on earth is like a swing as it is always moves to and fro but a karmayogi knows the rhythm and can maintain harmonious balance, steadiness on this swing.

Now the question arises can we attain salvation really ,if we can remain aloof from the ‘attachment’ to our karma?

Let’s listen to Lord Krishna….