Universality of the Bhagavad Gita
By Ahantya Vempati
|| Sri Gurubhyo Namaha ||
While studying the Bhagavad Gita, many people mistake the lessons to be invalid because of the time period in which they were taught. Even though these lessons were taught thousands of years ago, they still apply to humans today. There are also particular shlokas in the Bhagavad Gita that seem to have at first sight very self-contradicting translations, such as the shloka that I am going to talk about here. This shloka is the 18th shloka in the 4th chapter which is:
karmaṇyakarma yaḥ paśyedakarmaṇi ca karma yaḥ | sa buddhimānmanuṣyeṣu sa yuktaḥ krutsnakarmakrut ||4-18||
The direct translation for this verse is: “One who sees inaction in action, and action in inaction, is wise among men, he is wise, and he has accomplished all his work. ” So long as we work in a detached spirit, our mental balance is not disturbed. What action in inaction means is that when a person seems to have physically given up a particular action, their mind is still contemplating situations when they were doing that exact action, which therefore is making that a sinful action in an inaction. An example of this was when Arjuna suggested that he wishes to shy away from his duty of fighting the war, but Shri Krishna, through the Bhagavad Gita explained to him that it would be a sin, and he would go to the hellish regions for such inaction.
On the contrary, inaction in action is when an action is conducted, such as devoted service to God, without any desire for the results. Because the person’s mind is not concentrated on the results of the action, and is completely concentrated on the duty itself, therefore truly putting all their effort into that action. Yudhistira was a perfect example for this. He acted upon his kingly duties to the best of his abilities, and yet because his mind was not entangled in materialistic desires, his actions were in turn termed Karmanyakarma, or inaction in action. A more indirect example is when Arjuna chose Krishna over his army when Krishna asked for his choice to use during the war.
A wise man’s actions are that of Akarma, and recognizing the sinful action of inaction in another man. The word “action” in this shloka refers to ego, which is the notion that “I am the doer”. And the word “inaction” refers to absence of activity. So, for example, if someone needs help crossing the road and you think “I won’t help him because I will be late for school”, then behind the absence of action of helping someone cross the road is a “selfish motive.” This is what seeing action in inaction means in its essence. The opposite is seen for seeing inaction in action, which is seeing the person who works or does his duties with no selfish motives or ego and no expectation of any reward.
To conclude, the 18th verse of the 4th chapter in the Bhagavad Gita summarizes how to do your given duty, and how to recognize the action in inaction, and inaction in action. It shows how longing for a reward for doing an action can lead to very unfortunate consequences. An example of when there is action in inaction is the laziness of the inaction, which is classified as a sinful action. But when there is an inaction in an action is when there is no selfish motive in a particular action, such as devotional service. This is the meaning of the verse.
Works Cited: • Mukundananda, Swami. “Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 4, Verse 18.” Chapter 4, Verse 18 – Bhagavad Gita, The Song of God – Swami Mukundananda. Jagadguru Kripaluji Yog, USA, n.d. Web. 17 June 2017. • Radhakrishnan, S. Bhagavadgita. Place of Publication Not Identified: Harpercollins India, 2015.Print. • “A Simple, Modern Translation and Explanation of the Bhagavad Gita with Shloka (verse) Meaning.” Bhagavad Gita Verse 18, Chapter 4. N.p., 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 16 June 2017.
