What is Sankhya?
Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 2 Verses 39 & 40
Verses 2.39 and 2.40 Explained
Introduction
Bhagavad Gita is a conversation between Krishna and Arjun. This dialogue begins just before the war of Mahabharata is about to begin. On seeing his family in opposition, Arjun is gripped with fear and confusion and wants to run away, but Krishna convinces him to fight and tells Arjun why he today raise his weapons to kill his brothers and relatives in this war.
Bhagavad Gits teaches us how to live life!
The core message of the Bhagavad Gita is considered very powerful for it can fundamentally transform the way you live your life. Bhagavad Gita is also called a summary of Vendantic Knowledge or simply ancient Knowledge.
Bhagavad Gita is crystallized form of the Hindu thought.
Bhagavad Gita is 700 verses long, spread across 18 chapters. Here we will understand Verses 39 & 40 of Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita.
Verse 2.39
एषा तेऽभिहिता साङ्ख्ये बुद्धिर्योगे त्विमां शृणु |
बुद्ध्या युक्तो यया पार्थ कर्मबन्धं प्रहास्यसि || 39||
esha te abhihita sankhye buddhir yoge tvimam shrinu
buddhya yukto yaya partha karma-bandham prahasyasi
Translation
All this has been described to you by me via Sankhya (in a logical and analytical manner). Now I will tell you about Buddhi Yoga (Karma Yoga), listen to it completely with all your intellect (mind).
If you act in accordance with such knowledge, then you will get liberated from the shackles of your “Karma”.
Verse 2.40
नेहाभिक्रमनाशोऽस्ति प्रत्यवायो न विद्यते |
स्वल्पमप्यस्य धर्मस्य त्रायते महतो भयात् || 40||
nehabhikrama-nasho asti pratyavayo na vidyate
svalpam apyasya dharmasya trayate mahato bhayat
Translation
There is no loss, no destruction in such an effort. Rather even small progress done on this path of Dharma (~Duty) absolves (frees) one from the great fears of life.
Commentary
Krishna had been urging Arjun to fight, as Arjun was sitting gripped with fear, and in an indecisive state of mind, thinking of running away from this war instead of fighting.
Up till this point, in an attempt to convince Arjun to fight, Krishna has told Arjun about some important key concepts.
Soul is Pure Energy
He has told Arjun that the soul is the master of the body and that the soul is immortal and can never be killed. Krishna highlights the fact the soul changes body like humans change clothes, thus the death of the body is inevitable. Krishna tells that sound has always been and will always be, as it is pure energy, and thus no one can claim to kill it. And even if someone is ignorant, he must understand that death of the body is bound to happen, so one must not grieve about someone’s death.
Feelings are Temporary
Krishna also tells Arjun that feelings of Sukh (~ Lasting Happiness) and Dukh (Grief), along with all other feelings are temporary in nature. They are like passing seasons on earth, and always come and go. Thus there is no point to hold on to a feeling or get perturbed by it. No matter how intense it might feel now, the reality is that it shall pass!
Truth is Permanent
Krishna also tells Arjun about Sat (That what is) and Asat (That what is not). He highlights that immortality, indestructibility, and rebirth of a soul is truth i.e. Sat. Thus Arjun shall not doubt it. In the same breath, Krishna tells Arjun that death is indeed an illusion, for only the body dies and the soul lives on. He also tells that feelings are also temporary and impermanent, thus one should try to be equanimous in all situations.
Death is Maya
Krishna tells Arjun that a person is unable to see this truth due to Maya, which is like a cloud that hides the absolute truth. Thus Arjun must not fall for the illusion of death, and the illusion of grief.
Dharma of a Warrior
Krishna understands that Arjun is not able to decide what to do, so he reminds him that the Dharma (or duty) of a warrior like him is to fight. And thus he must fight without a thought, for when Dharma is not fulfilled it only causes one distress. But acting in accordance with one’s Dharma gives one happiness.
Krishna lures Arjun by telling him that wars like these are a lucky occurrence for a warrior, and can lead him to heaven. But in the same breath, he warns Arjun that if he chooses not to fight that his reputation would be maligned as people will consider him a coward for running away, and he would end up losing everyone’s respect. He would become infamous and his dark legacy shall be etched in history, for people will only see the act but not the thought behind it. Thus not fighting and runnings away is not at all ideal.
Krishna urges Arjun to fight by telling him that he must act in accordance with his Dharma and fight without any expectation.
After telling all this, Krishna in these verses is telling Arjun that until now he has explained Arjun everything via Sankhya i.e. in an analytical and logical manner and now he shall tell him about Buddi Yoga in detail.
Sankhya
Krishna used the word Sankhya. Let’s understand what it means.
The Sankhya is made up of two words: Samyak & Vyakhya.
“Samyak” means “Complete”, and “Vyakhya” means “explanation”. Thus Sankhya literally means “Complete Explanation”.
However, Sankhya is a branch of philosophy that deals with practical and metaphysical concepts by explaining them in a logical way and in analytical manner. In this modern world where Science rules, this might seem obvious today, but Sankhya is a method that is thousands of years old and existed even before the advent of Science.
Sankhya was a way of understanding complex topics and was a method of explaining deep concepts.
In modern language, we can call Sankhya an analytical and logic-backed approach to explanation. But thousands of years ago, logic wasn’t common sense. People used to believe in things blindly and the world was driven by faith rather than evidence. Thus having Sankhya in those days highlights that there were minds which were thinking in Scientific ways even before science was born. These people must be called the first scientists of the world.
Sankhya is the reason why the Hindu thought or better known as Vendant comes across as logical rather than belief-driven.
So Krishna is telling Arjun that he has tried to explain his rationale of why Arjun must fight, logically and rationally covering aspects.
Buddhi Yoga
Krishna then goes on to tell Arjun, that he will now tell him about Buddhi Yoga and urges Arjun to listen to it with full attention. He tells him that if he follows Buddhi Yoga than he will get liberated from the bondage of Karma.
Let’s understand Buddhi Yoga.
Buddhi Yoga means Yoga of the mind.
Buddhi Yoga means to control one’s mind so that it can submit to a person’s will. It means to become the master of one’s mind rather than being its servant.
Krishna later explains in Bhagavad Gita, that Buddhi Yoga is actually another name for Karma Yoga.
Karma Yoga means to act to fulfill one’s duty and work towards attaining results but at the same time being detached from the fruit of such actions.
So to simplify, Karma Yoga means to work towards results but without expectation of any rewards or personal recognition of your efforts. It is indeed selfless work done for the sake of duty, but with complete engagement.
But to work in this manner is difficult, for the mind is controlled by Ego. The Ego is the idea of self in one’s mind. The Ego thus makes the mind think about the Self. “What is to be gained, and what is the loss?” When the mind thinks in this manner, then it is impossible to not think about reward or recognition. Thinking of loss is also similar. The Ego thus stops the mind from working on the task in a detached manner.
Now the hard fact is that one can get success even while working selfishly, but when one works in a detached manner, one is able to produce work of the highest quality.
This is because, in the former case, the person will think, how can “I” do the best work? The emphasis is on “I”. He thinks of himself as the doer. This is where Ego clouds the judgment and thus the action chosen is the one which the “I” can best perform.
This might do the job but when one removes Ego and works while being in Karma Yoga, he will ask the question “How can this work be done in the best way?”. Now, this is a fundamental shift, as one is no more focused on “I”. And it can so happen that someone else is better suited to do the job. This kind of approach brings in a lot of objectivity to the strategy and thus the work is done in the best possible manner. This is why Karma Yoga is called the Secret to Great Work!
Let's understand it with a story:
A task is assigned to a Manager in a corporate company. The manager knows that while the accomplishment of the task is crucial, the achievement of the target will also give the person responsible a lot of fame and accolades.
The manager wants to improve his brand image and thus takes up upon himself to do that task. During the job, he realizes that it is beyond his capability to deliver but still sticks to it and somehow is able to complete it. The job is done, but the senior management doesn’t appreciate the manager as he expected. The Manager is confused.
In the parallel universe, there is another Manager who is a Karma Yogi. He is given the same task. But this guy is not after any reward or personal recognition. So he objectively thinks about who in his team is best suited for the job. He finds a few people but realizes that there is still a skill gap. He understands that while he can pitch in to get the job done, but this will only ensure one-time completion, and will not build a capability within the company to execute such kinds of tasks. So he requests the Senior management that he requires to make a Cross-functional team or a “POD” which can work on this project to devise a scalable solution. His request is granted. This cross-functional team is able to solve the problem and in that process, they not only complete the task but also build a solution that is scalable.
The credit goes to the “POD” members for their work and they are felicitated in the AHM (All Hands Meet). But the senior management holds a special mention for the Manager for his selfless approach, and promotes him to a higher position, for they see a strong leader in making. Selflessness is one of the key traits of a leader, and intent to think long-term and make effort towards building scalable solutions highlights a strong business acumen.
This story tells us that there are many ways to achieve a result but when Karma Yoga is adopted, one is able to produce quality work, as he is working selflessly towards the goal.
That is why Karma Yoga is called the Secret to Great Work.
Why No Karma is generated in Karma Yoga?
One more interesting thing about Karma Yoga is that when one works in a detached manner, he is not generating any personal Karma. This means his life remains unaffected by the result. While the gain doesn’t give him any Happiness, for he was never working towards it selfishly but for the sake of duty, but at the same time, a failure also doesn’t affect the doer.
We must understand the fact that failures shape our life, much more than success. Moments of Happiness are easily forgotten but sorrows get buried deep into the mind and remain as traumas. This means that failures and feelings of personal loss are more likely to impact our future than success and moments of happiness.
The brain is developed in a fashion that it holds on to negative memories, which we often term personal failures, more strongly than successes. This is an evolutionary response of the brain. This has helped humanity survive and thrive.
When we were monkeys, walking on the forest floor meant death, as a tiger might eat you, and thus monkeys dwell on trees, where it is much safer. This wisdom obtained from the deaths (read Failure) of thousands of monkeys later becomes an instinct.
For example, we are afraid of Darkness. This is an evolutionary instinct. It might not cause us any harm today, but back in those primitive days of humans, it might lead to death as some predator can attack and kill you. So this memory of failures created a personal memory of fear in the minds of those who witnessed such deaths, which then transformed into a collective memory of fear, and then later developed as a natural instinct.
Thus even today, when the world has evolved, our brains are still ancient and will continue to remain so as the evolution of body and mind is a very slow process that happens over many many generations.
Thus this Negative Bias in our minds will continue.
Failures will continue to affect us more than success. Sorrows will affect us more than joys. Breaks will still bother us even if one has fallen in love again. The death of a loved one will still be remembered even after a birth of a baby. Fear will continue to rule mankind, as Wisdom can only watch from afar, until the basic structure of the mind changes which is unlikely as evolution is progressive mutation
Fear of Failure
While the Fear of Death was our top-most fear thousands of years ago, today it is the Fear of Failure.
Fear of Failure is a modern reality that continues to affect billions of people. Thus Karma Yoga allows one to be free of this fear of Failure by being free from the expectation of fruit of the results of one’s actions. So when one does so, failure is looked upon from an objective manner, via an investigative mindset of what went wrong, rather than a personal loss that impacts the state of mind.
This means that in Karma Yoga, failures can no more dictate your life. Success anyways doesn't do much apart from giving some more confidence and temporary happiness.
This is what is meant when we say that no Karma is generated. Life goes on as if nothing has happened when one detached himself from the fruit of his actions while being completely engaged towards achieving the results.
Thus the beauty of Karma Yoga is that it allows one to get free from the bounds of Karma, and when this is done and scaled in all aspects of life, it can lead to liberation, as all work is done for the sake of duty, and in a state free of selfish desires.
This Desirelessness is the key to liberation!
This is what Krishna means when he tells Arjun that even a little progress on this path of Buddhi Yoga or Karma Yoga will lead one to rise above fears of life. This simply indicates that as one rises above Ego, he can rise above Fear of Failure and Fear of Loss which is the biggest fear in this modern world for the modern man.
To put it simply, once you rise above the current of the river, it is impossible that one will choose to flow with the current, for one now has risen into the cloud of wisdom!
This is the power of Karma Yoga!
