Deep Work is the secret to Success
Bhagavad Gita Verse 2.58 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 must 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 Verse 58 of Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita.
Verse 2.58
यदा संहरते चायं कूर्मोऽङ्गानीव सर्वश: |
इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेभ्यस्तस्य प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्ठिता || 2.58||
yada sanharate chayam kurmo anganiva sarvashah
indriyanindriyarthebhyas tasya prajna pratishthita
Translation
Just like a Tortoise withdraws all its limbs & body parts inside its shell, in the same manner, one who withdraws his senses away from sense objects is said to be situated in True Wisdom (Pragya)
Commentary
Have you heard the story of the Tortoise and the Hare?
Yes, We have all heard the story of the Tortoise v/s the Hare. The Hare is much faster than a slow-moving Tortoise, yet the Hare can not win against the Tortoise. The reason for the defeat of the Hare is the fact that it stops midway many times and buoyed with over-confidence in his abilities it even tries to take a short nap and falls asleep.
Meanwhile, the slow tortoise keeps on walking without a break. The Tortoise knows its limitations- it knows that it can’t move as fast as the Hare- but yet it chooses to compete for it doesn’t want to give up and do what it can do to the best of its abilities. Despite knowing it is moving slowly, it doesn’t hurry. But at the same time, it also doesn’t give up at any point in time.
Slowly and steadily the Tortoise crosses the finish line while the super-fast Hare is asleep on the sidelines. Thus the slow tortoise ends up defeating the hare and wins.
Why did the Hare lose?
This story tells us three things:
#1. One must not be over-confident of his own abilities
The Hare was overconfident for it knew how fast it could move. He knew that the Tortoise was no match for him. The overconfidence made him underestimate the Tortoise. The Hare thought that there was no chance it could lose this race, no matter what. But this very over-confidence made it careless and led to its defeat.
#2. One must be focused on the task at hand
Due to its carelessness and casual attitude, the Hare became distracted. It lost focus and started venturing around in the forest. It started eating the tasty berries it saw in the way, and soon felt sleepy. It even decided to take a nap thinking that it would resume the race when it woke up and would still win. But it was not to be, and the Hare overslept.
Thus the main reason for it losing was the fact that it lost focus. Had the Hare been focused, it could have won the race and would have enjoyed the berries after he crossed the finish line.
So it can be safely said that the Hare’s own attitude brought about its doom.
#3. One must know that he can only act but results are never in his hands
The Hare thought that the result was in its own hands. It thought that it could control the result. It thought that it could win no matter how many breaks it took for he was fast.
This very mindset led to his defeat.
Why did the Tortoise win?
The fact is that one can only act for the desired result but the result is never in a person’s hand. The fact is also that one can’t attain the result without the right effort and focused action.
So one can’t think of getting the desired result without acting. And despite acting one can’t claim that the result would be certain.
This is the core message of the Bhagavad Gita, that a man can only own his actions but never the result. For the result is nothing but the will of the Universe.
Hence one must do his best, perform to the best of his abilities, and leave the rest in the hands of the Universe.
Hence there is no point in hurrying. The Universe doesn’t reward your haste for there is no scarcity of time in the realm of the universe. But it will reward your belief. The more belief you have in the Universe and yourself, the more chances are that your will shall manifest.
That is why the Tortoise won the race despite all odds. It did three things right.
#1. The Tortoise performed to the best of its potential
It kept crawling at whatever pace it could and did what it could do best without comparison with the Hare. From an ability standpoint, it was always behind the Hare, but that didn’t deter him from putting in effort.
#2. The Tortoise believed and never gave up
Despite being slow and less capable, the Tortoise believed. It crawled, and most importantly, it never gave up. Has it stopped, it would have been the end of the race.
#3. The Tortoise was never in a hurry but also never casual
The Tortoise was slow but it maintained its pace. It was never in haste, in a hurry trying to be unnatural, trying to do something which it can’t. It crawled with poise but at the same time, it wasn’t casual. It didn’t stop or lose focus. It was in the race at all times.
The Tortoise acted like a Wise Person
Basically, the Tortoise acted like a wise person and hence Tortoise is considered a symbol of wisdom.
Even in real life, the Tortoise, despite its limited abilities is able to survive in the harsh world full of predatory far stronger than itself and not only survive but thrive and outlive most creatures. The life span of a tortoise is even greater than a human which speaks volumes about its resilience.
Why does Krishna use Tortoise as a Metaphor?
Krishna says that a person who can withdraw his senses from sense-objects, into a shell like a Tortoise, is said to possess Pragya (Wisdom).
This is a profound statement.
The main reasons people fail to accomplish anything they set for is due to poor effort on their part and lack of focus. Lack of focus leads to poor effort and poor effort is often due to lack of focus. It goes hand in hand.
People lose focus as they get distracted. Distractions are caused due to sensory inputs which draw away a person’s attention thereby destroying the focus.
Let’s understand this with an example:
A young man was driving on a two-lane highway at a high speed. His focus was on the road. Suddenly he saw a big crowd of female models on the side of the road at a distance. There was an ad shoot which was going on. The actors were exotic models and dressed in short clothes. The crew was around them busy shooting. These beautiful females took the focus on the man away. His eyes got fixed on these models. Without even realising he had slowed down the speed of his car and as he crossed the shooting site, his head was turned to his right gazing at the models intently. Just at that moment a car coming towards him crashed into his car. The young boy had unknowingly drifted into the opposite lane and the driver who crashed into him was also distracted like him.
This story tells us that the moment you lose focus, the effectiveness of your actions goes down. This can slow your progress, derail you from your path, and even cause accidents.
Hence focusing on the task at hand is very important.
How to maintain focus?
The best way to maintain focus is to eliminate distractions.
We as humans are designed in a way that we can focus on what we set our consciousness on. But at the same time, we are also wired in a manner where we can be easily distracted.
This is not a bad thing. It is rather an evolutionary trait which helped us survive when we were in the forest as cavemen. Our senses work as sensors which can detect any disturbance in our surroundings and can alert us.
So if there was a tiger in the vicinity while we were busy eating fruits on the ground, our mind would trigger us to run away the moment we sensed the presence of the tiger. This disturbance broke our focus and made us survive.
However, in the modern world, there are no such immediate threats to our survival. In the cities, there are no tigers and one can be assured that even if one naps in the open, he will wake up alive. The world has changed and the times are different.
Hence disturbances caused by Sensory perception are still relevant but not in every case. In fact most of the time we are living in a safe environment where distractions only cause us harm by breaking our focus.
But why is so focus so important?
Focus is the key to great work!
Focus on a task means that all our energy is going into that task, and hence we are more likely to work to the best of our potential. Focus is what leads to excellence. Focus is what leads to great work. Focus is thus very important if one wants to accomplish something.
All great artists, all great leaders, all great athletes, all great scientists all great fighters, all great businessmen, all great artists, all great monks will vouch for focus. It is the focus which has made them grow par excellence.
Micro Focus leads to Deep Work
Focus means to give your full attention to the task at hand. All your available mental energy should go into the task. You become the work you are doing, that is how deep the focus should be. In a state of deep focus, one loses the sense of self. The Ego vanishes and the one becomes the Universe itself.
A man who was a mere drop, merges with the ocean and becomes the ocean himself.
Focus thus leads to Deep work, and Deep work leads to excellence.
Macro Focus Leads to a Great Life!
Focus is not only important at a micro level in tasks, but focus is also important at a macro level. It means being focused on planning. Knowing what should be done and what must be avoided.
If micro focus means that a snipper has to shoot a target far away, macro focus would mean the Army General sticking to the war strategy despite immediate losses.
Macro focus for a country would mean its 5 year planning, for a company would mean its annual plan and for a person would mean what is his purpose in life and walking in that direction, no matter what obstacles.
Macro Focus in simple words mean knowing the direction you must walk in and micro focus means ensuring carefully taking your next step.
Microfocus keeps you moving, but Macro Focus makes you progress in life.
Thus both are important.
Distraction is an enemy of Focus!
So having known the importance of Focus, we must know that Distraction are the enemy of focus. Distraction will break the focus, thus leading you to focus your energies elsewhere, and most often at things where are not needed.
Hence we must do our best to avoid distractions to preserve focus.
Focus is like a light feather of a bird, which fly away even with a small gust of air.
Senses when engaged with Sense Objects will cause distraction
Senses are like modern-day sensors. They are designed to sense and will continue to do so. Hence to maintain focus, one must turn off these senses temporarily.
One must withdraw senses to enable deep focus.
Hence Krishna is taking the example of the Tortoise as a metaphor. A tortoise withdraws its head, its limbs and its tail within its shell and in that state, it is safe from all attack for it knows the strength of its shell.
These 4 limbs, 1 tail and 1 head resemble our 6 senses. The sense of touch, smell, hearing, taste, sight and our sixth sense of intuition.
Withdrawing Senses like a Tortoise will lead to deep work
Hence a tortoise is a symbol of a wise person who can withdraw his senses by his mere will. Such a person is able to maintain focus while cutting down distractions from his life.
Withdrawal of senses will give him both micro focus and macro focus. He would do deep work and would also be able to chart out the purpose of his life and move in that direction.
The ability to withdraw senses is thus a sign of Wisdom
Hence Krishna says that one who can withdraw senses possesses true Wisdom i.e. Pragya!
Wisdom (Pragya) is knowing that Deep work is a must for Success!
The Hare who was fast and able but distracted lost, and the Tortoise who was slow and with limited potential won as he was focused, believed in Self, and didn’t give up. It wasn’t sure of success, but it wasn’t concerned about it either. All it was doing was focusing on taking the next step and kept moving in the direction it intended to. Rest was in the hands of the Universe. And the Universe rewarded him
Be like a Tortoise
We must all be like the Tortoise. We must choose our direction in life and must keep walking, without worrying about the result and focusing on our next step. Just have belief in self, and have faith in the Universe.
Success is a long journey, a journey which demands you to love the journey more than the destination.
Success comes to those who do what they love for long periods of time!
Loving your journey is Pragya!
Chapter 2 to be continued..
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