What is Nishkaam Karma (निष्काम कर्म) ??
Bhagavad Gita, Verse 2.50 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 50 of Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita.
Verse 2.50
बुद्धियुक्तो जहातीह उभे सुकृतदुष्कृते |
तस्माद्योगाय युज्यस्व योग: कर्मसु कौशलम् || 50||
buddhi-yukto jahatiha ubhe sukrita-dushkrite
tasmad yogaya yujyasva yogah karmasu kaushalam
Translation:
One whose mind possesses true wisdom can get rid of what the world calls as good and bad deeds in this life itself.
Thus strive for Karma Yoga, for Karma Yoga is the art of doing great work.
Commentary
What is Right and Wrong?
People often say that this deed is Right and that deed is Wrong. But from where does the benchmark for Right and Wrong emerge?
The ancients said that the Scriptures say what is right and wrong, the old people say that religion tells what is right and wrong, and the modern man says that it is the Law that tells what is right and wrong.
But if you look closely, at all these benchmarks, be it the Scriptures, be it religion, be it the Law, everything is a human creation. It is the creation of human thought. So if humans have created these benchmarks, then how can one be sure that these benchmarks are absolute?
Well, there are no absolute benchmarks of what is Right and Wrong.
An act in itself is not right and wrong. It is just an act. Right and wrong is our judgment of that act. The same action when looked upon from a different point of view can appear right or wrong.
For example: If a politician demolishes an illegal residential building to build a park, the residents will say his action is wrong, while the general public might say he is right.
Right and Wrong is thus a human creation. It is a creation which is done by Society so that human society can prosper.
Let’s take modern Law for example:
Some acts are categorised as Crime, and some are not. How does one act becomes a Crime? And even for Crime, there are grades. For rape and murder, a criminal will get a life sentence, even death, but for petty theft, it might be just a monetary fine. So how does the Law decide what is wrong and within that wrong, what is more wrong and what is less wrong?
Well, the answer is hidden in a simple logic. Whatever act, which when done by a majority in the society, leads to disturbance and eventual destruction of the fabric of society is termed Wrong by the LAW.
For example:
If everyone starts murdering people, then the society will cease to exist. It will be worse than even the animal kingdom. Thus murder is an extreme wrong and thus termed a heinous crime.
Whereas if everybody starts stealing small money, then society will become a place where one can’t be trusted completely. However it doesn’t bring the very existence of society into threat, thus is considered a petty crime.
Similary, the acts which don’t fall under the law as Crime, are dealt by morality and religion, which can be said a softer form of law.
For example, if someone lies, and if everyone lies, which by the way people do, it will not threaten the society as a whole, but will lead to mistrust between people. That is why dishonesty is not considered Ethical, and dishonest people are not liked and respected by others.
But the moot point is that any act on its own is not right and wrong. It is right and wrong when seen from a certain lens.
But this doesn’t mean that one can indulge in a wrong act taking support of this definition, for every action does have its consequence. So as long as you are a part of society, any act which is considered wrong, if done will attract penalty and punishment. No one will listen to you, for society runs on rules and values, and anything which goes against such rules and values is ruthlessly suppressed.
So what is Good and Bad?
Right and Wrong and Good & Bad we very closely related. But to say that what is right is also Good and what is wrong is also bad is not the correct assumption to make. However this will hold true in most places, but not always.
For example:
If a soldier kills an enemy while defending his country, it is considered an act of bravery and is respected by the country. But if you look at the act in plain sight, it is an act of killing a man. But still, it is not called Murder, as the circumstances were different.
So what the soldier did was Right, and had he not killed that enemy, he would have done Wrong.
But when we see this situation from a lens of Good and Bad, it becomes interesting. Now the act itself is termed right, but the soldier who killed his enemy was actually feeling bad. He felt bad as he took a life, and though he did it due to duty, in normal circumstances he wouldn’t have done it.
The family of the same soldier who was killed, feels good about the act, as they are being praised by the society. While the enemy soldeir who died, for him of course things turned out to be bad, and his family also had a bad fortune for they lost a son, a husband, and a brother.
So you see, the same situation when looked upon from different perspectives, and from the point of view of different people, can be termed as both Good and Bad.
So this example tells us that Good and Bad is also Relative
There is no absolute standard for good and bad. What is Good in certain situations, too much of it can become bad, and vice versa. It is again a matter of perspective, and the outcome is different depending on the motives and desires of the people involved.
Therefore we can establish that Good and Bad are not absolute and are based on situation and perspective!
Why does Krishna say one can rise above Good and Bad?
Well, what Krishna means by rising above Good and Bad deeds is to rise above the judgement of the society, and also rise above your own judgement on what you are doing!
Let’s understand this
Any and every action has a reaction, which we call a consequence. This is the basic law of Karma.
Now doing certain actions can win you praise of the society that it is a good deed and you might feel proud of yourself. That feeling might turn into pride which is a result of EGO where you might start thinking that you a great man for you did that good deed and you are being applauded. This feeling, though will give you momentary joy, but at the same time make you crave for more applause from society. So while it will push you to do more of what you do, it will also make your happiness a slave to what others think of you!
This also will slowly change your motivation behind doing that good deed. At first, you were doing it as it was a good deed, but now you might do it just for applause. And gradually the goodness of the act will take a second seat, and on the forefront will be the applause which you crave!
For example, A man used to make anonymous charitable donations as he felt good in helping others. One time he makes a public donation to an orphanage. He gets applause from society and this makes him feel good. He then makes more donations, and every time makes it public. The result is more appreciation, more applause. He feels good. He feels a rush in his mind whenever he sees his name being praised. So he decided to spread the news of his “good charitable” deeds into the media. He also pays for this publicity. As his name comes into the media, he feels a rush he never felt before. He really really likes it.
All this is happening as his EGO is getting massages every time he hears his name and with time this EGO is getting bigger and bigger.
Gradually this man becomes so addicted to the praise of his name, that he only picks up donations which will highlight his name and bring him fame. In this process, his focus moved to items which are limelight and over a period of time his money stopped going to orphanages completely, as that donation didn’t generate any good publicity. He rather donates to government initiatives which have little to show, but give him good publicity.
Gradually he starts feeling that he really likes fame. A company approaches him offering huge publicity but in a way where he will make fake donations. 70% of his money will come back to him, and the rest 30% will be pocketed by fake organisations who only take funds but utilise them poorly all due to corruption
This man donates for the construction of a bridge in the city to a construction company, knowing very well that his money will come back to him and he will also get public praise. He anyway is never gonna use that bridge as it is meant for people who cross the road. He is a rich man and he will never walk, he thinks!
But fate takes a turn. One day there is a rally organised in his honour. He mounts himself on an open car. Hundreds of people come to watch him. However, when his car is passing below that very same bridge, it falls crushing this man in his car. The bridge collapsed as it was made of poor quality and couldn’t bear the load of the people who came to see this very man famous for his charity.
This is the way of Karma to bite you back!
What is Charity?
Charity is done so that a man breaks his ego, and shares what he believes is his and his only with the society. This process keeps him truly happy. Thus Charity is an act best done in anonymity. The moment it becomes public, pride is bound to creep in. Which comes at the cost of happiness in the long run.
So Krishna says that the best way to do work or KARMA is to just do what is needed to fulfil your Dharma or your duty, without thinking about what society has to say about you or what you think about it.
Now this state of mind is only possible when a man has immense control over his mind and practices Karma Yoga i.e. he works for the sake of duty and works for the result but doesn’t crave any reward or recognition in return for that work.
Nishkaam Karma
This type of work is called as Nishkaam Karma i.e. Detached work, and when a man does Nishkaam Karma, he doesn’t care about good and bad, right and wrong. For him, there is only his Duty, his Dharma and he must do whatever is necessary to fulfil his duty.
What the world says, he is not concerned. He thus rises above their opinion and even his own opinion, as there is no selfish motive. In this state, he has truly attained a state where he is beyond the chains of good and bad, beyond the prison of right and wrong.
Interestingly, such a style of working also enables him to do his best work, and not only best, such a man is bound to do great work as he matures while being in Yog, and eventually achieve greatness.
It seems non-intuitive that such a man ends up achieving greatness without even seeking it, but that is the secret of Karma Yoga. Karma Yoga leads to great work. Karma leads to greatness.
Krishna’s message to Arjun
That is why Krishna tells Arjun to drop his personal judgement of what is good and what is bad, be it killing someone, and asks him to focus on his Duty as a warrior and do Karma in accordance to his Dharma, which means Arjun has to pick up his bow and arrow and kill his enemy without a thought. This is not easy as it requires immense control of one’s mind. It requires one to be in Yog, which is a state of absolute mind control.
Krishna is thus asking Arjun to be a Karma Yogi, for a Karma Yogi rises above Good and bad. Krishna is asking Arjun to be a Karma Yogi in this moment, because to win this war Ajrun need to fight like a great warrior, he needs to do his job of fighting with excellence, with greatness. And karma Yoga is the answer, as Karma Yoga is the secret to great work!
Nishkaam Karma is the secret to Excellence!
