What is the Secret to Greatness?
Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 2 Verse 48
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 Verse 48 of Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita.
Verse 2.48
योगस्थ: कुरु कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा धनञ्जय |
सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्यो: समो भूत्वा समत्वं योग उच्यते || 48||
yoga-sthah kuru karmani sangam tyaktva dhananjaya
siddhy-asiddhyoh samo bhutva samatvam yoga uchyate
Translation:
Hey Arjun, control and steady your mind and be in Yoga, and thus perform your actions to discharge your duties.
Work from a balanced mindset, where you drop your craving for success and drop your fear of failure. Working with such equanimity of mind is called Yoga.
Commentary:
In this verse, Krishna is telling Arjun what he should do. Krishna tells Arjun to be in Yog. By this, he implies that Arjun should take control of his mind rather than being controlled by his mind.
Work without Attachment!
He also tells Arjun to work with full conviction towards his duty, but at the same time be detached with the fruit of his actions. By this Krishna means that Arjun should recognize his duty and define what needs to be done to discharge his duty. He must then work with complete focus and with the best of his abilities towards doing what is needed to discharge his duty and achieve the Goals he has in mind.
But at the same time, Arjun must not crave for the reward he will get when he achieves his goal. We call this reward as Success. His focus should NOT be spent on thinking about how success will feel like? How will he be recognized by the world? What rewards will success bring him?
To understand this detail, we first need to understand what Success means!
What is Success?
People often confuse Success with the achievement of results.
But Success is best described as the emotions which a person experiences in his own mind and the treatment he receives from society for his achievement. Success is thus much different from just the achievement of a goal. Success is thus different from the result. It is actually a Reward for your actions!
A reward which is given by you yourself in form of self-belief and by the society in form of praise and adulation.
Thus let’s stick to this definition of Success.
Success is the Fruit of our Actions which tastes Sweet!
Why should one not crave Success?
According to Krishna, if Arjun is thinking about Success i.e. about the reward of his actions, then he will not be able to focus completely on the process, as his focus would be divided. Instead of working with his full attention, he will be dreaming about the future. This will lead him to do suboptimal work and thus reduce his quality of work.
But why does this happen?
Craving for Reward becomes an addiction which leads to Frustration
Thinking about success can also lead to frustration. This happens as thinking about success becomes addictive, and a man starts imagining different scenarios in his head. He starts living in his imagination and imagination, being a thought, is always perfect as it conforms to what he expects to happen. These imagined scenarios seem so attractive, that the present moment, which is indeed the reality starts feeling unattractive. A man starts feeling that despite all the effort and hard why isn’t he getting the success which he craves.
All of a sudden due to his imagination, his reality starts feeling unattractive.
Frustration leads to Short-Cuts to gaining success
This breeds frustration, and the man starts losing patience. In the lure of success, he starts to look for shortcuts to gain success. These shortcuts are often actions which lead to short-term success. And when this short-term success is attained, the man feels a rush. He has now tasted success, no matter how small, but it is a success. He feels great in that state, and he craves for more. And thus he takes more shortcuts for short-term gratification.
A person who craves short-term success is no different from a drug addict.
Just like a drug addict only thinks about how he will get his next hit and feel “high”, the man addicted to success keeps on searching for shortcuts to attain that “high”. But we all know that drugs ultimately consume your body and mind, similarly, addiction to the feeling of success, also ends up consuming the long-term happiness of a person. He will only feel happy for a few moments until the jubilation of his success lasts, but once the euphoria fades away, this man will feel low again. And thus he will again crave for that high, search for shortcuts, and actually more often than not end up achieving what he seeks.
Thus he is forever stuck in a loop in which he is getting just enough of what he wanted, but never ever feels content and satisfied. Achieving such small milestones always keeps him running, but deep down he craves to rest. This is an endless cycle and this makes a man feel low, frustrated, and discontent most of the time.
When a man drops his craving for Success, he finds Happiness and Peace
That is why Krishna is advising Arjun to not crave for Success, for when a man works for the achievement of a goal but doesn’t crave for success, then he is able to give his full attention and focus to the job at hand.
He is able to focus on the process and do what is needed without any distractions and to the best of his abilities. Since he is not living in his imagination of success and doesn’t crave it, his happiness is not dependent upon any achievement or crossing any milestone.
He realizes that happiness is not in the destinations, but in the journey itself!
Since he is not attached to the achievement of any goal, he starts finding happiness in small things around him. He starts becoming more grateful for what he has in life. He starts feeling that he is lucky to be what he is, and blesses to have what he has.
Such a person realizes that happiness is hidden in gratitude.
He starts becoming more appreciative of his life and starts being more thankful for the opportunities and experiences he is having. This allows him to be in a happy state of mind, and he feels a sense of completeness. This state of mind is also very conducive for him to do his best.
Thus, interestingly, just because he is not addicted to success, and doesn’t crave for the reward, he actually ends up doing his best work, and more often than not ends up achieving his Goal.
In the eyes of the world, such a person is successful, and when people see his happiness and contentment they feel jealous of him and they say that “Oh, how lucky is he?” or “How happy he must feel to gain such much success?” but little do they know that this success has nothing to do with his happiness. He was happy even before this milestone was crossed and he will remain happy even after he crosses this milestone.
For this man has learned that true happiness is not in achievement, but hidden in things that are already with you!
Happiness is hidden within you, all one needs to do is to discover it!
That is why Krishna is asking Arjun to drop the craving for success i.e. stop desiring the fruits of his actions.
Why One MUST drop the fear of Failure?
Krishna asks Arjun to also drop his fear of Failure. Why is he saying so? Let’s understand this.
Failure is also a fruit of one’s actions, but unlike success, this fruit tastes bitter.
Fear of failure is one of the biggest roadblocks in the achievement of any goal. Fear of failure is a disabler, which stops a person from producing his best work. Due to this fear of failure, a person sticks to his comfort zone where he feels safe. He tries but aggression is missing from his approach. His risk-taking ability goes for a toss. He is thus only able to act in a conservative manner, and such conservative action only produced mediocre results.
Truth is that in life, one has to act fearlessly. This a must if one has to do his best work. Without doing your best work, achievement of greatness is only a wishful thinking.
Failure is part of the design of this universe
One must understand that failure is a part of the design of this universe. We are all designed to fail. Death is also a failure and everyone is destined to die.
But at the same time, failure is only an outcome. It is not a reflection of who you are or what you are capable of. It only means that either luck wasn’t on your side, or there needs to be a change in approach. In both cases, failure is telling you to assess your effort and try again. Failure is not a judgment of your potential for every man on this earth is born with infinite potential.
To judge, the capability of a person by his failure is to judge the might of the ocean by touching its dying wave!
So, even after your best work, you might fail. In fact, you will fail at some point. Luck plays a major role or you might call it the hand of the Universe. But there is no other way around it. Failure can’t be avoided. But there is a reason for failure to be the de facto law of the universe.
Failure is necessary for a man to overcome his weakness and develop strengths which will lead to his future success.
Therefore, failure only gives a chance to a person to become better. With failure, you shall improve, and with each success, you will stand a chance to fail. But love it or hate it, you can’t avoid failure.
So the best one can do is to realize this fact and try to change your perspective towards failure.
Don’t hold on to Failure!
People take failure very hard. They take it upon themselves. They feel they failed as they were not Good enough. And this feeling sticks with them in the form of a negative memory which further reinforces this fear of failure in their minds. This causes them to lose confidence in their abilities and they become a poorer version of themselves.
Such people, unaware that they are under this fear, do mediocre work and produce mediocre results. The irony is that these people are none but the masses. No one remembers them in history. They live a life not worth mentioning and pass away in oblivion, never being able to have lived to their potential.
All due to this fear of failure and taking failure too hard on them.
Thus Krishna is asking Arjun to drop the Fear of failure so that the can produce his best work!
But how to Overcome the Fear of Failure?
Solutions to big problems are often simple. They are so simple, that they are hard to implement.
The solution to overcome fear is also simple, but hard for people to bring into practice. But it is a must for a person to rise above his fear if he is to grow to the best of his potential. Awarness is the key. He must know the following truth about Failure.
#1 Truth is that Failure is often nothing but Bad Luck
First thing is to realize that failure is often not produced because there was a lack of effort or there was an issue with the quality of work. Everything was on point but success wasn’t achieved. It might be sheer luck. Luck which is often underrated plays a major role in any outcome. The world is a game of infinite probabilities and infinite possibilities. Luck only means that the factors which are not in your control didn’t work in your favor.
It is like you were driving on the right side of the road, wearing a seat belt, following traffic rules, and not speeding, but still, a car hits you from behind. Not your fault, just bad luck!
It is easy to understand in this example that it doesn’t make you a bad driver. It was just a bad day. You need to realize this and move forward.
Even if you committed a mistake, you need to learn from it and make sure you don’t repeat it.
That is it. There is nothing personal. This accident doesn’t reflect on your ability to drive!
So realize that Failures also happen due to poor luck, and there is nothing you can do about it, but to try again!
When you do this, you avoid storing any negative memories in your mind and help yourself by preserving your confidence.
So always realize, bad luck causes most failures. It just happens. So there is no need to fear, there is nothing wrong with you.
Just chin up and try again!
#2 Control the controllables, don’t worry about the uncontrollables
Bad luck is something you can’t control. But that doesn’t mean that there is nothing in your control. Truth is that there is plenty you can control.
Also while bad luck does cause failure, the majority of failures are caused by poor effort. Either the approach was flawed, or there was an incorrect effort, or there was a lack of intent, or there was a lack of hard work, or there was a missing piece in your effort, or you just simply messed up!
So a failure is only telling you that you need to assess your approach and then make corrections until you get it right. Luck will still play a role, but when it happens you will know!
Again going back to that Car accident example. Let’s say you forgot to turn on the indicator light before taking a turn and this was what caused an accident. Well, in this case, it was indeed your mistake.
So, either you can learn from it and correct it or you can sulk on it and cry saying that you are not good enough to drive!
Well, it is very clear, that putting an emotional burden on yourself isn’t gonna help you in any way. It is only going to harm you by becoming a negative memory, reinforcing every time you remind yourself of this failure and curse yourself. With every negative thought, which you raise about your capability, this memory will become strong and very soon will start controlling your subconscious mind. This is how fear is generated.
Now every time you drive, you will be afraid to take a turn. And at that moment you will lose your natural flair for driving. Your focus will be disturbed and you will end up committing a mistake either by speeding or slowing down too much.
Thus, do yourself a favor, and don’t take any failure personally.
When there is no fear, your instincts will take over and a fear-free subconscious mind will help you drive safely and effectively on this highway of life!
Work on developing your Skills, that is in your control!
But this doesn’t mean you need not learn driving itself. Well, you need to learn how to drive. Similarly for any job skill is required and you need to practice to develop that skill. Without that skill, your effort would be at best suboptimal.
Developing skill comes via conscious effort. It is something which is in your control. And thus it must be taken seriously, and effort must be put here. The more you practice your skill, the better you shall become.
For example, a cricket player, who is a batsman, can play gully cricket for fun. But he can’t face international bowlers in a competitive match. If he even wishes to do so, he needs to work on his skill and develop that capability. Now this requires a lot of practice, a lot of repetitions, a lot, until that becomes his muscle memory, and then becomes his instinct.
Don’t worry about the uncontrollables
But there are other aspects that are not in your control and will still dictate the outcome of your efforts. Luck is one such “uncontrollable”.
So what can one do?
Well, nothing! Just chill and hope for the best!
Sooner or later, success shall come to you and you will get what you seek.
Thus focus on controlling what can control and forget about what you can’t!
#3 Stop Imagining Failure in your head
One major reason for Fear of failure is that people have a tendency to predict the outcome of their effort. They subconsciously do it so much, that they are always anticipating and all they see is failure- various scenarios of how they can fail.
But again, this is not their fault. This happens as the human brain is made to think in that fashion. We have a Negative Bias in our minds. Our brain tries to predict what can go wrong, which makes us think that we will fail. This is an evolutionary trait in humans and it has helped our species to survive. The mind stores memories of previous failures and also tries to predict what can go wrong. The intent behind this is good, as the brain wants us to be safe.
But the truth is twofold:
Number 1: We are no more animals and live in forests. The world is a much safer place now. Fear of death is next to non-existent. Man and civilization have evolved and have become modern, but the brain is still ancient. It still thinks like cavemen, and projecting negative outcomes is its favorite thing to do.
So the onus is on us humans to understand this tendency of the mind and control it. Next time when you see a negative scenario panning out, know that it is your brain playing tricks on you, and it is not a profession or future prediction. It is just a random flash of an image in your head and most often than not, it is best to discard it. There will be occasions when you must trust it as well, but those moments will be rare and not happen in your day-to-day life. So awareness is the key
Number 2: Our brain might show us flashes that might force us to think. And many of us do. The overthinker thinks deeply and keeps on thinking, and even after thinking everything they start to think again. It is like they are running on a treadmill and unable to stop. This is a disease. It is a sign of weakness where you are unable to control the flow of your mind.
The only way to come out of this loop is to realize that no matter how deeply you can think in your head, the reality is always different than imagination.
You simply can’t imagine reality. That is the Truth!
Think about something which you are worried about. Recall all the thoughts which came to your head. Then recall what actually happened when you experienced that anticipated scenario in your real life.
You will realize that what happened in real life was far different than your imagination. Even if the outcome was in line with what you thought, the event which happened was far richer in detail, in front of which your imagination was nothing but an unclear blurry photograph.
So the moral is that reality will always be different than what you imagine.
REALITY WILL NEVER BE EXACTLY THE SAME AS YOUR IMAGINATION.
So STOP OVER-THINKING.
You gain nothing substantial by overthinking. This doesn’t mean you must not think. Thinking is a must when you are planning or strategizing or solving a problem. But that is the time when you want to think consciously.
Fear doesn’t come by scheduling a meeting in your personal calendar. It comes uncalled. You are busy doing something and without you knowing your thoughts wash you away and you start thinking about what can go wrong, and worse keep on thinking in a loop for days and months.
This is how fear controls you. It is like an ant in your pants. It bites you unannounced. And overthinkers are the ones who let this ant stay and continue to bite them.
Deep down such people like that pain. They have become so accustomed to that pain, that they don’t like it but still don’t take any action to address it.
We must stop this. Overthink is a habit. The more you do it, the stronger it becomes. The only way to address this is to realize that thinking and anticipating are overrated and don’t help much, especially when you have thought it out completely.
Thus Overthink is only causes harm to your mental health.
Fear of Failure is a flash of an image
Fear of failure is nothing but flashes of imagination, like a blurred picture of us failing, which are a result of random thoughts generated out of nowhere as our brain thinks about what can go wrong. The brain is not at fault, for it is its duty. It is we who need to be aware of his habit.
So next time when you feel fear of failure, just take a deep breath, and think if you have thought about this problem earlier or not. If the answer is NO, then take out some time to think through it completely when you have peace of mind.
Even if you say to yourself that “I will think about this when I go home” you will see that your mind will let you be. It will stop bothering you, unless you forget to think it through when you go home.
And if in the other case, where you have already thought through a problem, and still negative thoughts bother you, then tell yourself that you have thought about it completely, and there is no need to think about this anymore. You will see that the fear will go away.
If fear still persists, then it only means that your mind controls you more than you control your mind.
But worry not, and do this trick.
Talk to yourself
Talk to yourself. Yes, literally talk to yourself as if you were a different person. Have a conversation. Try to solve the problem via dialog. You will realize that not only you will solve the problem when you speak, but the problem will also appear less demonic when you speak it out loud in words.
Thoughts control us in our minds, but when thoughts are forced to turn into words, they lose their power.
They are like a crocodile who is much more powerful in water, than on land.
If you can’t talk to yourself, then write down your thoughts
If you can’t speak to yourself, then write it down on a paper. Have that conversation on paper.
When thoughts are penned down, they lose their enigma. The negative thoughts of fear, lose their power and stand in front of you like a meek sheep, while you gaze at them like a tiger.
That is how you take control over fear. That is how you win over Fear.
Meditate everyday
And last but not the least, always remember that Fear is due to the inability to control our thoughts. So to truly win over fear, one needs to control his mind. And this can only be done via Meditation.
Make meditation a part of your life and you will see the magic!
But shouldn’t Detached work lead to Poor Quality work?
Krishna asks Arjun to work while being detached from the fruits of his actions.
People often are confused that if a person is not attached to Success or the reward of his actions, then how can he be motivated enough to do the work needed to achieve the goal?
Well, the people who think so have never experienced working in a detached manner!
Not craving the reward of your achievements in no way means that a person will not have motivation towards his work. Instead, the opposite happens. Such a person unknowingly produces his best work, as he is doing work for the sake of his duty. And his duty means to do work in a manner that allows him to achieve the Goal.
This means his singular focus would be to achieve the result and thus he will always be producing his best work. In fact, since he is not attached to the fruits of his actions, doing the action itself becomes the goal for him. And when this happens, magic happens.
Such a person will never feel demotivated, he will never feel discontent, never feel disheartened, for him there is nothing to gain, but at the same time there is nothing to lose. He will never feel the sense of loss.
The story of Rabbit v/s Tortoise gives us the answer!
We have all heard the story of the Rabbit and the tortoise. The Rabbit is faster but ends up losing the race as he is distracted, while the tortoise is slow, but walking towards his goal, taking one step at a time. He is not concerned about winning or losing. It is just walking, for walking is his duty, his focus is singular and thus he ends up achieving the goal and also wins the race.
This story is told to kids, but the message hidden in this story is profound. The one who works with a singular focus towards his goal and keeps on walking in the direction of the goal will reach there sooner or later, and thus speed doesn’t matter. All one needs to do is be patient.
But for a person who walks in a direction as he considers to walk as his duty, then such a man doesn’t even need patience. He is walking for the sake of walking. And he shall never feel frustrated. When he takes one step he will know that he has done his duty. Walking is his duty. Thus the achievement of milestones and goals is just a by-product of him doing his duty honestly.
Such a person, even after reaching the finish line, will keep on walking, as he never was in it for success or the reward of achievement. And even if he fails, he won’t stop, for one can only truly fail when one actually wants to achieve a reward.
What is failure to the world, for such a person, it is just an outcome. If it is not in line with his goal, then he will change his approach but never shall be get buried under the load of failure.
He is always free from the chains of success and failure.
Such an approach toward work is termed as Yoga. For a man is union himself. At all times he has control over his mind. His mind doesn’t have cravings. His mindset is stable. He is happy.
Such Yoga of Action is called Karma Yoga!
Conclusion
This sums up Krishna’s message which is around dropping one’s craving for the reward of his actions and also drop the fear of failure. This can only happen when a man exercises control over his mind and becomes the master.
Thus Krishna calls this State of being as Yoga, as Yoga is nothing but a technique to control your mind!
In essence, Krishna is asking Arjun to do Action while being in Yoga, and thus this is Karma Yoga explained by Krishna without even naming it!
