Thursday 29 July 2021

Bhagavad Gita Summary - Book 5: Karma Sanyasayoga or The Yoga of Renunciation

Book 5: Karma Sanyasayoga or The Yoga of Renunciation
The stage of complete renunciation; sannyas is one of the four ashrams or stages of life in Hindu philosophy. It requires to renounce all worldly thoughts and desires, and spends the rest of his life in spiritual contemplation.  In the first five chapters, there has been on ongoing consideration of the relation between action and contemplation, although they are not to be understood as distinct. This chapter has some of the most pointed statements on this question.
1- Action and Renunciation. (1-12)
Karma Yoga suits the ignorant better than Samnyasa. (1-3)
2. Renunciation and Yoga through action both lead to the highest bliss; but, of the two. Yoga through action is esteemed more than renunciation of action.
Sankhya and Yoga lead to the same goal. (4-5)
4. Children, not the wise, speak of Sankhya and Yoga as distinct. He who is rightly devoted to even one obtains the fruits of both.
 
I think such is not the meaning, but that, on the contrary, the seemingly easy alternative of performing actions properly is in reality the most difficult of all tasks. And no matter how much we may wait for a favorable birth, for a much hoped-for environment which will not only permit the new sort of life but, in fact, urge it upon us, it will never arrive for us until we have learned what is the right performance of action. This learning can never be acquired by a renunciation of works now. Indeed, it may be taken for granted that no person will be able to renounce the world unless he has passed through the other experience in some life. A few may be found who attempt to do so, but if they have not been through all action they cannot proceed. The character of the man himself inwardly is the real test. No matter how many times during countless births he has renounced the world, if his inner nature has not renounced, he will be the same man during the entire period, and whenever, in any one of his ascetic lives, the new, the appropriate temptation or circumstance arises, he will fall from his high outward asceticism.
That our view as to the extreme difficulty of right renunciation through action is correct, we may refer to what Krishna says further on in the chapter.
Yet such abstraction, Chief!
Is hard to win without much holiness. (William Q. Judge, Essays on the Gita, 5, 4)

Karma Yoga is a means to Samnyasa. (6)
6- O thou of mighty arms, it is difficult to attain true renunciation, without right performance of action; the devotee rightly performing action attains to true renunciation before long.
Here again is a higher place assigned to performance of action. It seems clear that what Krishna meant was that renunciation of action in any one life, followed by the same conduct in all the subsequent lives thereby affected, would at last lead the renouncer to see how he must begin to stop that kind of renunciation and take up the performance of actions while he renounced the fruit of them. This is thought by many occultists to be the true view
No matter in what direction we see ourselves acting, we perceive how difficult it is to be true renouncers. And we cannot hope to reach the perfection of this better sort of renunciation through action, in the present life, be it the one in which we have begun, or be it the twentieth of such effort. However, we can try, and such is our duty; if we persevere, the tendency toward the right understanding will increase with each life more rapidly than would otherwise be possible. (William Q. Judge, Essays on the Gita, 5, 6)
A sage's actions do not affect him. (7)
7. He who is equipped with Yoga, whose mind is quite pure, by whom the self has been conquered, whose senses have been subdued, whose Self has become the Self of all beings,—though doing, he is not tainted.
A sage's actions are really no actions. (8-9)
8-9. 'I do nothing at all'; thus should the truth-knower think, steadfast,—though seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, going, sleeping, breathing, speaking, letting go, seizing, opening and closing the eyes,—remembering that the senses move among sense-objects.
Karma Yogin is untainted by the results of this action. (10-12)
12. The steady-minded one, abandoning the fruit of action, attains the peace born of devotion. The unsteady one, attached to the fruit through the action of desire, is firmly bound. 
The steady- minded man who, resolved that " I do actions for the sake of the Lord, not for my benefit," abandons the fruit of action attains the peace called moksha, as the result of devotion, through the following stages : first, purity of the mind ; then, attainment of knowledge ; then, renunciation of all actions ; and lastly, devotion to knowledge. But he who is unsteady is led by desire and is attached to the fruit, thinking ' I do this act for my benefit.' He is firmly bound. Therefore, be thou steady-minded.   (Baghavad Gita, with the Commentary of Sri Sankaracharya, transl. A. Mahadeva Sastri, 1901, 151)
2- Life of the sage (13-26)
The blissful embodied life of a sage. (13)
13. Renouncing all actions by thought, and Self-controlled, the embodied one rests happily in the nine-gated city, neither at all acting nor causing to act. 
Actions are either the obligatory duties (nitya-karmani), or those arising on the occurrence of some special events (naimittika- karmani), or those intended for securing some special ends, and which are only optional (kamya-karma),or those which are forbidden (pratishiddha-karmani). The man who has subdued the senses, renounces all actions in speech, thought, and deed, by discrimination, by seeing inaction , in action, and rests happily. 
 
He rests happily because he has given up all action in speech, thought and deed, because he is without worry, because his mind is calm, because, excepting the Self, all interests (foreign to the Self) have departed from his mind. Where and how does he rest ? — In the body which has nine openings : seven in the head, being the organs of sensation ; two nether ones for the passage of the urine and the dung. As having these nine openings, the body is said to be a nine-gated city. It is like a city, with the Self for its Monarch, inhabited by the citizens of the senses, mind, intellect, as well as their objects,—all working for the sole benefit of their Lord and producing consciousness of various objects. In such a nine-gated city the embodied one rests, having renounced all action. (Sankara Commentary)
 
Nature is the source of activity. (14)
14. Neither agency nor objects does the Lord create for the world, nor union with the fruits of actions. But it is the nature that acts.
 
{Question):—If the Self in the body does not Himself act nor cause others to act, what then is it that acts and causes others to act ? { [Answer) :—Listen. It is Nature, Svabhava, Prakriti, \ Maya, ' the Divine Maya made up of gunas '( vii. 14 ).  (Sankara Commentary)
Wisdom and Unwisdom. (15-16) 
16. But to those whose unwisdom is destroyed by wisdom of the Self, like the sun wisdom illuminates that Supreme.
The sage has no more births. (17) 
17. With their consciousness in That, their Self being That, intent on That, with That for their supreme goal, they go never again to return, their sins shaken off by means of wisdom.
The sage sees the One in all beings. (18) 
18. In a Brahmana endued with wisdom and humility, in a cow, in an elephant, as also in a dog and in a dog-eater,'' the wise see the same. Humility is tranquillity, the condition of a well-disciplined soul. 
The sage is liberated while still on earth. (19) 
19. Even here birth is overcome by them whose mind rests on equality. Spotless, indeed, and equal is Brahman ; wherefore in Brahman they rest.
The sage is free from grief and rejoicing. (20) 
20. He who knows Brahman can neither rejoice on obtaining the pleasant, nor grieve on obtaining the unpleasant,—steady-minded, undeluded, resting in Brahman.
The sage's infinite joy. (21-22) 
22. For, those delights which arc born of contacts are only generators of pain, having a beginning and an end, O son of Kunti ; a wise man rejoices not in them. 
Seeing that there is no trace of joy in the samsara, the devotee should withdraw the senses from the mirage of sense-objects. Not only do the delights cause pain, but also they have a beginning and an end. The contact of a sense with its object marks the beginning) of a pleasure, and their separation its end. Delights are temporary, occurring in the moment of interval (between the origin and the end). (Sankara Commentary)
The path of Nirvana. (23-26) 
23. He that is able, while still here, to withstand, before liberation from the body, the impulse of desire and anger, he is a Yogin, he is a happy man. While still here : while yet living. Before liberation from the body : up to the point of death.
By thus marking death as the limit, the Lord teaches that the impulse of desire and anger is unavoidable during life, since its causes are innumerable, and that till the very moment of death it should not be trusted. Desire (Kama) is the longing for a pleasure giving agreeable object of our experience when coming within the ken of our senses, heard of, or remembered ; and anger (krodha) is the aversion for the disagreable, for the cause of pain, when being seen, heard of, or remembered. 
The impulse of desire (kama) is the agitation of the mind (antah-karana) as indicated by hairs standing on end and by a joyful countenance ; and the impulse of anger is the mental agitation indicated by the trembling of the body, by perspiration, lip-biting, fiery eyes, and the like. He who can withstand the impulses of desire and anger is a Yogin, and he is a happy man here on earth. (Sankara Commentary)
24. Whoso has his joy within and his pastime within, and whoso has his light within only, that Yogin attains Brahman's bliss, himself becoming Brahman. Within: in the Self. He attains the bliss (nirvana) in Brahman,—i.e. he attains moksha,—while still living here on earth. 
One who is not affected by the success or failure (or gains and losses) of his actions is a person with sense of equability. He is the Brahman personified. Due to the limitless internal bliss of the Self he is not attracted towards the external worldly pleasures. It is only those who have not experienced this internal bliss that are attracted towards the impermanent worldly pleasures. The pleasures of the sense-objects are actually miseries from the beginning to the end but ignorant people cannot do without them. It is these people who are addicted to the sense pleasures that have given the appearance of truth to this worldly delusion of Maya. (5:126). (Dnyaneshwari; 5:103-126, transl. M.R. Yardi) 
These instructions will be very difficult for all who are living for themselves and who have not in some small degree begun to believe that they are not here for their own sake. But when we feel that there is no separation between us and any other creature, and that our higher self is leading us through all the experiences of life to the end that we shall recognize the unity of all, then, instead of continually acting contrary to that object of the higher self, we try to acquire the right belief and aspiration. Nor need we be deterred, as some are, by the extreme difficulty of eliminating the selfish desire for progress. That will be the task during many lives, and we should begin it voluntarily as soon as it is known, instead of waiting for it to be forced in upon us through suffering and many defeats.
Effacement in the Supreme Spirit is gained by the right-seeing sage whose sins are exhausted, who hath cut asunder all doubts, whose senses and organs are under control, and who is devoted to the well-being of all creatures.
If the last qualification is absent, then he is not a "right-seeing sage" and cannot reach union with the Supreme. It must follow that the humblest imitator, everyone who desires to come to that condition, must try to the best of his ability to imitate the sage who has succeeded. And such is the word of the Master; for he says in many places that, if we expect to have his help, we must apply ourselves to the work of helping humanity — to the extent of our ability. No more than this is demanded.  (Judge, 5, 25)
26. To the devotees who are free from desire and anger, who have controlled their thought, and who have known the Self, Brahman's bliss exists everywhere. Those who have renounced all actions and attained right knowledge are liberated, whether living or dead.
3- Realisation of the Lord by Dhyana-Yoga. (27-29) 
It has been said that those who, renouncing all actions, remain steady in right knowledge obtain instant liberation. It has often been and will be declared by the Lord that Karma-Yoga, which is performed in complete devotion to the Lord and dedicated to Him, leads to moksha step by step: first the purification of the mind, then knowledge, then renunciation of all actions, and lastly moksha.  (Sankara Commentary)
29. On knowing Me,—the Lord of all sacrifices and austerities, the Great Lord of all worlds, the Friend of all beings,—he goes to Peace.
I am Narayana, the Lord of all sacrifices and austerities, both as their author and as their Devata (i.e, as the God whose grace is sought by their means). I am the Friend of all, doing good to them without expecting any return for it. Lying in the heart of all beings, I am the dispenser of the fruits of all actions and the witness of all cognitions. On knowing Me, they attain peace, the cessation of all samsara. (Sankara Commentary)

Monday 19 July 2021

Bhagavad Gita Summary - Book 4- Gyana Karma Sanyasayoga or The Yoga of Renunciation of Action through Knowledge

Heavily focused on Jnana-Yoga, hence a central chapter that is important for the Advaita Vedanta tradition. The section divisions are based on the Baghavad Gita, with the Commentary of Sri Sankaracharya, transl. A. Mahadeva Sastri, 1901. Further comments from William Q. Judge, Essays on the Gita, and the Dnyaneshwari, transl. M.R. Yardi). 
Note that A.M. Sastri translate Jnana as 'wisdom', whereas most translators use 'knowledge'.
4- Gyana Karma Sanyasayoga or The Yoga of Renunciation of Action through Knowledge
1 – Doctrine of Avatara  (Verses 1-9)
Tradition of Jnana Yoga. (1-3)
2. This, handed down thus in succession, the King-sages learnt. This Yoga, by long lapse of time, has been lost here, O harasser of foes. 3. That same ancient Yoga has been today taught to thee by Me, seeing that thou art My devotee and friend ; for, this is the Supreme Secret. This knowledge, this Yoga, is the Supreme Secret.
Divine Incarnations. (4-6)
6. Though I am unborn, of imperishable nature, and though I am the Lord of all beings, yet ruling over My own nature, I am born by My own Maya.
The purpose of Divine Incarnation. (7-9)
7. Whenever there is a decay of religion, O Bharata, and an ascendency of irreligion, then I manifest Myself.
8. For the protection of the good, for the destruction of evil-doers, for the firm establishment of religion, I am born in every age.
He also declares that the right and full comprehension of the mystery of his births and work on earth confers upon us nirvana, so that rebirth occurs no more. This is because it is not possible for a man to understand the mystery unless he has completely liberated himself from the chains of passion and acquired entire concentration. He has learned to look beneath the shell of appearances that deceives the unthinking mind. (William Q. Judge, Essays on the Gita, 4, 8)
2- Action (10-18)
Jnana-Yoga is the sole means to moksha. (10)
10. Free from passion, fear and anger, absorbed in Me, taking refuge in Me, purified by the fire (tapas) of wisdom, many have reached My being.
Divine dispensation of worldly benefits and salvation. (11-12)
11-Howsoever men approach Me, even so do I reward them ; My path do men follow in all things, O son of Pritha.
I grace people according to the manner by which they express their devotion to me. It is the natural tendency of man to do my upasana (worship). But through ignorance or due to delusion, most people think of me in many different forms though I am one and the only God. I am without name but they assign different names to the different forms which they consider as deities. 
I am all pervading but they qualify my forms as superior or inferior. With desire in their minds they worship these deities. They gain the fruits therefrom but actually that is the fruit of their actions, there being nothing other than actions which can give fruits. I am the witness to the worship of all these deities but each worshipper gets the fruits according to his attitude. (4:76) (Dnyaneshwari; 4:66-76, transl. M.R. Yardi) 
Caste as a divinely ordered human institution. (13)
13. The fourfold caste has been created by Me according to the distribution of energies and actions; though I am the author thereof, know Me as non-agent and immutable.
Action without attachment does not bind the soul. (14-15)
14. Actions pollute Me not, nor have I a desire for the fruit of actions. He who knows Me thus is not bound by actions.
The real nature of action and inaction. (16-18)
18. He who can see inaction in action, who can also see action in inaction, he is wise among men, he is devout, he is the performer of all action.
Now, action which belongs to the body and the senses, while yet retaining its own nature as action, is falsely imputed by all to the Self who is actionless and immutable; whence even a learned man thinks " I act." 
Hence the passage means:—He who sees inaction in action, i.e., he who has the right knowledge that action, which is commonly supposed by all to pertain to the Self, does not really belong to the Self, just as motion does not really pertain to the trees (on the shore of the river) which appear (to a man on board the ship) to move in the opposite direction ; and he who sees action in inaction, i.e., he who knows that even inaction is action,—for, inaction is but a cessation of bodily and mental activities, and like action it is falsely attributed to the Self and causes the feeling of egoism as expressed in the words " quiet and doing nothing, I sit happy;"-—he who can realize the nature of action and inaction as now explained is wise among men ; he is devout (Yogin), he is the performer of all actions. He is released from evil ; he has achieved all. (Baghavad Gita, with the Commentary of Sri Sankaracharya, transl. A. Mahadeva Sastri, 1901, 130-132)
3- The sage (19-23)
Who is a sage ?(19)
19. He whose engagements are all devoid of desires and purposes, and whose actions have been burnt by the fire of wisdom, him the wise call a sage.
 
Now listen to the characteristics of a person who has reached perfection. Even as he performs actions he does not consider himself to be the doer and does not keep expectations about the fruits. Apart from a sense of duty, he has no other reason for actions. It must then be considered that actionlessness has been well ingrained in such a person. Such a person should be considered as having understood the meaning of non-action and an enlightened person. 
He who realises Self knowing that performance of his actions is unreal from the point of view of the Self is a real person of non-action. He enjoys the worldly pleasures without being attached or being affected by them. And even by remaining in one place he travels through the universe and actually himself becomes the universe. (Dnyaneshwari; 4:93-102)
The Sage's worldly action as an example to the masses. (20)
20. Having abandoned attachment for the fruits of action, ever content, dependent on none, though engaged in actions, nothing at all does he do.
The Sage's action for bodily maintenance. (21-22)
21. Free from desire, with the mind and the self controlled, having relinquished all possessions, doing mere bodily action, he incurs no sin.
22. Satisfied with what comes to him by chance, rising above the pairs of opposites, free from envy, equanimous in success and failure, though acting he is not bound.
He is not bothered about his person, is desireless about the fruits of his actions and is always happy. He is always content but constantly seeks the experience of the Self. Shedding expectations and ego, he experiences more and more the sweetness of the bliss of the Self. Therefore he is happy with whatever comes to his lot. He does not say that this is mine and that is somebody else's. The very actions he performs merge into him because he does not see anything other than Self in this world. How can actions affect such a person? (Dnyaneshwari; 4:106-112)
The Sage's worldly action does not bind him. (23)
23. Of the man whose attachment is gone, who is liberated, whose mind is established in knowledge, who acts for the sake of sacrifice,—his whole action melts away.
4- Sacrifice (24-32)
Wisdom sacrifice. (24)
24. Brahman is the offering, Brahman the oblation ; by Brahman is the oblation poured into the fire of Brahman ; Brahman verily shall be reached by him who always sees Brahman in action.
No sacrificial rite is ever found unassocialed with the idea of the accessories of action and results, unaccompained with egoism and a longing for the results. But this (wisdom-sacrifice) is an action wherein all idea of the instrument and other various accessories of action, all idea of action itself and of its results, has been replaced by the one idea of Brahman. Whence it is no action at all. This is shewn in iv 18, 20 ; iii. 28; v., 8 Thus teaching, our Lord here and there tries also to remove all idea of duality, i.e, of action, its result and its accessories.  (Sankara Commentary)
Sacrifices effected by action. (25-32)
Brahman is devoid of all characteristics of mundane existence (samsara) such as hunger and thirst, inconceivable in any particular form or aspect, as taught by the Scripture in the terms, "It is not thus, it is not thus." (Bn. Up. 4-4-22). To know the conditioned Self as identical with the unconditioned Brahman is to sacrifice the Self in Brahman. This is the sacrifice which is performed by those who, having renounced all action, are ever steady in their knowledge of the identity of the Self with Brahman. (Sankara Commentary)
32. Thus manifold sacrifices are spread at the mouth of Brahman. Know them all as born of action. Thus knowing, thou shalt be liberated.
5- Sacrifice to Wisdom (33-42)
Wisdom  sacrifice is superior to other sacrifices. (33)
33. Superior is wisdom-sacrifice to the sacrifice with objects, O harasser of thy foes. All action, without exception, O son of Pritha, is comprehended in wisdom.
After enumerating all, not only the performance but also the omitting of sacrifice, he shows Arjuna that spiritual knowledge includes all actions and burns to ashes the binding effects of all work, conferring upon us the power to take nirvana by reason of emancipation from the delusion that the lower self was the actor. The perfection of this spiritual knowledge is reached by strengthening faith and expelling doubt through devotion and restraint. (Judge, 4, 33)
How and where one should seek wisdom. (34-35)
34. Know this: by long prostration, by enquiry, by service, those men of wisdom who have realised the truth will teach thee wisdom.
Know thou by what process it is obtained. Go to the ? teachers (Acharyas) and humbly prostrate thyself before them. Ask them what is the cause of bondage (bandha) and what the means of deliverance ; what is wisdom (vidya) and what nescience (avidya). Do service to the Guru. Won over by these and other marks of respect, the teachers who, knowing the truth as well as realising it themselves, will impart to thee their wisdom,—that wisdom which has been described above. Some only, but not all, know as, well as realise the truth.—By this the Lord means to say that that knowledge alone which is imparted by those who have realised the truth — and no other knowledge—can prove effective. (Sankara Commentary)
35. Knowing which, thou shalt not again thus fall into error, O Pandava ; and by which, thou wilt see all beings in thy Self and also in Me.
Wisdom, a consumer of all sins and actions. (36-38)
36. Even shouldst thou be the most sinful of all the sinful, thou shalt verily cross all sin by the
bark of wisdom.
The surest means to wisdom. (39)
39. He obtains wisdom who is full of faith, who is devoted to it, and who has subdued the senses. Having obtained wisdom, he ere long attains to the Supreme Peace.
Knowledge seeks him who is fed up with sense-pleasures in preference to the pleasure of the Self-realisation, who does not bother about the sense organs, who does not allow desires enter his mind, does not feel responsible for the things which occur naturally and who has become happy by faith. Peace resides in the mind of such a person. Once the Knowledge becomes firm in his mind he attains self-realisation and peace reigns in his mind. He sees peace wherever he casts his glance and duality about "this is mine" and "that is another person's" vanishes from his mind. (Dnyaneshwari; 4:186-190). 
Wisdom the killer of doubt. (40-42)
So long as doubt remains there will be no peace, no certainty, nor any hope of finding it in this world or the lives upon it hereafter, and not even in the vast reaches of other universes on which we may live in future ages; the doubter now will be the doubter then, and so on while the wheel revolves for the millions of years yet before us.  (Judge, 4, 40)
42. Therefore with the sword of wisdom cleave asunder this doubt of the Self lying in the heart
and born of ignorance, and resort to Yoga. Arise, O Bharata.

Saturday 10 July 2021

Bhagavad Gita Summary - Book 3 - Karma Yoga or The Yoga of Action

Sometimes titled Karma Yoga, the third book of the Gita is an essential exposition on action and duty, selfless compassion, and the nature of desire. It is one of the most distinctive and important chapters of this spiritual classic. The section divisions are based on the Baghavad Gita, with the Commentary of Sri Sankaracharya, transl. A. Mahadeva Sastri, 1901. Further comments from William Q. Judge, Essays on the Gita, and the Dnyaneshwari, transl. M.R. Yardi) 
 
Book 3 - Karma Yoga or The Yoga of Action
1- Karma Yoga (Verses 1-19)
Which is better, Knowledge or Action. (1-2)
At this stage Arjuna asked why, if Shri Krishna was against actions he was asking him to fight. (3:3) (William Q. Judge, Essays on the Gita, 3,1)
 
The Paths of Knowledge and Action. (3)
3. The Blessed Lord said: In this world twofold is the self-application of the soul (by which it enters into the Brahmic condition), as I before said, O sinless one: that of the Sankhyas by the Yoga of knowledge, that of the Yogins by the Yoga of works.
 
What was that twofold path of devotion ?—One of them was jnana-yoga, the devotion of knowledge—knowledge itself being yoga — suited to the Sankhyas, to those who possessed a clear knowledge of the Self and the not-Self, who renounced the world from the Brahmacharya (the first holy order or asrama), who determined the nature of things in the light of the Vedantic wisdom, who belonged to the highest class of samnyasins known as the Paramahamsas, whose thoughts ever dwelt on Brahman only. The other was karma-yoga, the devotion of action,—action itself being Yoga or devotion,—suited to yogins, to karmins, to those who were inclined to action.
But the truth is this : Devotion to action is a means to the end, not directly, but only as leading to devotion to knowledge ; whereas the latter, which is attained by means of devotion to action, leads to the goal directly, without extraneous help. (Judge, 3-3)
 
Karma-Yoga leads to freedom from action. (4)
4. Not by abstention from works does a man enjoy actionlessness, nor by mere renunciation (of works) does he attain to his perfection (to siddhi, the accomplishment of the aims of his self-discipline by Yoga).
 
IMPORTANCE OF ACTIONS Abandoning action is not non-action. If without doing the prescribed actions first one says that "I am abandoning actions like a Siddha", then that will not at all constitute non-action for him. Because it is foolish to think that non-action is the same thing as not doing the duties that have fallen to one's lot. As long as one is in his body and has desires, actions cannot be abandoned; certain natural duties (like earning livelihood, preparation of food, having progeny etc.) have perforce to be performed. But the actions become non-actions when one is ceaselessly content. Therefore one who wants to achieve non-action should never give up the prescribed actions. (Dnyaneshwari 3:45- 50, transl. M.R. Yardi) 
 
The ignorant are swayed by Nature. (5)
5. For none stands even for a moment not doing work, everyone is made to do action helplessly by the modes born of Prakriti.
 
The unenlightened should not give up Karma-Yoga. (6-13)
6. Who controls the organs of action, but continues in his mind to remember and dwell upon the objects of sense, such a man has bewildered himself with false notions of self-discipline.
7. He who controlling the senses by the mind, O Arjuna, without attachment engages with the organs of action in Yoga of action, he excels.
8. Do thou do controlled action. For action is greater than inaction; even the maintenance of thy physical life cannot be effected without action.
9. By doing works otherwise than for sacrifice, this world of men is in bondage to works; for sacrifice practise works, O son of Kunti, becoming free from all attachment.
 
Act as per the code Brahmadeo replied, "I have already set the code of actions depending upon your caste. Let your actions be guided by it and your wishes will be fulfilled with ease. Do not trouble your body by performing Vratas (observance of austerities like fast sometimes with rituals) and penances. Do not go far away for pilgrimage. Do not observe yoga and similar techniques, penance with desire or mantra and tantra techniques. Do not worship other deities. Perform the natural yajna of doing actions as per the code (Dharma) and the actions will become successful. If you worship the deities by performing actions as per the code then the deities will be pleased and give you the desired objects and will sustain you. You will enjoy the good things of life and be happy." (Dnyaneshwari, 3:88-95). 
 
The wheel of the world should be set going. (14-16)
16. He who follows not here the wheel thus set in movement, evil is his being, sensual is his delight, in vain, O Partha, that man lives.
 
In such an age as this, the ritualistic sacrifice of a different age which has indeed a magical effect becomes a sacrifice to be performed by each man in his own nature upon the altar of his own heart. And especially is this so with theosophists of sincerity and aspiration. Being born as we are in these days, among families with but small heritage in the wave of descent from unsullied ancestors, we are without the advantage of great natural spiritual leanings, and without certain peculiar powers and tendencies that belong to another cycle. But the very force and rapidity of the age we live in give us the power to do more now in fewer incarnations. Let us then recognize this, and learn what is our duty and do it. (Judge, 3, 16)
 
Karma -Yoga is not meant for the Self-knower. (17-18)
17. But the man whose delight is in the Self and who is satisfied with the enjoyment of the Self and in the Self he is content, for him there exists no work that needs to be done.
 
Arjuna qualified for Karma yoga. (19)
19. Therefore, without attachment, constantly perform the action which should be done ; for, performing action without attachment, man reaches the Supreme.
 
A DESIRELESS PERSON  Such a person though outwardly he may behave like others, is internally steady, always absorbed in the meditation on the Supreme Self. Since he is in control of his sense-organs he is not afraid of sense-objects and nor does he avoid his duties. While he lets his action-organs do their task he is not affected by the resultant feelings. He is not influenced by delusion or by lust. Since outwardly he behaves like others, one cannot know his inner state. Such a person may be considered as liberated. Such a liberated person should be specifically called a yogi. Therefore Arjuna, be such a yogi and let your mind be quiet and free, and let the action organs do their duties. (Dnyaneshwari, 3:67- 76). 
 
2- Setting an example (20-35)
The wise should set an example to the masses. (20-24)
20. It was even by works that Janaka and the rest attained to perfection. Thou shouldst do works regarding also the holding together of the peoples.
 
ACTIONS AS AN EXAMPLE TO OTHERS There is another advantage gained by performing prescribed actions. When we do our duties, others note and follow and thereby they are saved from pitfalls. Particularly those who have attained Self-realisation and reached a perfectly desireless state should perform duties for the guidance of others even after Self-realisation. If a man of knowledge does not teach others by his actions then how will the ignorant understand and take to good path? It is natural for ordinary people emulate the actions of the big, thinking them to be the prescribed actions. Therefore one should not abandon one's duties. Especially the saints and similar persons must perform their duties. (Dnyaneshwari, 3: 153-159). 
 
For me, or for any other person who, knowing the Self, thus seeks the welfare of the world, there is nothing to do except it be with a view to that welfare of the world at large. (Judge, 3-25)
 
The wise man's action as contrasted with that of the ignorant. (25-29)
27. While the actions are being entirely done by the modes of Nature, he whose self is bewildered by egoism thinks that it is his "I" which is doing them.
 
How an aspirant for Moksha should do actions (30-32)
30. Giving up thy works to Me, with thy consciousness founded in the Self, free from desire and egoism, fight delivered from the fever of thy soul.
 
Influence of man's nature on his conduct. (33)
33. Even the man of knowledge acts in conformity with his own nature ; (all) beings follow (their) nature; what shall coercion avail?
 
Scope for man's personal exertion. (34-35)
35. Better is one's own law of works, swadharma, though in itself faulty than an alien law well wrought out; death in one's own law of being is better, perilous is it to follow an alien law.
 
IMPORTANCE OF DHARMA It is advantageous to practice one's own Dharma, however difficult, rather than that of others even if the latter may appear attractive. Would one demolish one's own thatched hut by comparing it to the white mansions of others? Similarly, even if one's Dharma is painful and difficult to practice, it is that which makes his afterlife happy. Therefore by taking into account his own benefit, one should not do actions which may befit others but not to himself. Even if one has to sacrifice one's life while practising Swadharma it is good because it will establish one's greatness in both the worlds. (Dnyaneshwari, 3: 219-229). 
 
3-Desire (36-43)
Desire is the enemy of man. (36-37)
37. The Lord said: This is desire and its companion wrath, children of rajas, all-devouring, all-polluting, know thou this as the soul's great enemy (which has to be slain).
 
Those who accept with respect this firm opinion of mine and behave according to it with faith will be free from the binding of their actions.  A wise person should never pamper the organs.  When the body is controlled by others why should one accumulate the fruits of actions for it.  Ordinarily, mind experiences pleasure when the organs are provided with the sense-objects. But just as the company of a robber is safe for a short time, only up to the village boundary, the lust residing in the organs leads them to depravity. The desire for sense-pleasures causes anger and destroys the intellect. Desire and anger are both extremely dangerous; therefore shed their company. Do not let the nectar of experience of the Self be spoilt by even the thought of desire and anger. (Dnyaneshwari, 3: 192-218). 
 
Desire enshrouds wisdom. (38-39)
39. Covered, O son of Kunti, is wisdom by this constant enemy of the wise, in the form of desire, which is greedy and insatiable.
 
The seat of desire. (40)
40. The senses, mind, and reason are said to be its seat ; veiling wisdom through these, it deludes the embodied.
 
Vow to kill out desire. (41-43)
43. Thus knowing Him who is superior to reason, subduing the self by the self, slay thou, O mighty-armed, the enemy in the form of desire, hard to conquer.
 
LOSING DESIRE AND ANGER LEAD TO SELF-REALIZATION Their original residence is in the sense-organs from where impetus for action originates. Therefore it is necessary to exercise control on the sense organs which will restrict your mind from the pleasure-seeking tendency. This will free your intellect and thus they will lose their support. Once a person loses anger and desire, the person will realise Brahman in whose bliss he will enjoy. This is the secret between a Guru and his disciple and it is also the union of the Self and the Brahman in which he remains stable perpetually. (Dnyaneshwari, 3:268-272) 
 
It is by means of the outward senses and their inner counterparts that a great turmoil is set up in the whole system, which spreads to the heart and from there to the mind, and, as it is elsewhere said: "The restless heart then snatches away the mind from its steady place." 
 
We thus have to carry on the cultivation of the soul by regular stages, never neglecting one part at the expense of another. Krishna advises his friend to restrain the senses, and then to "strengthen himself by himself." The meaning here is that he is to rely upon the One Consciousness which, as differentiated in a man, is his higher self. By means of this higher self he is to strengthen the lower, or that which he is accustomed to call "myself." 
 
The disciple must learn to do every act with the Divine in view, and the Divine in everything. Therefore let us think of him and fight; while entangled in this dense forest of existence, let us think of him, the Lion our guard, the Sage our guide, the Warrior our sure defense and shield. (Judge, 3, 41)