An Extract from Karma Yoga
- By Swami Vivekananda
We read in the Bhagawat-Gita again and again that we must all work incessantly. All work is by nature composed of good and evil. We cannot do any work which will not do some good somewhere; there cannot be any work which will not cause some harm somewhere. Every work must necessarily be a mixture of good and evil; yet we are commanded to work incessantly. Good and evil will both have their results, will produce their Karma.
Good action will entail upon us good effect; bad action, bad. But good and bad are both bondages of the soul. The solution reached in the Gita in regard to this bondage producing nature of work is that, if we do not attach ourselves to the work we do, it will not have any binding effect on our soul. We shall try to understand what is meant by this “non-attachment” to work.
This is the one central idea in the Gita: work incessantly, but be not attached to it. Samskara can be translated very nearly by “inherent tendency”. Using the smile of a lake for the mind, every ripple, every wave that rises in the mind, when it subsides, does not die out entirely, but leaves a mark and a future possibility of that wave coming out again. This mark, with the possibility of the wave reappearing, is what is called Samskara.
Every work that we do, every movement of the body, every thought that we think, leaves such an impression on the mind-stuff, and even when such impressions are not obvious on the surface, subconsciously. What we are every moment is determined by the sum total of these impressions on the mind.
What I am just at this moment is the effect of the sum total of all the impressions of my past life. This is really what is meant by character; each man’s character is determined by the sum total of these impressions. If good impressions prevail, the character becomes good; if bad, it becomes bad.
If a man continuously hears bad words, thinks bad thoughts, does bad actions, his mind will be full of bad impressions; and they will influence his thought and work without his being conscious of the fact. In fact, these bad impressions are always working, and their resultant must be evil, and that man will be a bad man; he cannot help it.
The sum total of these impressions in him will create the strong motive power for doing bad actions. He will be like a machine in the hands of his impressions, and they will force him to do evil. Similarly, if a man thinks good thoughts and does good works, the sum total of these impressions will be good; and they, in similar manner, will force him to do good even in spite of himself.
When a man has done so much good work and thought so many good thoughts that there is an irresistible tendency in him to do good, in spite of himself and even if he wishes to do evil, his mind, as the sum total of his tendencies, will not allow him to do so; the tendencies will turn him back; he is completely under the influence of the good tendencies.
When such is the case, a man’s good character is said to be established. You may place him in any company, there will be no danger for him.
There is a still higher state than having this good tendency, and that is the desire for liberation. You must remember that freedom of the soul is the goal of all Yogas, and each one equally leads to the same result. By work alone men may get to where Buddha got largely by meditation or Christ by prayer. Buddha was a working Jnani, Christ was a Bhakta(devotee), but the same goal was reached by both of them.
"If you are poor, work. If you are rich, work. If you are burdened with un-seemingly unfair responsibilities, work. If disappointments come, work. If sorrow overwhelms you and loved ones seem not true, work. If health is threatened, work. When dreams are shattered and hope seems dead, work. Work as if your life is in peril. Its really is. No matter what ails you, work. Work faithfully. Work in faith. Work is the great remedy available for both mental and physical afflictions.’
- Swami Vivekananda
Lord Krishna says, O son of Prtha, there is no work prescribed for Me
within all the three planetary systems. Nor am I in want of anything, nor have
I a need to obtain anything – and yet I am engaged in prescribed duties.
"Look at Me, Arjuna! If I stop from work for one moment, the whole universe
will die. I have nothing to gain from work; I am the one Lord,
but why do I work? Because I love the world."
- Bhagawat Gita
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