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Chapter 2
nehabhikramanaso'sti pratyavayo na vidyate
svalpamapyasya dharmasya trayate mahato bhayat
In this path (of selfless action), there is neither loss of effort, nor any adverse result Even a little practice of this discipline (dharma) protects one from great danger (of birth and death). 40
Comment:-
[Lord Krsna has explained the importance of disinterested action in the latter part of the thirty-ninth and this fortieth verse in four ways:-
- By it, one becomes free from shackles of actions.
- There is no loss in effort.
- There is no adverse result.
- Even a little practice of it (dharma) protects, one from great fear.]
Nehabhikramanuso'sti:-In this path of disinterested action, there is no loss of attempt viz., the partial practice of this Yoga (Discipline of Disinterested Action) has its corresponding benefit. The desire to attain equanimity is the beginning of equanimity. Such a beginning never gets wasted because desire for attaining the real is also real.
'Iha' (in this) means that in this world human beings are authorized to attain equanimity. All other bodies (births) are to enjoy worldly pains and pleasures, there is no opportunity for them to do away with attachment and aversion because pleasures can be enjoyed only by having attachment and aversion. If there are no attachment and aversion, no pleasure can be enjoyed and such actions will lead to spiritual discipline.
Pratyavayo na vidyate:-Actions which are performed with a desire for Emits, can give adverse result, if there is any error in the pronunciation of incantations, or in performing sacrifice, etc. Suppose, a man performs sacrifice, for the birth of a son, but if it is not performed according to scriptures, it might result in the death, of a member of the family, instead of blessing him with a son. Sometime, if the result is not quite contrary, it may be less harmful, as the son may be born crippled. But, one who performs actions, without having any desire for fruits, becomes equanimous and so there is no adverse result from his effort.
What is adverse result? Unevenness of mind, is an adverse result. Attachment and aversion, is uneven mindedness. This uneven-mindedness leads to a cycle of birth and death. But, when a man becomes equanimous, attachment and aversion, are rooted out and on annihilation of attachment and aversion, there is no unevenness of mind, and therefore any adverse result, is out of the question.
Svalpamapyasya dharmasya trayate mahata bhayat:-Even a little practice, of this discipline of disinterested action, which brings about equanimity, protects one from the great fear of birth and death. So unlike action for fruits, which ends after its fruits, it does not perish viz., its fruit is not wealth or property, which are perishable. Equanimity, which a striver attains, by facing favourable and unfavourable circumstances, gets fixed in him and becomes permanent. A devotee (striver), deviating from the path of Yoga, having enjoyed heavenly pleasures for many years and having taken birth in the houses of righteous persons, does not lose knowledge or even-mindedness gained, in his previous birth (Gita 6/40—45) because this knowledge or even-mindedness, is real.
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