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Chapter 3 '
Link:-Has there been any person who attained perfection (God-realization) through the performance of action, without attachment? The Lord answers the question in the next verse.
karmanaiva hi samsiddhimasthita janakadayah
lokasangrahamevapi sampasyankartumarhasi
It was by action alone, that Janaka and others attained perfection. Than should perform selfless action, also for the good of the world. 20
Comment:-
Karmanaiva hi samsiddhimasthita janakadayah:-The term 'adi' stands for, 'beginning' as well as, 'like'. Here the former meaning does not apply because before Janaka, there had been great souls like Vivasvan, Vaivasvata Maim and king lksvaku, who had attained perfection through the performance of action (Gita 411-2). Therefore, here it is used in the latter sense which means that some great souls like Janaka, before and after him, leading householder's life attained salvation by action.
This Discipline of Action is very old. By this discipline, Janaka and several other great souls have all its anyone at present or in all ts to realize God through the path of action, he without regarding the body and the objects as his own, should apply these in the service of the world by considering these as the world's. In fact, they belong to the world. By doing so one's affinity with the world is easily renounced and God is attained. Therefore, the Discipline of Action is an easy, good and independent means to realize God.
Here the expression, 'Karmana eva' stands for the expression 'Asakto hyicarankarma' i.e., performance of action without attachment. By performing the actions thus, a man is liberated from their bondage otherwise he is enslaved (Mahn., Santi. 241/7).
It is the characteristic of the style of the Gita, that the Lord briefly repeats the main idea of the preceding verse in the next one also, which is of great help to a striver. Performance of action without attachment explained in the preceding verse, is explained in brief in this verse by the expression 'Karmana eva'. Similarly, He will explain the main point, described in the sixth verse of the twelfth chapter, again in the seventh verse in brief, in the expression, "Whose mind is set on Me".
Here the Lord instead of the expresssion 'Karmany eva', could have used the expression 'Yogena eva'. But here the topic is of the performance of action without attachment. Therefore, the Lord has used this expression, which suits the context.
In fact, the sentient Lord cannot be realized through insentient actions alone. The stumbling block to God-realization is removed through the performance of action, without attachment. Then the all-pervading God is realized.
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