Talks on the Gita -Vinoba 14

Chapter 2 THE TEACHING IN BRIEF: SELF-KNOWLEDGE AND EQUANIMITY 8.The Way To Harmonise The Two Principles: Renunciation Of The Fruit Of Actions 13. The Lord has no doubt enunciated the principles of life. But this, in itself, does not serve the purpose. These principles were already there in the Upanishads and the Smritis. To restate them is not the Gita’s unique contribution; that lies in its explaining how these principles are to be translated into practice. It is in solving this great problem that the ingenuity of the Gita lies. Yoga means nothing but the art of translating the principles of life into practice. The word ‘sankhya’ means principles or science while ‘yoga’ means art of translating it into practice. Jnanadeva’s saying, ‘योगियां साधली जीवनकळा।’ (‘The yogis have mastered the art of living’), proclaims this as an experiential fact. The Gita includes both sankhya and yoga, the science and art respectively; and has thus achieved completeness and perfection. When science and art unite, the beauty of life blossoms into its fullness. Science, by itself, remains on an abstract level. One may know the theory of music, but only when one has mastered the art of singing, the many-splendoured beauty of nadbrahma (the Supreme Truth revealed in the sound of music) comes to life. That is why the Lord has taught not only the principles, but also the art of applying them to life. What then is this art—the art of practising swadharma and realising that the body is of little worth and that the Self is imperishable and indivisible? Behind a man’s action there are generally two types of attitude. One of them is: ‘If I do something, I shall definitely enjoy the fruit of my actions; I am entitled to it.’ The second attitude is: ‘I shall not act at all if I am not going to enjoy the fruit of my actions.’ The Gita prescribes an altogether different attitude. It says: ‘You must, of course, act; but do not have any claim over the fruit of your actions’. One who acts is certainly entitled to enjoy the fruit of one’s actions, but one should voluntarily give up that right. Rajas says, “I shall act only if I am going to enjoy the fruit of my actions.” Tamas says, “If I am not going to enjoy the fruit, I shall not act at all.” These attitudes are like two sides of the same coin; there is nothing to choose between them. One should go beyond both of them and adopt pure sattva; one should act and then relinquish the fruits of actions; and act without any claim over them. The desire for the fruit should never be there, either before or after the action.