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Chapter 17
PROGRAMME FOR THE SEEKER
96. Making Sadhana Sattvik
10. But, when could we dedicate our actions to the Lord? Only when they become sattvik. Yajna-dana-tapas—all must be sattvik. In the Fourteenth Chapter, we saw the principle of making our actions sattvik. In this Chapter, the Gita tells us how that principle is to be applied. 11. The Gita is doing this with a dual purpose. The service that is being outwardly rendered to the world in the form of yajna-dana-tapas should inwardly become spiritual sadhana. Service of the world and spiritual sadhana should not need two different courses of action. They, in fact, are not two different things. For both, the efforts made, the actions performed are the same. Such actions are to be dedicated to the Lord in the end. The yoga that combines service, spiritual discipline and dedication to the Lord should be realised by a single activity. 12. Two things are necessary to make yajna sattvik. There should not be any desire for the fruit, but the actions must result in some fruit. If there is desire for the fruit, yajna will be rajasik; if it is fruitless, it will be tamasik. Spinning is a yajna. But if you do not pour your soul into it, if there is no concentration of the mind, spinning will be a lifeless and mechanical work. If there is no cooperation from the mind, the work will not be methodical and scientific. Unscientific work becomes lifeless. Tamas creeps into such work. Such work cannot create something excellent. It cannot yield any fruit. Yajna should be desireless, but it must yield the best possible fruit. If the mind is not in the work, if you have not poured your heart and soul in it, it becomes a burden. How can it then yield the best fruit? If outward work gets spoilt, it is a sure indication of the lack of cooperation from the mind. Therefore, take to work from the bottom of your heart, and have cooperation from your mind. We must work for the best possible returns to repay the debt due to creation. Cooperation from the mind is the systematic way to ensure that the work does yield some fruit. |
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