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Chapter 18
CONCLUSION: RENUNCIATION OF THE FRUIT OF ACTIONS LEADS TO THE GRACE OF THE LORD
106. Fulfillment Is Nothing But The culmination Of Sadhana
19. In short, if you aspire for the fulfillment of your life, you should seek and catch hold of the principle of the renunciation of fruit of actions which will free you from all worries. It would show you the right path. This principle also tells us the bounds within which to act. When we have this guiding light with us, we shall know what to do, what to discard, what to change and when, and so on. 20. But now let us consider something different. Should the spiritual seeker have his attention riveted on the ultimate state marked by the complete cessation of activities? A jnani continues to act without doing any activity. Should a seeker have this aim in mind? No. Here too, the principle of renunciation of the fruit should be applied. Our life is so wonderfully fashioned that we would get what we want even without paying any attention to it. Moksha (the state of oneness with the Supreme) is the highest fulfillment of life. But one must not be greedy even for moksha, or the state of akarma. That state would be reached without one being aware of it. Sannyasa is not something that can happen at some particular moment. It is not something mechanical. You will not even notice how it grows in your life. Let us not therefore worry about moksha. 21. A bhakta always says to the Lord, “Bhakti is enough for me. I do not have desire for moksha, the ultimate fruit of sadhana.” After all, moksha too is a kind of fruit—something that is to be enjoyed—and it too must be renounced. But when we renounce moksha, it will not move away from us; rather, attainment of moksha will become more certain. When you give up the hope of attaining moksha, you will advance towards it without your being aware of it. Let sadhana be done with such single-minded dedication that there is no thought of moksha in the mind; then moksha itself will seek you on its own accord. Let the seeker be totally immersed in his sadhana. The Lord had already said, ‘मा ते संगोऽस्त्वकर्मणि।’ ‘You should not covet the state of akarma, or moksha’). Now He is again saying in the end, ‘अहं त्वा सर्वपापेभ्यो मोक्षयिष्यामि मा शुचः।’ (‘I shall release you from all sins; be not grieved.’)[1] —‘I, the bestower of moksha is here; forget about moksha and be concerned about your sadhana.’ Sadhana will attain perfection when you forget moksha, and then moksha will itself be attracted to you. Moksha-Lakshmi garlands him who is not concerned about her and is fully absorbed in his sadhana without any thought of moksha in his mind[2]. |
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