The Gita according to Gandhi 132

The Gita according to Gandhi -Mahadev Desai

DELUSION DESTROYED (Discourse 18) The eighteenth discourse recapitulates the teaching of the Gita, We have had tyaga (abandonment) and sannyasa (renunciation) mentioned over and over again. In answer to Arjuna's question Lord Krishna explains the distinction that is ordinarily made between the two and shows that it is really a distinction without a difference when one considers the essence of both. The ordinary belief, of course, means by sannyasa the renunciation of all action springing from desire, and since according to those who hold that belief there is no action but springs from desire, all action must be abandoned as tainted at its source and, therefore, binding. There are some who would make an exception in favour of the three purifying principles of sacrifice, austerity and charity. Lord Krishna's considered opinion is that what determines the nature of all action is not its outward expression, but the spirit in which it is done, the taint attaches not to the action as such but to the selflessness and attachment at the back of it.