WHY GITA IS IMPORTANT TO US? NANGANALLUR J K SIVAN
KARMA, VIKARMA & AKARMA
We used to always say ”mind your work”. What do we mean by this order or instruction ? Doing some thing with half mind in it thus allowing rest of the mind to roam about will not achieve the good result for the work done. The mind should be fully in tune with the work done. It should involve in work. It is known as concentration on work. Engaging the mind fully in the work thus done is known as ‘Vikarma’ . Gita uses this name for advising us to involve our mind apply it in the work. .
Vikarma’ means the special karma which varies with the needs of each individual mind. Only when the mind is in tune with the outward action, the flame of desirelessness would be lighted.
Desirelessness is gradually developed when karma and vikarma come together. The body and the mind are two distinct entities; Employing both in the work we do is not easy. The desired goal can be reached only when both mind and body are in tune with each other.
Our experienced Rishis and saints have designed a twofold path to achieve harmony between them. One is Bhakthi yoga to train the mind to concentrate by doing Japa. Upavasam is not fasting , ie., being without eating food. Upa vasam means actually ‘‘to dwell close to God’. In order that our mind and heart may dwell close to God, sensual pleasures are to be abjured. But if we give up such pleasures and do not think of God, then there is no use in our fasting of what value is the physical act of fasting? If, instead of thinking of God, we think of things to eat and drink while fasting, that ‘fast’ would be worse than a feast! In fact, there is nothing more dangerous than thinking about sensual pleasures. Tantra (technique, means) must be accompanied by mantra (pondering over, meditation). Tantra in itself is not important; and mantra without action has no value. Only when the hands are engaged in service and there is spirit of service in the heart can true service be rendered.
5. Performance of swadharma will be a dreary affair without the warmth of feelings in the heart. It would not then blossom forth and bear the fruit of desirelessness. Suppose we undertake the work of nursing the sick. If there is no compassion in the heart, it would be a burdensome drudgery for us. The patients too will find the service to be a burdensome obligation. If the mind is not absorbed in it, such service will boost the ego. Expectations will then arise in the mind: “I am helping them today; tomorrow they should help me. They should praise me. People should admire me.” Or else, we may get fed up and complain that the patient is peevish and irritable even though we are taking so much care of him. Sick men are usually in a depressed and irritable mood. If the spirit of service is lacking, we would get tired of nursing them.
If the mind is in tune with the work, the work is transformed into something unique. When vikarma joins karma, desirelessness comes into being. When a spark touches the gunpowder, it explodes. Karma is like the gunpowder. It works wonders when the flame of vikarma ignites it. Karma in itself is inert and lifeless; it is the spark of vikarma that makes it indescribably powerful. We may keep a packet of gunpowder in our pockets or handle it with freedom from any adverse effect.
The infinite power in swadharma is likewise dormant. Combine it with vikarma, and then see what transformation it can bring about! The resultant explosion would reduce to ashes ego, desires, passions and anger, and then supreme wisdom will be attained.
When a log of wood is ignited, it turns into burning coal. How different is the fire from the log! But it is, after all, the log which has undergone this transformation. When vikarma is united with karma, karma attains a divine radiance. A mother’s action of caressing her child is apparently insignificant; but who can describe the upsurge of emotions it gives rise to in the hearts of both the mother and the child?
vikarma causes unprecedented joy. There is an incident in Tulsidas Ramayana. The Vanaras who fought the war against Ravanas’s demons they were wounded and bleeding badly. They suffered a good lot of pain. The moment Lord Rama just looked at them with love, and came near them all their pains vanished. So when the mind is attuned to work,ie., karma, vikarma makes it successful free from any impunity.
When Vikarma is combined with karma, a powerful explosion of energy erupts thus producing ”akarma”. For example a big log of wood, when burnt, turns into just a handful of harmless ash. In the same way karma, ignited by vikarma, ends up in producing akarma. Is there any relation between the properties of wood and that of the ash? Absolutely none. You can collect the ash in your hands and merrily smear it all over your body without harm. But there is no doubt that the ash has come out of the burning of that log of wood.
So, When vikarma is united with karma, akarma results. What does it mean? It means that one does not then have the feeling of having done anything. Action does not weigh on the mind of the actor. We act, but still we are not the doers. As the Gita says, you are not the slayer even if you slay somebody. A mother may give a thrashing to her child, but the child will still turn to her for solace., because the mother’s heart is pure. Her action is totally devoid of any self-interest. Vikarma, or the purity of mind, erases the ‘action-ness’ of the action. Infused with the inner vikarma,
In the aforesaid example Lord Rama’s action of looking at the vanaras became a sheer outpouring of love that acted as a balm on their wounds. But it did not tire Rama a bit. Action performed with pure heart is free from any attachment. There is, therefore, no question of any sin nor merit remaining as a residue after that action is over.
Otherwise, an action puts great burden and pressure on the mind and the heart. Just as the sea-waves dash against the shore and make channels into it, the forceful waves of karma enter the mind and agitate it. Dualities of pleasure and pain are created. Peace of the mind is lost. Even after the action is over, its momentum remains. It takes hold of the mind and makes it restless. But if karma is coupled with vikarma, any amount of action does not tire. The mind remains calm, peaceful and radiant. When vikarma is poured into karma, it becomes akarma. It is as if karma is erased after it is over. Krishna teaches this truth and secret to us through Arjuna.
