# 16: Bhagavad Gita Class by Swami Tadatmananda - Ch.2 Verse 47

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJ_gm4tk4Yw

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[01:03] Welcome back to our weekly Bhagavad-Gita class.
[01:07] We continue our study in chapter 2.
[01:12] And we take up in earnest the topic of karma yoga starting with today's class.
[01:16] We'll begin with some recitation as always, beginning with verse 44.
[01:21] Please glance at the translation as I'm chanting and then receive a repeat after me.
[01:44] [Music]
[05:11] That's a good place to conclude our chanting.
[05:15] We'll return, we've came right up to and didn't begin oops verse 40.
[05:25] One too far, sorry, let me get back here.
[05:31] Uh sorry, there we go.
[05:35] So the Shri Krishna has been introducing karma yoga in the last several verses.
[05:42] And he made it very clear that karma yoga is not the performance of rituals, as we discussed.
[05:50] The word karma in ancient times meant vedica karma, vedic rituals.
[05:57] So Sri Krishna wants to make it very clear karma yoga is not the performance of vedic rituals.
[06:04] In fact, as you saw, he's quite critical about an over emphasis on the performance of rituals.
[06:12] Then we also discussed how karma yoga is not merely doing your duties.
[06:18] I don't know how people got that idea.
[06:21] Merely doing your duties is like the minimum requirement to be a good person.
[06:25] It doesn't make you a sadica spiritual aspirant.
[06:31] Also, as you know, many people do their duties and go on complaining all the time.
[06:37] Oh, I've got to do this, I've got so much to do, I've got no time.
[06:40] Well, to do your duties with that attitude is certainly not karma yoga.
[06:49] In fact, as we discussed before and as we're going to see today, karma yoga is not what you do.
[06:56] Karma yoga is the attitude with which you do whatever it is you do.
[07:02] And that attitude in particular is meant to transform your ordinary activities into a spiritual.
[07:12] Practice that really is so simply what karma yoga is.
[07:16] Karma yoga is a set of attitudes, not just one.
[07:21] There are several.
[07:22] Karma yoga is a set of attitudes which you can adopt and thereby transform your ordinary day-to-day activities into a kind of spiritual practice.
[07:39] And note that our ordinary day-to-day activities are driven by raga and duisha as we discussed before.
[07:46] Raga is literally they translated as passion or desire, but it is a drive.
[07:57] The definition we've used here: a compulsion.
[08:01] That's a very nice word.
[08:05] Raga is a compulsion to chase after anything that you think will give you pleasure.
[08:12] Duesha is also a compulsion.
[08:16] A compulsion to run away anything that you think might deprive you of pleasure or cause you suffering.
[08:26] Our conventional day-to-day activities are driven by raga and dwisha.
[08:32] These two compulsions to go towards something, to run away from something.
[08:36] So karma yoga, in the most basic understanding, is a set of attitudes through which you remove that compulsivity of raga and dwisha which motivate actions.
[08:56] And replace it with a whole new set of attitudes and motivations which we're going to see in the next few verses.
[09:03] So let us begin with, um, already on the screen, the most widely quoted verse in the Bhagavad-gita.
[09:13] Is perhaps this one and it also happens to be the most widely mistranslated verse which we'll discuss in just a moment.
[09:34] So
[09:38] [Music]
[09:56] We'll see the mistranslation right at the beginning.
[10:09] That's the word that gets mistranslated almost always you see it not.
[10:13] Almost always too often you'll see it
[10:16] Translated as
[10:18] Right, you have adhikara
[10:22] A right, karma eva
[10:25] We have to break the words apart
[10:27] You have a right over
[10:29] Karma actions eva alone
[10:32] Ma palaishu, but you have no adhikara
[10:36] You have no
[10:37] Right palais ma no, you have no
[10:42] Ma adi, you have no right
[10:45] Palaishu towards the result of your
[10:48] Actions
[10:50] At any at any time
[10:54] So
[10:54] Or ma kada chana
[10:57] You never have adikata a
[11:00] Right to your to the pala
[11:03] To the fruits of your actions to to to
[11:07] Uh paraphrase the mistranslation
[11:11] You have a right to your actions
[11:14] You never have a right to the results of your actions.
[11:19] I've never even understood what that means.
[11:22] To have a right to actions or rights of the results, and the confusion here has to do with the fact that adhi khadr is a very common word in Hindi, and very often that Hindi meaning is used here.
[11:40] By the way, let me make this comment: I think no knowledge of Hindi is a great advantage, a blessing in coming to a Sanskrit text like this, because so many Hindi words are derived directly from Sanskrit.
[11:59] So knowledge of Hindi — many of you know Hindi — so knowledge of Hindi is a great benefit most of the time.
[12:08] In a few places where the Hindi meaning is very different from the Sanskrit meaning, you get in trouble.
[12:16] And this is one of the places where you get in trouble.
[12:19] Where you were to use the Hindi meaning adhikar, so many you like in Hindi movies you see an actor say, "That's my right."
[12:36] Well, that's fine in a Hindi movie.
[12:38] This is a Bhagavad-gita, and it's in Sanskrit, so let's get the correct meaning.
[12:44] The Sanskrit meaning here, adhikara, it's a little complex.
[12:51] I can't think of a single word, but it means a scope of authority, an area over which you're in charge, you have control.
[13:06] I don't think there's any one English word that has those meanings, but that's a good meaning here.
[13:11] Adhikara is a scope of authority, an area over which you have control.
[13:19] So therefore with that correct meaning in mind, we can make sense out of this first half.
[13:25] It says Sri Krishna advises Arjuna: for you, Arjuna, you have adhikara.
[13:35] You have a scope of authority over what? Karma eva — towards your actions alone.
[13:45] To simplify it a little bit, to make it clear: you have control over your actions alone, ma pala kadachana.
[13:55] But never at any time do you have control over the results.
[14:02] Now, adhikara doesn't mean control, but in this context, scope of authority — an area over which you have control.
[14:13] So in our paraphrase, we can use that word control.
[14:19] So you have control over your actions; you have no control over the results.
[14:22] Control over the results that is such a that's a much more accurate and meaningful translation than to say you you have rights over actions etc.
[14:37] There are no rights over your actions.
[14:41] So that of course now we we have to understand this a little further.
[14:46] This is a reference of course to the doctrine of karma.
[14:52] We kind of sidestepped a detailed explanation of the doctrine of karma.
[14:56] But here to understand this verse we have to at least pick up some crucial elements of that doctrine of karma.
[15:03] You have control over your actions.
[15:08] You have no control over the results.
[15:11] So let me illustrate it.
[15:13] Dropping this pen is my karma my action and i have control over dropping this pen.
[15:20] I can choose when i drop it i can drop
[15:23] It now or I can hold on to it longer.
[15:27] I have control with regard to the action of dropping it.
[15:33] But once I release the pen, do I have any control over the result of dropping it?
[15:39] You see, my adhikara, my scope of authority, ends when I drop the pen.
[15:49] Once I've dropped the pen, I have no adhikara.
[15:51] I have no control over what happens to the pen whatsoever.
[15:56] Of course, we know according to the law of gravity it falls downwards, but I have no control over that.
[16:05] It's not in my hands.
[16:08] It's all due to the force of gravity, the law of gravity, one of several laws that govern the universe, along with the laws of karma.
[16:19] We need to explore this first of all.
[16:26] This is a big topic, and by the way, this is such an important verse we may spend the majority of this class on this one verse.
[16:40] This verse deserves that kind of attention.
[16:40] So look at this: I control dropping the pen.
[16:44] I have control over the action of dropping the pen.
[16:48] I have no control over the results.
[16:52] Who's in control of results?
[16:56] I'm in control of the action.
[16:59] Then who is in control of the results anyway?
[17:02] Who is a funny question.
[17:02] You know what's happening according to the law of gravity?
[17:08] Fine, law of gravity is whose law?
[17:12] Who established the law of gravity?
[17:19] Whose intelligence and intelligence infused in the universe that gives order to the universe?
[17:26] Whose intelligence is that?
[17:30] You know the answer to that question.
[17:32] Is God the creator, sustainer, destroyer of the universe?
[17:37] It is Ishvara's intelligence.
[17:40] Ishwara's intelligent order is a term my guru love to use.
[17:46] According to Ishwara's intelligent order, the universe functions, and gravity is certainly part of Ishwara's intelligent order.
[17:57] So in a manner of speaking, we could say that gravity is an expression of Ishwara's intelligence.
[18:08] This is a really important teaching.
[18:10] Think about that just for a moment before we go on.
[18:11] Gravity is the law of nature.
[18:16] Nature is Ishwara's creation, and nature functions according to Ishwara's intelligence.
[18:24] So it is absolutely appropriate to say that the
[18:28] Law of gravity is a manifestation of Ishmael's intelligence.
[18:35] With that in mind, in a manner of speaking, we could say that I have control over dropping the pen.
[18:44] And then Ishwara has control over how it falls.
[18:51] You get it now, right?
[18:53] This is what this first half of the verse is talking about.
[18:55] Harmony.
[18:59] You have control over your actions.
[19:02] You have no control over the results because the results are not in your hand.
[19:08] The results are in Ishvara's hands.
[19:15] There's an important expression we use for Ishvara when teaching the nature of Ishvara in Advaita Vedanta.
[19:26] We say that Ishvara is the karma.
[19:30] Pala data karma, you know.
[19:33] Karmapala, the results of actions, you know that.
[19:37] Karma palada, the giver, the giver of the fruits of your actions, the giver of the results.
[19:47] So, my karma is to drop the pen.
[19:52] The palla is given not by me.
[19:56] The palla is determined or given by ishvara.
[20:04] So, this is okay.
[20:07] There's another important aspect of this.
[20:10] But before we get into that second aspect, let's just talk about how that orientation, that attitude, the attitude of understanding your limitations.
[20:27] You have no control over the outcome of a situation, you only...
[20:31] Have control over the action when I, when I use that expression.
[20:36] Outcome, I think about medical doctors, think about surgeons.
[20:39] A surgeon goes into an operating theater and performs a really complicated, delicate surgery like the so-called open heart surgery where they, pardon my language, they fix your plumbing.
[20:58] They take veins out of your legs, uh, and replace the clogged arteries around your heart with those veins.
[21:07] It's like a plumbing job except the, the what you're working with are so delicate.
[21:13] I, I, my mind is boggled by the skill the surgeons must have.
[21:21] Here's the point.
[21:26] Surgeons know very well that every surgery they perform.
[21:33] May or may not have a good outcome.
[21:36] Now the surgeon is highly skilled.
[21:39] Tremendously skilled.
[21:41] But even the best surgeon in the planet cannot ensure the proper, the desired outcome.
[21:53] I think surgeons are smart enough and humble enough to know that what's in their hands is the details of the plumbing job, if we can call it that.
[22:09] But once they've done their plumbing work, the outcome is no longer in their hands.
[22:18] The doctor may say it depends on the patient's state of health, the patient's ability to recover from the surgery.
[22:29] Of course, the patient's ability to recover from the surgery.
[22:33] would be according to the laws of nature, would it not?
[22:40] The patient's ability to heal and recover, these are natural forces healing and recovery.
[22:48] So therefore we can definitely say that the surgery is in the surgeon's skillful hands, but the outcome of the surgery is in Yeshua's hands, in the form of the laws of nature, which enable the patient to heal and recover.
[23:09] You get the idea now.
[23:12] This is just the first part of a series of teachings which are meant to change our attitudes towards what we do.
[23:24] And that change of attitude is what karma yoga is all about, as I said, and the goal is to...
[23:33] on is to free us
[23:37] from the compulsivity of raga and dwisha
[23:41] so let us see how this particular
[23:44] teaching can help
[23:45] free us from raga does we chase after
[23:48] we're compelled
[23:50] to chase after what we want we're
[23:52] compelled to run away from what we don't
[23:54] want
[23:55] that compulsion is based on
[23:58] a false sense
[24:02] of competence now what do i mean by that
[24:05] a
[24:05] false sense of competence
[24:08] full sense of competence means we assume
[24:12] we can get what we want we assume
[24:16] we can avoid what we don't want we
[24:20] assume
[24:21] that we are competent to create
[24:25] the desired result
[24:29] well what does this verse say the verse
[24:31] says that you're not
[24:33] competent in fact competent is another
[24:35] not exactly
[24:36] synonym for adhikara but a related word
[24:40] you have you have competence with regard
[24:44] to
[24:45] your actions but you have no competence
[24:48] to
[24:48] produce a desired result but we
[24:52] all labor under the false illusion
[24:55] [Music]
[24:57] that we're in charge of our lives
[25:00] isn't it so we think we're in charge of
[25:03] our lives of course
[25:04] all it takes is a sudden illness or a
[25:07] traffic accident or something comes
[25:09] along
[25:10] and suddenly we get
[25:13] kicked in the pants as they say in
[25:15] american english
[25:16] and we get brought to our senses that
[25:18] we're not
[25:20] truly in complete control of our lives
[25:24] we are in control of our actions we are
[25:27] not
[25:28] in control of results now this is what
[25:31] sri krishna is teaching
[25:32] arjuna in the first half of the verse
[25:35] and teaching
[25:36] all of us of course we're we're like
[25:39] looking over arjuna's shoulder as sri
[25:42] krishna is talking to
[25:43] arjuna in a chariot we are receiving the
[25:47] benefit of all the
[25:48] all those teachings and here
[25:51] by recognizing
[25:54] our own limitations by recognizing that
[25:58] we
[25:59] only can control our actions
[26:02] by recognizing that we have no control
[26:05] over the result so we cannot we do not
[26:08] have the competency to produce
[26:11] the results we want this is the
[26:14] first step towards breaking free from
[26:18] that compulsivity
[26:21] that compulsivity to chase after what we
[26:23] want and run away from what we don't
[26:25] want
[26:25] raga and dwisha that compulsivity is
[26:29] based on his false
[26:31] sense of competency but when we get it
[26:35] that we're not in control of everything
[26:37] we're not
[26:38] gods of our lives that
[26:41] weakens the compulsion
[26:44] that's one of many steps
[26:48] let me the wrong word one of many
[26:51] teachings associated with karma yoga
[26:55] one of many attitudes associated with
[26:58] karma yoga
[26:59] that that we are not fully in control
[27:03] of our lives of course closely related
[27:06] to that
[27:06] is if we're not in complete control
[27:10] who is that brings in
[27:14] ishvara and that brings in
[27:17] a prayerful attitude
[27:20] towards our actions watch how this works
[27:24] when we're engaged in i'll go back to
[27:27] that surgeon example i think
[27:28] it's a it's good when that surgeon goes
[27:31] into the operating
[27:33] theater the surgeon does the best he or
[27:35] she
[27:36] can do in the operating theater
[27:40] but then having done it he or she
[27:43] recognizes the result is not in his or
[27:46] her hands
[27:48] and if if the if the surgeon is a hindu
[27:52] and by the way
[27:53] there are so many especially in the
[27:55] united states
[27:56] there are so many doctors of indian
[27:59] origin including
[28:01] surgeons so might might be that the
[28:03] surgeon is indeed hindu
[28:05] that hindu doctor leaving the operating
[28:09] theater may say a prayer hey bhagavan oh
[28:13] god
[28:14] i've done the best i can do to help this
[28:17] patient
[28:18] to help this patient go on living i've
[28:20] done the best i could
[28:22] i can do now everything
[28:25] else is in your hands because that hindu
[28:30] doctor would recognize
[28:32] ishwara is the karma pala
[28:35] data the giver the fruits of the results
[28:40] that attitude
[28:43] introduces a prayerful dimension
[28:48] into everything we do suppose these
[28:51] teachings
[28:51] sink in to such an extent
[28:55] that you are constantly alert
[28:59] to the fact that whatever you do
[29:03] the results are not in your hands
[29:05] results are in
[29:06] ishmael's hands immediately
[29:10] that shift of understanding will lead to
[29:13] a
[29:14] prayerful attitude towards whatever you
[29:18] do
[29:18] you will constantly have the sense that
[29:21] i am doing the best i can
[29:25] and the rest is in bhagavan's hands
[29:28] in god's hands that prayerful
[29:32] attitude can be present
[29:36] in everything you do so that
[29:39] that doctor may have a prayerful
[29:42] attitude
[29:43] but wherever you are and whatever you're
[29:45] doing
[29:46] if you're in a business meeting you can
[29:49] do the best you can in the meeting
[29:51] making a presentation
[29:53] in a business meeting you make the best
[29:56] presentation you can
[29:58] then you realize the rest is in
[30:02] god's hands and you have that sense in
[30:04] your heart
[30:06] that the rest is in god's hands and you
[30:08] have that
[30:09] prayerful sense pray the broadest sense
[30:12] of prayer by the way
[30:14] is any any time that you've you connect
[30:18] yourself to ishwara prayer the most
[30:21] fundamental sense
[30:22] is being connected to ishwara
[30:26] so here recognizing ishwara as the karma
[30:30] paladatta as the giver the fruits of
[30:32] your actions
[30:33] that's a connection that prayerful
[30:36] connection
[30:37] well suppose that prayerful connection
[30:40] is present
[30:41] in every single thing you do so you give
[30:44] your presentation at work
[30:46] the results are in ishwara's hands
[30:49] you get into your car to drive home
[30:52] whether or not you reach home or not
[30:56] isn't ishwara's hands suppose you
[30:58] thought about that when you started your
[31:00] car
[31:02] this i'm giving in very concrete
[31:06] practical terms what karma yoga is
[31:09] and moment-to-moment life day-to-day
[31:11] life when you
[31:13] turn that key first of all
[31:16] whether or not your car starts is not
[31:19] in your hands so when the when the
[31:22] engine
[31:22] starts you can say pray oh thank you god
[31:26] when i was a young college student i had
[31:28] a car that was so old
[31:31] i never knew when it would start and
[31:33] when it wouldn't and there were plenty
[31:35] of times it didn't start
[31:37] your car is probably in better shape
[31:39] than that but my point
[31:41] is is that the car starts due to laws of
[31:44] nature
[31:46] whose laws are those laws of nature
[31:50] part of ishwara's intelligent order and
[31:53] they have that
[31:54] constant appreciation
[31:57] of israel's intelligent order is one of
[32:00] the
[32:00] crucial aspects of this attitude of
[32:03] karma yoga
[32:04] so the car starts and you have that
[32:07] sense that this is part of
[32:08] ishwara's order whether or not you reach
[32:11] home
[32:12] by the way that's what we have to talk
[32:14] about now whether or not you reach home
[32:16] is in ishwara's order also
[32:20] whatever happens in the isn't ishwara's
[32:23] order but now we have a little bit more
[32:26] complexity here
[32:29] getting home
[32:32] as as you understand you may not reach
[32:36] home
[32:37] if there is an accident
[32:42] and we're not i don't think anyone would
[32:45] say
[32:46] well actually people would say here here
[32:48] we we just have to stop
[32:50] and understand something about the
[32:52] doctrine of karma
[32:55] yes the karma paladata
[33:00] but that karma pala
[33:03] is of two kinds and this we have to
[33:06] appreciate and this is what
[33:08] this is a very important topic an aspect
[33:11] of the doctrine of karma
[33:12] that we have to understand in fact shri
[33:15] krishna addresses it directly in the
[33:17] last quarter of this verse we'll see
[33:19] in just a few minutes before we go there
[33:22] let's
[33:23] go back to this pen thing just to allow
[33:25] me to
[33:26] explain it in some very simple terms
[33:30] so
[33:34] when i drop the pen i make
[33:38] an effort the
[33:43] yeah i'll give this i'll give you the
[33:45] sanskrit words in just a moment
[33:47] so i drop the pen i make an effort
[33:51] now is the result
[33:56] due to my effort alone
[34:00] or are there other factors involved and
[34:04] this is where the
[34:05] doctrine of karma comes in there could
[34:08] be other factors involved
[34:11] um for example if there were a strong
[34:14] wind blowing and i dropped the pen it
[34:17] may go the other way or just to make up
[34:21] a bizarre example
[34:22] suppose as i drop the pen there's an
[34:25] earthquake
[34:27] and physically everything moves to the
[34:30] side
[34:30] and the pen also moves to the side
[34:34] i'm bizarre i know but you get the point
[34:37] other factors that could could interfere
[34:41] so
[34:41] an earthquake is not so and
[34:45] wind maybe we'll stay with the wind it's
[34:48] a little bit easier to understand
[34:50] a strong wind is blowing
[34:54] well wind is natural right
[34:57] part of ishwara's natural order so just
[35:00] as gravity is one force
[35:04] acting on append pen wind
[35:07] is another force acting on on the
[35:10] pen but wind may be a factor we don't
[35:14] anticipate
[35:15] gravity we can anticipate wind we
[35:18] may not anticipate now there's
[35:22] yet another hidden
[35:26] hidden factor here in in science they
[35:28] call them hidden variables
[35:32] and hidden variables are present
[35:35] all the time without us
[35:38] even being aware of it
[35:42] let me let me share with you my my guru
[35:45] loved
[35:45] this example of hidden variables he
[35:48] gives the example of
[35:50] crossing the street and he observed that
[35:53] crossing the street
[35:56] due to hidden variables no no no no
[35:58] excuse me
[36:00] crossing the street to catch the bus i
[36:02] have to remember
[36:04] his example you cross the street to
[36:06] catch the bus
[36:08] and he said that there are four
[36:11] possible outcomes of that situation
[36:15] based on hidden variables what are those
[36:17] four possible outcomes
[36:19] one is you cross the street and you
[36:20] catch the bus
[36:22] good another is you cross the street and
[36:26] before you get on the bus it pulls away
[36:29] another possibility is is
[36:33] actually i i'll have to let me let me
[36:36] change the order
[36:38] you cross the street and you catch the
[36:40] bus option one you get what you want
[36:43] another possibility is as you cross the
[36:45] street a friend of yours is in a car
[36:48] he says get in i'll give you a ride hey
[36:50] that's good
[36:51] so first possibility is you get what you
[36:54] want
[36:55] second possibility is you get more than
[36:57] what you want
[36:59] third possibility i as i said you cross
[37:02] the street and a bus pulls away
[37:03] you get less than what you want so you
[37:07] can get what you want you can get
[37:08] more than what you want you get a ride
[37:10] you get less than what you want the bus
[37:13] pulls away
[37:14] or you can get the opposite of what you
[37:18] want
[37:18] what is that you're halfway across the
[37:21] street
[37:23] something happens and you wake up in a
[37:25] hospital bed
[37:28] the opposite of what you want this is to
[37:31] demonstrate the fact that there are
[37:34] hidden
[37:34] variables in every situation
[37:38] which prevent us from knowing in advance
[37:42] what will be the outcome so here i'm
[37:45] giving the example of dropping the pen
[37:49] and and one possible hidden variable
[37:52] could be wind
[37:54] now let me give you another very bizarre
[37:57] hidden variable suppose yesterday
[38:02] i can't think of a nice example and this
[38:05] is not a nice example but
[38:07] bear with me suppose yesterday i
[38:11] did something very hurtful to someone
[38:15] and that person is extremely hurt and
[38:18] unfortunately
[38:19] the person is also mentally ill
[38:23] and suppose today that mentally ill
[38:25] person
[38:26] comes into the ashram and as i'm about
[38:29] to
[38:30] drop the pen that mentally ill person
[38:32] shoots me dead
[38:34] i'm i apologize for the for the metaphor
[38:37] but what a
[38:41] clear example of
[38:44] a hidden variable
[38:48] brought about by my
[38:51] own prior action
[38:54] this is we're getting into another
[38:56] dimension of the doctrine of karma
[38:59] my action yesterday
[39:03] of hurting that person emotionally
[39:07] had a delayed consequence
[39:11] and these delayed consequences we
[39:13] understand
[39:14] as being part of the doctrine
[39:18] of karma so the point i'm making here
[39:23] is that we perform an action and the
[39:28] result of the action
[39:31] is based not merely on the laws of
[39:35] nature but also
[39:39] based on the laws of karma
[39:44] this is the point the outcome of any
[39:46] action
[39:48] is partially based on laws of nature
[39:52] and partially based on laws of
[39:55] karma in both cases
[39:58] the laws of nature are israel's laws
[40:02] the laws of karma are ishvara's laws
[40:07] so therefore israel is the karma
[40:10] paladatta
[40:12] ishwara gives you the result of your
[40:14] actions
[40:16] based on laws of nature
[40:19] and laws of karma
[40:22] i apologize for the example i i wish i
[40:25] had come up with a nicer one
[40:27] that one was was unpleasant
[40:30] okay now there's there's more
[40:34] more here so uh
[40:38] after giving in the first half the basic
[40:42] instruction some further instructions
[40:44] come here
[40:45] to arjuna ma karma pala
[40:49] haitur bhuhu
[41:01] means cause and in this case
[41:05] karma palaheitu means karmapala data
[41:08] giver don't think you are the heito the
[41:11] cause for karmapala
[41:13] don't think you are the data the giver
[41:16] of karmapala
[41:17] means have the intelligence and humility
[41:20] to know
[41:21] that once you've committed an action
[41:24] the results are not in your hands
[41:29] and but
[41:32] in conventional life we we talked about
[41:35] the
[41:35] illusion of competency that
[41:39] illusion of competency is what sri
[41:41] krishna is warning against here
[41:43] don't think you are the god of your life
[41:46] you are the master
[41:48] of your life yes you are in control
[41:51] of your actions your decisions
[41:54] but that's where your control comes to
[41:57] an end
[41:58] have the intelligence and humility to
[42:01] recognize
[42:02] that the results of any and all actions
[42:05] you commit
[42:06] the results are not in your hands
[42:08] results are in
[42:09] ishmael's hands and finally
[42:14] mate
[42:19] and we have to break break the words
[42:22] apart here
[42:24] for you arjuna
[42:28] connect those two words may there not be
[42:32] ma us too may there not be for you
[42:34] arjuna may there not be any
[42:37] sangha attachment
[42:40] attachment to what a
[42:44] may there not be any attachment to
[42:47] inaction
[42:48] now when you read this the meaning may
[42:50] not come to you very clearly what does
[42:52] it mean
[42:53] may arjuna don't think that you are the
[42:57] god of your life
[42:58] don't think that you are the karma
[43:00] paladata
[43:01] have the intelligence and humility to
[43:03] know that you are the
[43:05] author of your actions that's a word
[43:07] that's often used
[43:08] you are the author of your actions you
[43:11] are not the author of the results
[43:13] again adikata doesn't mean author but
[43:16] that word gives you the right sense
[43:18] you are the author of your actions
[43:21] you are not the author of the results
[43:25] but then then he concludes by saying oh
[43:28] also arjuna don't don't be a
[43:31] don't be attached to inaction
[43:35] don't be drawn into
[43:38] passivity and now we have to understand
[43:42] why is sri krishna saying that he's
[43:45] saying that because of a common
[43:48] misunderstanding of the doctrine of
[43:50] karma
[43:51] and that common misunderstanding is that
[43:55] whatever is going to happen
[43:58] is in each with his hands so if whatever
[44:02] is going to happen is in each of his
[44:04] hands
[44:04] then it doesn't make any difference what
[44:07] i do
[44:08] if i do anything at all why should i do
[44:11] and i'm
[44:12] explaining the misinterpretation why
[44:14] should i do anything
[44:17] it's all in each other's hands it
[44:18] doesn't make any difference what i do or
[44:20] i don't do
[44:22] so i'm not going to do anything i'm just
[44:25] going to remain
[44:26] passive and let everything rest
[44:29] in israel's hands this is the
[44:33] misinterpretation of the doctrine of
[44:35] karma
[44:36] that sri krishna wants to warn arjuna
[44:39] and all of us against
[44:40] look at this if i drop the pen
[44:45] there's a result according to both the
[44:48] laws of
[44:49] nature and the laws of karma
[44:52] both of which are ishvara's laws
[44:55] but suppose i decide well
[45:00] why should i even bother dropping the
[45:02] pen because whatever is going to happen
[45:05] isn't each for those hands well if i
[45:08] drop
[45:08] if i don't drop the pen nothing happens
[45:13] [Music]
[45:15] yeah what i'm pointing out
[45:19] is there are two different
[45:22] factors involved here
[45:25] one factor is my effort
[45:29] in making an action the other
[45:33] factor comes from israel
[45:36] in the forms of the law of nature and a
[45:39] law of
[45:40] karma and this i this is what i what we
[45:43] didn't discuss
[45:44] earlier about the law of karma and this
[45:46] is what we have to discuss
[45:47] right now let me go to the board i can
[45:50] explain it a little bit more
[45:53] more nicely
[46:02] good so the outcome
[46:06] of dropping the pen is partially due to
[46:10] me
[46:10] i have to drop the pen and partially due
[46:13] to ishra's laws
[46:15] just like for the surgeon the outcome of
[46:17] the surgery
[46:18] is partially due to the surgeon if the
[46:20] surgeon is not
[46:21] skillful or not properly trained there's
[46:24] not going to be good outcome at all
[46:27] so the outcome of the surgery is
[46:29] partially
[46:30] in the surgeon's hands and partially in
[46:33] each with his hands two
[46:36] factors one factor that's in our hands
[46:41] one factor that's in ishwara's hands
[46:44] the words that are commonly used for
[46:47] these these two factors
[46:49] are
[47:04] now daiva is hard not showing up yet
[47:07] daiva is a little hard to translate in
[47:10] english
[47:11] it means that which comes from deva that
[47:14] which comes from
[47:16] god and i can't think of a single word
[47:19] to describe that so effort so
[47:23] we'll call it the the divine
[47:25] [Music]
[47:28] divine factor so there's a human
[47:32] factor effort
[47:37] there's a human factor
[47:41] which is this effort prayatna and
[47:44] there's
[47:45] a divine factor that's
[47:48] ishwara's presence in the form of the
[47:51] laws of nature
[47:53] and the laws of karma and the outcome
[47:57] is the result of both of these factors
[48:00] together
[48:01] both are always present in
[48:04] every single situation and let me share
[48:07] with you
[48:08] one of my favorite metaphors
[48:12] that are used to describe how these two
[48:15] factors conspire together to
[48:18] give the result of an action suppose you
[48:22] come
[48:22] to a stream you're standing on the end
[48:26] of a stream bed
[48:28] where the current is flowing from top
[48:31] to bottom that's the current and you
[48:34] want to
[48:34] swim to the other side
[48:38] of the uh of the uh stream river let's
[48:41] call it a river
[48:43] so you jump in the river and you start
[48:46] swimming in the direction of your
[48:49] destination
[48:50] towards the other side but because of
[48:54] the current
[48:55] you know very well you won't go straight
[48:57] across the river
[48:59] you know that you will go diagonally
[49:03] by the way those of you who had some
[49:05] math background remember
[49:06] something called vector addition or
[49:10] dot product that's what this is in
[49:13] mathematical terms
[49:15] and what it shows is how the result
[49:18] is due to two factors one
[49:22] factor is your effort in swimming
[49:26] prayatna the other
[49:29] is due to the force of the current
[49:33] which represents daiva
[49:36] one of those hidden variables
[49:40] a hidden variable because when you're
[49:41] standing on the shore
[49:43] you can't tell how strong the current
[49:46] is so
[49:49] the current is hidden the water you can
[49:52] see
[49:52] current you can't necessarily see but
[49:56] notice the outcome is the result of
[50:00] both look what sri krishna said here
[50:04] he said ma you said
[50:07] mate carmony don't be attached to an
[50:11] action suppose
[50:13] and what he's warning against is you're
[50:14] standing on the side of the river
[50:17] and you said oh there's a current
[50:19] current means i'm not in control of
[50:21] where i'm going to end up
[50:23] and therefore you decide well why bother
[50:25] trying
[50:27] why should i even try to reach my
[50:29] destination
[50:31] why don't i just sit here inactive
[50:35] and that's the mistake you already
[50:38] know just for fun
[50:41] is it possible with the current to reach
[50:44] your destination
[50:47] of course there are several ways to do
[50:50] it
[50:51] one way is if the current brings you
[50:54] down here
[50:56] walk up
[51:00] what's the problem you can certainly
[51:02] reach your destination
[51:04] or if you're really smart you know what
[51:07] you'll do
[51:08] of course is you'll swim
[51:11] in this direction and by swimming
[51:14] diagonally
[51:15] upwards like this you'll compensate for
[51:18] the current
[51:18] and you'll end up exactly
[51:22] at your goal notice here
[51:25] the fact that there's a current in the
[51:27] river
[51:28] doesn't prevent you from reaching your
[51:32] goal
[51:33] but you have to account
[51:37] for that factor and make adjustments
[51:41] accordingly here's the doctrine of karma
[51:46] so doctrine of karma means the outcome
[51:49] of the situation
[51:51] is the result of your effort prayatna
[51:55] plus hidden variables which could
[51:58] include
[51:59] laws of nature which could include laws
[52:02] of karma
[52:04] but whatever those are you are
[52:07] able to make adjustments and
[52:10] reach your goal you are not helpless
[52:15] you know in the worst case imagine
[52:18] someone who jumps in the river senses
[52:22] the current
[52:23] i say oh no i didn't know there was a
[52:25] current i'm doomed i'm lost
[52:28] and a person fails to make any effort to
[52:31] swim
[52:31] whatsoever this helplessness this is
[52:34] what sri krishna is warning against
[52:36] so with that attitude of helplessness
[52:39] what will happen to the person
[52:41] well if they don't swim their current
[52:44] will carry them straight down
[52:46] by the way there's a waterfall
[52:49] rocks right there the person will get
[52:52] destroyed if they fail to make any
[52:54] effort to swim
[52:56] so shri krishna says don't
[53:00] don't be passive don't imagine yourself
[53:04] to be
[53:05] helpless you are not helpless
[53:08] yes there is there are hidden variables
[53:12] there are forces of nature and forces of
[53:15] karma that we can't anticipate
[53:17] but when we sense
[53:21] the forces of karma and
[53:24] when you're in the water you feel
[53:28] the force of the current feeling the
[53:31] force of the current
[53:32] then allows you to adapt
[53:36] and adjust in the same way in life
[53:40] if we're intelligent we can
[53:44] learn to sense the force of karma
[53:48] in our lives let me sit down
[53:51] and we'll finish this topic
[53:56] okay
[54:05] there's so much more we could we can
[54:07] talk about in
[54:08] in this uh in this case uh
[54:11] in this in this metaphor of being in a
[54:14] river for example
[54:17] this prayer this idea of prayer
[54:20] just allow me to to to bring this and
[54:23] this also will explain that prayerful
[54:26] dimension
[54:27] of karma yoga suppose you jump in the
[54:29] river
[54:30] and you feel this force of of
[54:34] the current and you get panicky
[54:37] and you're not sure what to do you're
[54:39] not sure
[54:40] what direction to swim
[54:44] well wouldn't it be helpful
[54:47] to take a few moments just to relax
[54:51] compose yourself allow yourself to float
[54:54] with the current just for a few moments
[54:56] until you determine it's
[54:58] its strength and direction and then
[55:02] you can respond so much better to the
[55:05] current in that river
[55:07] in the same way in life when something
[55:11] unexpected happens
[55:14] i mentioned before a health crisis or an
[55:17] automobile accident
[55:19] when something unexpected happens too
[55:22] often
[55:23] we respond with with anxiety
[55:27] and confusion and that
[55:30] anxiety and confusion prevents us
[55:34] from thinking clearly and acting
[55:39] appropriately wouldn't it be helpful
[55:43] to have a few moments of prayerful
[55:47] reflection
[55:48] if there's a health crisis or an
[55:50] accident
[55:51] to understand that the outcome of this
[55:55] situation
[55:57] was not in my hands in the first place
[56:00] the outcome of this situation was due
[56:04] in the case of a health crisis or or an
[56:07] automobile accident we'll say forces of
[56:09] karma
[56:11] some bad karma from
[56:14] earlier in this life or from a fat from
[56:16] a past life
[56:18] that bad karma is bearing
[56:21] fruit now in this situation
[56:24] bringing about this health crisis
[56:27] bringing about this automobile accident
[56:29] completely
[56:31] unanticipated but
[56:34] occurring according to
[56:37] ishwara's intelligent order
[56:42] health crises are part of issued as
[56:45] intelligent order
[56:46] automobile accidents are part of
[56:49] ishwara's intelligent
[56:50] order all of this occurs according to
[56:54] israel's intelligence suppose
[56:58] after the health crisis or accident
[57:01] suppose we can compose ourselves
[57:04] and reflect on the fact
[57:07] that whatever is unfolding whatever is
[57:11] happening
[57:12] it's all in ishwara's hands
[57:16] with that reflection instead of being
[57:20] driven by
[57:21] anxiety and confusion
[57:24] with that reflection you'd probably find
[57:26] yourself
[57:28] a little bit composed and focused and
[57:30] not
[57:31] not so anxious and with that moment of
[57:35] reflection
[57:36] you'd be able to
[57:37] [Music]
[57:39] choose a much healthier
[57:43] response to the situation
[57:46] so instead of responding in a state of
[57:49] panic and confusion you can respond with
[57:52] composure
[57:54] and clarity we've just begun
[57:57] there's so much more to discuss
[58:01] both about the doctrine of karma but
[58:04] even more so
[58:05] about the practice of karma yoga we'll
[58:07] see
[58:08] more in our next class
[58:15] [Music]
[58:20] so
[58:23] [Music]
[59:02] oh
[59:06] [Music]
[59:15] you