UPADESA SARAM

Ramana Maharishi needs no introduction. There is a wonderful 30 verse poem calle

d Upadesa Saram authored by him which is considered as the essence of the teachi
ngs of Lord Shiva. The story behind the poem goes something like this:-
Once upon a time there were some Rishis doing tapas in a forest. They were acco
mpanied by their wives. These Rishis were given to rituals and had a strong beli
ef in the power of rituals (karma). Due to the observance of the rituals , their
minds were purified. Lord Shiva was pleased with them for their tapas but he kn
ew that actions would not get them liberation. He needed to teach them that acti
ons were born out of ignorance of one's own true nature and it was only this kno
wledge that could liberate them.
He therefore decided to first bug them (sorry could not resist that ) and then
teach them. He therefore appeared in the form of a Young handsome Rishi and Lord
Vishnu appeared in the form of an apsara as Shiva's wife. The Rishis were promp
tly attracted to the apsara while their wives were attracted to Lord Shiva as th
e saint.
The Rishis seeing their wives being attracted to the young saint got very angry.
(Like all men !! Men can chase women but their wives are to be pati parmeshwar
!!) They therefore fought with the young saint using all the mantras etc at thei
r disposal only to be soundly defeated.
Realising that the young saint was more than a mortal, they fell at his feet. Sh
iva then showed himself in his true form and taught them the immortal knowledge.

The Tamil poet Murugunar was writing this story and when he came to the part abo
ut Shiva's teachings, he requested Maharishi to help him. The Upadesa Saram is t
he thirty verses that Ramana Maharishi wrote about this teaching.
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The first verse is given below together with Swami Tejomayananda 's commentary.
Swamji has in his inimitable way brought out the essence of the verse. He quotes
slokas from the Upanishads etc , making his commentary a complete work on Vedan
ta itself.
???????????? ????????? ???? ?
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Karthurajnayaa prapyathe phalam
Karma Kim Param Karma Tad jadam
Word meaning
Karthuh by the creator
Ajnayaa controlled or governed
Praapyathe got or attained
Phalam fruits
Karma kim param how or why is work then superior
Karma tad jadam that Karma is insentient only.
Sloka meaning
The fruits of all actions are attained and controlled by the Lord or the creator
. Then how is work is superior? Work is an insentient thing only.
Explanation:
The very basis of existence in this world is due to actions and by actions. Each
individual has to perform actions & he can never deviate from doing actions. Le
t the individual be a software engineer or a renunciated Sankaracharya or the ve
ry Lord Krishna, he has to do actions. This world of Bhooloka or earth world is
a world of actions.
Actions are inevitable in as much breathing or drinking water is inevitable. Eve
n great Mahatmas perform actions. This is the reason why Lord Krishna himself di
d actions and never refrained from doing actions.
A grihastha has the actions to support his family & protect them, whereas a Brah
machari has the action to study the Vedas in the Gurukula of the teacher. The va
naprastha (or old people who go and stay in forests contemplating about the Lord
) have actions of doing poojas, dhyaana and all. The sanyasins too have actions
prescribed for them like the Chaturmaasya pooja, the pooja to be performed on Gu
ru Poornima etc.
Thus, every individual in this world has to do actions irrespective of what thos
e actions are. Sri Krishna mentions in Gita that everyone is bound by actions &
compelled to do actions.
Now, one may ask what do great Mahatmas or Yogis sitting in the Himalayas do? Do
they perform actions???
Of course they also do actions. But their actions are not at the gross body leve
l but at the mental level.
Tejo Bindu Upanishad says
Nimishardham na thisthanthi vrittim brahma mayeem vina
Yatha Thisthanthi brahmaadhyaah sukadhayah sanakaadhyaah
Not even for a single moment should a person remain without the thought that I am
Brahman. People like Brahma, Suka and Sanaka sages all remain with the thought o
f I am Brahman.
Any action has five components
Kartha Doer
Chesta or Karma action
Karanam instruments
Adhisthaanam base or substratum
Daivam Vidhi or previous birth effects.
Mainly an action can be considered to have three components of Kartha the person
doing the action, Karma the operation or performing of the karma and the Karnam
the instruments for doing the action.
Lets say a person named Raama is cooking. Here, the person doing the action is Ra
ama and he is Kartha. The action or Karma is cooking. Raama cannot cook without
the instruments or karnam of hands and eyes (mainly these two). Thus, any action
consists of the doer, the act or action and the instruments helping for the act
ion.
Maharshi in the sloka tells that the fruit of any action is ordained by Kartha o
r the creator. The act of cooking depends mainly on the person cooking. Similarl
y, all actions in this world are controlled by the Supreme Being or Lord. The Lo
rd is one who decides the fruits of actions.
Does this mean people praying to God will get good fruits whereas people not pra
ying to God will get bad fruits???
No. God is a judge, judging the action of a person and giving the fruit correspo
nding to the action of the person. If this is not the case, if I cook, then I wi
ll get money from the pressure cooker instead of boiled rice!!!!!
Also, the fruits are not determined by individuals but the Creator alone. This i
s the reason why we find people working hard and putting all their efforts into
an action but still not succeeding in the act. And we find people who do work ve
ry less, yet get rewarded for the same. A simple example is the promotion happen
ing in companies. A person might be very good worker and well suited for promoti
on but still he might not get promoted rather the person who is not eligible mig
ht get promoted. Thus all actions are not determined by the individual and the s
urroundings, rather by the Creator or God alone.
Sri Krishna says about the same in Gita
Tasya Karthaaram api maam viddhi Know me to the creator of the varna ashrama dharm
a.
Maharshi says that as fruits of work is controlled or judged and given by Lord,
action can never be superior.
Then what mainly determines or decides the fruits of action????
Whatever actions a person does, he gets the results of the action. This is the L
aw of Karma or action. Lets say a person does agnihotra pooja daily, he will atta
in Heaven and enjoy the pleasures there. Lets say a person prepares for MBA, he w
ill get through the CAT exam and attain a seat in MBA. It can never happen that
a person preparing for M.Tech admission gets through the admission of MBA.
But there is a significant factor in the decision of the fruits. The action that
a person does is not the real matter, but the attitude in which the action is p
erformed matters. The example of Dharmavyaada in Mahabharatha just proves this.
Dharmavyaada was a butcher but Vishnu sent some of his devotees to Dharmavyaada
for learning about the Self.
Here, in this sloka Maharshi thus refutes the views of ritualists who say that r
ituals in themselves are capable of giving the fruits. Maharshi tells that the f
ruits can be determined only by a person who is neither for nor against the acti
ons and the doer. Such a person can only be the Lord or creator of the universe
who is neither attracted nor averse to any objects in this world.
Now, one may ask for the proof of God????
We see objects in this world. As we know, any objects can not come out of nothin
g. Any effect that is seen now needs to have a cause. Any effect should have an
efficient cause.
We all know that pots are made out of mud. It is not possible that mud by itself
becomes a pot. It is only when the potter (an efficient cause) puts his effort
that mud turns into a pot. This potter must necessarily be fully aware of mud an
d pot else he cannot efficiently create the effect of pot.
If this is the case for a small thing, what to speak about this big world of inn
umerous milky ways and all!!! Thus, there needs to be creator for this world. Th
e creator should necessarily be all-knowing since only then he can create object
s.
Thus, Maharshi indirectly proves the existence of all-knowing God or Creator of
this world.
All actions depend on the doer. Without the effort from the doer, all actions ar
e insentient & have no value at all. An action of cooking gets its value only be
cause of the cook. Without the cook, there is no cooking. Therefore Maharshi tel
ls that all actions are insentient and the Doer is the sentient thing.
Everyone knows that when the doer or Consciousness is present, then there are ac
tions, there is this world. When the doer is absent, there are no objects, no wo
rld at all. The simple example for this is the deep sleep state. In the deep sle
ep state, the doer or the Ego is not present. Since the Ego is not present, ther
e is no action and no world at all. But still the pure I exists. This I is the real
Consciousness which gives its light to the Ego for doing actions. Thus all actio
ns and even Ego are insentient as they are temporary and depend on Consciousness
or the Self for their existence.
Maharshi tells three main points in this sloka
Fruits are ordained or governed by Creator & not the action alone.
There is a creator for this world.
Actions are insentient.
When a person realizes the futility of actions as well as that one can never ref
rain from actions & thereby does actions without expectation, he is not affected
by the action or its fruits. When a person is thus not affected the fruits of t
he actions, he neither gets happy nor broods over the fruits. He remains complet
ely detached to the action and its fruits. Thus, he becomes a mere witness to th
e action. He is neither the doer nor the enjoyer but just a tool or instrument i
n performance of the action. Thus, through actions his mind becomes pure. When t
he mind is pure, it is devoid of any thoughts.
Thoughts are the causes of problems and sufferings in life. But when the mind is
devoid of thoughts, it merges into its own source of Consciousness which is of
the nature of Bliss Absolute. Thus the person merely becomes an actor enacting a
drama. He thus always rejoices in the actions and their fruits. This is the rea
l nature of the Self which has to be realized. Thus through actions, a person re
alizes his own very nature of Consciousness and thereby realizes that there is n
othing new to be gained and that my very own nature is happiness alone.
This path of realizing ones own nature is called Karma Yoga or path of action.
Since no individual can sit idle without doing work, this path is the most suite
d for majority of the people.
Action or Karma word comes from the verb Kri meaning to do.
There is the law of action which is that whatever action you do, similar will be
result or fruits of that action.
Action presupposes a doer or the Ego which is acting.
This Ego can never be the Self or pure Consciousness because pure Consciousness
or real I is present in deep sleep where there is neither Ego nor any action. So,
wherever there is Ego, there action is also present. As the above experience of
deep sleep shows, wherever there is the Ego or doer (notion of doership is calle
d Ego), there is sorrow also. In deep sleep, there is no Ego and hence no sorrow
but only pure happiness of the Self. But during waking and dream states, there
is the Ego and hence the Ego suffers from sorrow and delusion. The aim of Vedant
a and human life is to eradicate sorrows. The ultimate aim of any human being is
eradication of sorrow and gain of eternal happiness. This can happen only when
the Ego is eradicated. The eradication of Ego can be done through Karma Yoga.
Karma doesnt give liberation directly but action indirectly leads one to liberati
on. Actions purify the mind. When the mind is purified, the person becomes eligi
ble for knowledge. And through knowledge one realizes the ultimate reality that t
here neither was any action nor any doer, I am always the Self one without a sec
ond of the nature of Existence and Bliss absolute. Thus, the illusory ignorance a
nd the illusory sorrow which affects the doer or Ego alone and not the Self is r
emoved. This is the ultimate aim or goal of any living being.
When a person does any action with expectations, he is getting attached to the a
ction and its fruits. When the fruits are bad and not good for the person, he be
comes sad. Therefore he becomes attached to the fruits & the fruits changes his
mood. But when a person is not attached to actions, he remains unaffected by the
results of the actions even if the results are bad. This state of unaffected is
what Karma Yoga leads one to.
Even though the Self is not at all affected by actions, but the Ego is affected
by the actions. Thereby when a person becomes completely unaffected by the actio
ns, the Ego slowly merges into its source of the Self. As the Self is of the nat
ure of eternal bliss, the person rejoices in the bliss of the Self at all times.
Even when a person is unaffected or unattached to the actions, still he may have
the Ego or doer attitude. Lets say I am typing this explanation. I dont expect an
y result from this typing, but still I may have the notion that I am typing it. Th
is notion in itself leads to attachment to the action (indirectly). This Egoisti
c attitude leads one to sorrow. Indirectly this attitude of doership leads one t
o expect good results. If someone criticizes whatever is being written here, the
n I may get sad and attack the person telling I have written this, hence it is ri
ght only and you are only wrong. Thus again it leads to sorrow only.
Therefore mere non-attachment to actions alone is not enough because unknowingly
the Ego might again get nourished. Therefore, one needs to always attribute the
action to the Almighty or the Self or Brahman.
When a person does actions without any expectations and as an offering to the Al
mighty he is in no way affected by the actions & the Ego is completely vanquishe
d because it is the Almighty who is taking care of the actions.
Thereby, Karma Yoga is actions performed without any expectations and as an offe
ring to the Almighty.
Thus, when a person completely follows this karma yoga, his mind becomes pure &
he realizes his own very nature of Bliss. Therefore, he is taken to eternal blis
s of the Self.
Now, one may ask the question How can I do Karma Yoga in office?
Karma Yoga has no place restrictions or time restrictions. Whatever it demands i
s just the non-expectation of the results & offering it to the Almighty.
When I am writing a code in Java, I write the code without expecting any result
(like it should work or should get an appreciation from onsite and all) and as a
n offering to the Almighty.
I say Oh Lord! Even though you are present everywhere, this Ego is in ignorance.
It neither knows you nor the reality. It is like a just-born child. This Ego mig
ht move away from the right path. Hence I offer this work unto you. This is the
only way I can serve you. Please partake of this offering from your child.
When this attitude is maintained, the Ego is vanquished and the person remains u
nattached to the results of the actions of coding.
Thus, this offering of the work can be performed anywhere and anytime. This Karm
a Yoga makes one pure and completely unattached to the work. Thus, whatever be t
he result of the action, I remain the same and as the Self or Consciousness.
This way, each day and each moment becomes an offering and a pooja. This pooja i
s greater than Sandhya Vandhanam. This pooja doesnt have any discrimination betwe
en women and men & castes. This neither has any age restriction nor requires any
knowledge for its performance.
As Adi Sankara says in Shiva Manasa Pooja
Pooja te vishayopa bhoga rachana
Nidra samadhisthithih
Sanchaara padayoh pradakshinah vidhi stotraani sarva girah
Yad yad karma karothi tad tad akhilam sambho tava aaradhanam
The enjoyment of sensual pleasures is your pooja, sleep is Samadhi or absorption
, walking is pradakshina or circumbulation, words or speech is stotra. Whatever
I do, that is your worship O Lord Siva.
This sloka encompasses the complete karma yoga. Sri Krishna also talks in detail
about this Karma Yoga in Gita. He mentions in lot of places that taking refugee
in Me alone, who worships me, I will see into all his matters and take refugee in
Me alone and renounce all actions (or the doer) this way sins will not get attac
hed to you and hence Do not worry.
Thus, the very actions that bind people becomes the means of liberation.
Let us all try to perform this Karma Yoga daily and realize the inherent bliss o
f the God who is present in the heart of all beings.
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UPADESA SARAM
Verse 2.
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Those of the readers of this page who are serious about understanding the Vedant
a are strongly urged to follow this thread. The first of this series was posted
two days ago. The commentary is by Swami Tejomayananda, Head of Chinmaya Ashram.
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???? ?????? ????????? ?
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Krithi mahodadhau pathana kaaranam
Phalam asaashvatham gathi nirodhakam
Word meaning
Krithi Mahodadhau the big ocean of action or work
Pathana Kaaranam is the cause of fall down or spiritual declination.
Phalam asaasvatham fruits of actions are temporary and not permanent
Gathi nirodhakam and they obstruct the progress of a spiritual seeker.
Sloka meaning
The big ocean of action is the cause of fall down. The fruits of actions are not
permanent and they obstruct the progress of a spiritual seeker.
Explanation:
Here, Maharshi is explaining the futility of action which he had mentioned as Kar
ma Tad jadam or Karma is insentient in the previous verse.
Action is a big ocean. The world based on actions is termed as a big ocean by gr
eat Mahatmas and realized beings. Sankaracharya himself has put it as Iha samsaar
e bahudusthaare this ocean of samsaar is tough to cross over.
Sankara again says in Soundarya Lahiri Janma Jaladau nimagnaanaam one who is immer
sed in the ocean of birth and death, he is saved by the Goddess Tripurasundari.
Any action (which is not accompanied by renouncement of the expectation of the f
ruits and as an offering to the Almighty) becomes the cause of bondage.
A person is performing an action of Sandhya Vandanam. This very action becomes the
source of sorrow if not accompanied by the right attitude. There are people who
do Sandhya Vandanam expecting the Almighty to shower special blessings on them.
Thus their action is accompanied by the seeking of the fruits of the action. Bu
t when aging comes, it becomes impossible for them to do Sandhya Vandanam. Now t
hey proclaim I did lot of Sandhya Vandanam but still God did this to me and I am
unable to do Sandhya Vandanam. The very action which was considered very sacred b
ecame the source of falling down and pin pointing to the Almighty.
Thus, any action which is not accompanied by the right attitude becomes the sour
ce of sorrow. And any action with expectation expects results. When a person att
ains the results, he strives either to sustain the fruits or to get higher fruit
s thus he goes on doing more action with expectation. Thus, this cycle of action
and results, desiring more and more continues and this cycle is a big ocean whi
ch causes the fall down of the seeker. The seeker instead of seeking the higher
power of the Self and its realization, strives for doing action again and again.
Thus, the action itself becomes the cause of bondage.
This is what Maharshi indicates by ocean of karma is the cause of spiritual fall
down.
The actions are finite things. It is done by the finite Ego and the surroundings
that help the action are also finite. Hence, such a finite action can never giv
e infinite result. Therefore, all actions can not give infinite result.
When a person does the action of cooking, the result is the cooked rice. The act
ion is limited by the person doing it and the objects used for the action (rice)
is also limited or finite only. Therefore it can give finite or limited cooked
rice only. This limited cooked rice can be used only for a short period and by s
ome people alone. Thus, the happiness or bliss that a person gets from this limi
ted result is also limited. And when a person gets limited happiness, he is neve
r contented. Unless a person is content, he will have the temptation and desire
to do more action. Thus the vicious circle of actions will continue.
A person gets contentment and completeness only when he seeks nothing, only when
he doesnt desire anything. This non-seeking can happen only when he has infinite
bliss within himself. The Upanishads proclaim that that which is complete can al
so give eternal happiness. This eternal bliss is present only in the Self. This e
ternal happiness is experienced by each person during deep sleep where nothing i
s experienced and the person remains as the pure Subject without objects. This i
s the ultimate and final state where the person seeks nothing, the person has no
thing to be gained or learned & rejoices in the eternal bliss of the Self.
Therefore, any action can not give a person realization of the Self because acti
on is in itself finite & the Self is infinite. The Self one already is, but unaw
are of. There is a ignorance veil that blinds the reality and makes the person t
hink that he is the limited being with a body and mind. This makes him think tha
t he is finite & only God or Paramatman is infinite. This limitation makes him thi
nk that he is associated with the body and mind and that he is the doer of actio
ns. Thus, whatever actions and results happen, he finds himself affected by thos
e. Thereby he seems to become sad and seems to be suffering from delusion.
Therefore, action can never give a person the completeness, the perfectness, the
satisfaction and eternal happiness because these are present in the Self alone.
The Self is unknown due to ignorance and thereby it can go only through knowled
ge about ones own real nature.
Actions are propagated by desire alone. Desires come when the person forgets the
reality of his being complete. Thus, ignorance causes desire & desire in turn c
auses actions. Therefore action can never remove ignorance and ignorance can be
removed only through Knowledge.
And as actions are born out of ignorance, actions only lead to more and more ign
orance. Therefore Maharshi says that actions obstruct the path to realization.
But, Maharshi going forth will be explaining that actions endowed with the right
attitude of non-expectation and offering to the Almighty will indirectly lead t
o realization.
Knowledge about the Self can be completely apprehended only when the mind is pur
e. When the mirror is impure, one cannot see ones own face & even if one sees the
face, he will see it as dirty only. But when the mirror is pure, the face is se
en as such. Similarly the Self is realized when the mind is purified alone. If t
he mind is not purified, then Egoistic approach will come & a person will just a
rgue about the ultimate reality being Advaita or Dvaita or whether there is God
or Paramatman and all. These arguments will never lead to the ultimate reality.
And this is the reason we find lot of people so-called Knowledgeable who are well
versed in the Upanishads and Gita, but still unable to apprehend the ultimate re
ality & fight amongst others about futile issues like whether God is there, whet
her women can chant Vedas or not and all. These are termed by Mundaka Upanishad
as learned fools and these people quote slokas and guide others like a blind man g
uiding another blind man.
The Mundaka Upanishad says
Esho anuraatma chetasaa veditavyo This subtle Self is known only through a pure in
tellect or mind.
Jnaana prasadena vishuddhasatvah tatah tu tam pashyathe nishkalam dhyaayamaanah Th
e Self is known only through knowledge in a pure intellect & is realized as with
out parts during times of meditation and absorption.
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says
Manasaiva anudrashtavyam neha nana asthi kinchana
Mrityoh sa mrityum apnothi ya iha nana iva pashyathi
The Self must be known through the pure mind alone & through enquiry. The ultima
te reality is that there is no duality, not even little. He who sees the illusor
y duality (as it were) goes from death to death (that is he suffers in this illu
sory world).
Any action accomplishes four outputs or results. Result arising out of any actio
n can be classified into these four types.
Sureswaracharya says about this in Naishkarmya Siddhi
Utpaadhyam aapyam samskaaryam vikaaryam cha kriya phalam.
Na muktir yatah tasmaat kriya tasyaa na sadhanam
The four types of results of actions are
Utpatti Creation or origination
Aapthi attainment
Samskaaryam purification
Vikaaryam modification
The Self or the ultimate reality termed as Brahman in the Upanishads is not atta
inable by any of these.
The Self is not born, hence it cannot be CREATED. Since the Self is not born, it
cannot change or modification is not possible in it therefore no MODIFICATION i
s possible in it. As the Self is without birth & always present as I-I, it cannot
be ATTAINED. Since the Self is complete & perfect, there is no purification poss
ible in it.
Thus, the Self can not be the result of actions. But when a person does action f
or purification of the mind, then he becomes eligible for apprehending the ultim
ate reality of I am the Self.
Therefore Maharshi in this sloka and the first sloka emphasizes the futility of
doing actions without the proper attitude.
But one has to constantly remember the ultimate goal which is realization that I
am God, I am the Self, I am perfect and of the nature of Existence, Consciousnes
s and Bliss absolute. Until this is realized, search for completeness will be the
re & there will be no contentment and eternal happiness.
But when the person realizes that I am the God, I am the Self of the nature of Bl
iss absolute, there remains nothing more to be attained by the person & therefore
he rejoices in the eternal bliss of the Self. This ultimate knowledge can be at
tained or realized only when the mind is pure and one of the ways to attain puri
ty is the path of action (with the proper attitude). This path of action is doin
g actions without any expectation and as an offering to the Almighty.
Thus, this sloka which explains the futility of action (without the proper attit
ude) can be summarized as
Actions
Are cause of fall down into the ocean of birth and death (indicating sorrow and
suffering)
are finite & there fruits are also finite
obstruct the progress of a spiritual seeker
Krishna mentions in Gita Chapter 9 about performance of action endowed with devo
tion & says that there is no restriction for such actions.
Patram pushpam phalam toyam yo me bhaktya prayatchathi
Tadaham bhakti upahritum asnaami priyataatmanah
A flower, a leave, a fruit or some water whatever you offer to me with devotion
that offering which is associated with devotion I partake.
Yad karoshi yad ashnaasi yad juhosi dadaasi yat
Yat tapasyasi kaunteya tad kurushva mad arpanam
Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer in the homa kunda, whateve
r you give & whatever austerity you follow offer these unto Me.
What is the use of such offering???
Shubha ashuba phalairevam mokshyase karma bandhanaih
Sanyaasa yoga yuktaatma vimukto maam upaishyasi
Thus, he becomes liberated from the dual results of bad and good as well from th
e bondage of action (which causes a person to be born again and again and get de
luded into the ocean of samsaara). He, having established in renunciation of act
ions (mental renunciation) gets liberated and attains Me (realizes his own reali
ty as the Self which is the same as Brahman and same as the Lord).
And this action or karma yoga has no restrictions of women doing it or sinners d
oing it
Maam hi paartha vyapaasrithya yepi syuh papa yonayah
Striyo vaishya sudraah tepi yaanthi paraam ganthim
Those who take refugee in Me even if they are born of low-birth or children of s
inners or women & sudraas still they attain the Supreme state of eternal happine
ss.
Therefore, any person can do this karma yoga. There is no time limitation, no sp
ace limitation, no creed or caste limitation to this karma yoga and when this is
followed it leads a person to the ultimate state of Oneness and that person rej
oices in the eternal bliss of the Self.
Maharshi in the next sloka describes how action done with proper attitude leads
to realization and completeness.
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UPADESA SARAM
Verse 3
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The commentary is by Swami Tejomayananda, Head of Chinmaya Ashram.
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???????????? ??????? ????? ?
?????????? ?????? ?????? ???
Ishwara arpitam na icchayaa kritam
Chitta shodhakam mukti sadhakam
Word meaning
Ishwara arpitam Work which is offered to God and
Na Icchaya kritam done without any expectation for the fruits.
Chitta shodhakam helps in purification of mind
Mukti sadhakam and thereby is a path to realization (or leads one to realization
or liberation).
Sloka meaning
Work which is performed as an offering to the Almighty and done without any expe
ctation for the fruits helps in purification of mind & thereby leads one to libe
ration or realization.
Explanation:
This verse brings out the very essence of Karma Yoga or path of action. The very
same import of this sloka can be found in many places in the Gita as well as in
the Upanishads. One needs to have a very clear idea about realization or libera
tion. When a person doesnt even know what liberation means, then all the paths, a
ll the scriptures, all the words of great Mahatmas become a waste & are no use t
o such a person.
Liberation is eternal Bliss. Adi Sankaracharya says in most of his works that a
person seeks happiness. Every one is seeking eternal happiness, but in the exter
nal world. Some one is seeking happiness in money, some one in fame, some in lov
e, some in marriage, some in children the list goes on. The ultimate goal of eac
h person is eternal happiness. No body wants to suffer or get sorrow. Every one
wants happiness that stays forever. This eternal bliss is the goal of humanity a
nd the achievement of this eternal bliss is called Liberation. When a person has
understood the ultimate and final goal, now the search or the paths to that goa
l is to be found. If a person knows the goal and still doesnt work towards it, th
en the knowing of the goal is of no use. Therefore the path to that goal has to
be found.
These were the thoughts of the ancient rishis who wanted to find out eternal bli
ss. The rishis found out that everything in the external world is finite alone,
all actions, all materials are finite or limited by time and space. Such things
which are limited by time and space can never give infinite bliss as the bliss o
r happiness obtained from them will also will finite only. Therefore they starte
d thinking about eternal bliss. They then found out that if the changing things
in the world have to exist, they require a changeless substratum. They found out
that this changeless substratum is without any change & hence not limited by sp
ace. They also found out that this substratum remains the same in the three stat
es of waking, dream and deep sleep which constitutes the shortest span of time.
Therefore this substratum is beyond time also.
Thus, this changeless substratum is beyond time and space & hence it can give in
finite bliss. They therefore turned their attention towards this substratum. The
y found out that this substratum is of the nature of eternal bliss which is enjo
yed during the state of deep sleep. Thus, if this substratum is attained or know
n, then eternal bliss is enjoyed & the ultimate goal is achieved.
What is this substratum???
This substratum cannot be different from oneself. This substratum is the basis o
f the world consisting of time and space. This is the Consciousness.
How does one know that the substratum full of bliss is Consciousness???
If Consciousness is there, time and space & world are there. If Consciousness is
not there, then no world, no time and no space, nothing exists.
This Consciousness is full of bliss because in deep sleep, no object is present
and this bliss is enjoyed. Therefore, if a person removes the obstacles to reali
zing this Consciousness, then he can enjoy the bliss in this very state itself.
Is this Consciousness separate from oneself????
Consciousness can never be separate from oneself. Consciousness is ones own very
nature.
Then why doesnt a person realize that I am Consciousness???
Because of wrong notions of I and mine and due to wrong identification with the body
and mind.
The only thing a person needs to do to realize ones own very nature of Consciousn
ess and rejoice in the eternal bliss is to remove the ignorance about ones own na
ture.
This ignorance veils add to latent tendencies or vasanas which makes a person tu
rn outward to this world rather than realizing ones own real nature by turning in
ward and trying to find out Who I am?. Since this ultimate goal is not something t
o be attained, but to be realized (that which has been forgotten), therefore thi
s is termed as Realization.
All the paths to this ultimate goal of realization work towards removal of ignor
ance veils alone. Thus, all the paths finally lead to the ultimate non-dual know
ledge that I am That, I am the Self of the nature of Consciousness and Bliss, I a
m all the world, there is nothing different from Me, whatever is seen is Me alon
e (as in dream).
Ramana Maharshi talks about the various paths in this work of his. One of the si
mplest path to this realization is the path of action. Maharshi in the first two
slokas mentioned the limitations and problems of action (done without the prope
r attitude). In this sloka, Maharshi puts forth clearly the path of action where
in a person reaches the final stage of realizing ones own real nature.
Maharshi gives two main points about this path of action
Offering the action to God.
Action without any expectation
As mentioned earlier, removal of ignorance veil is the aim of all the paths and
all the scriptures. This ignorance about the Self creates wrong notions and wron
g identifications with the body and the mind. This identified I is called Ego or A
hamkaara. The removal of Ego makes a person to realize the source of the Ego whi
ch is pure Consciousness and that I am that Consciousness.
When a person does any actions, the two things that follow or rather that go alo
ng with the action are the notion of Doer and expectation of fruits.
Each person while doing action, has the notion that I am doing the action. And t
he action is done with a motive. These two again add to ignorance and lead one t
o sorrow alone. The doer notion creates problems when something goes wrong or so
mebody criticizes the action. When a person criticizes the action, then it becom
es criticizing the Ego or myself (the wrongly identified I). What a person is not
knowing here is that I am not at all affected the criticism or appreciation. Even
during criticism or during appreciation, it is the same I or pure Consciousness th
at experiences both of these. Since this is not known, the pure Consciousness ge
ts identified itself with the Ego and the action. Therefore all criticisms and a
ppreciations becomes mine. These appreciations might not stay for long & opinion
s of people need not much time to change. Therefore, he is a fool who things the
se actions and appreciations as his. If these actions are his, then the results
also must be his & the results must also be controlled by him. But when bad resu
lts comes, the person thinks Why did I get this bad result, I did good only and I
even prayed to the Almighty, why did you do this to me Oh Lord!!!. But when good
results come, I did the action, it is my capability that gave me this result.
Thus, when good happens, God is forgotten & when bad is done, he is remembered.
What idiotic nature and foolishness????
Even when the scriptures proclaim and experience tells him that I am neither the
doer nor the enjoyer, I am the Self or pure Consciousness of the nature of Bliss,
the person is not willing to accept it, but runs after the meagre sensual pleas
ures (that are the source of sorrow alone).
But when the wise person tries to follow and find out real happiness through the
path propounded by Maharshi and other great saints, he realizes that I am neithe
r the doer nor the enjoyer. He also realizes that the expectation of the fruits o
r results is the cause for problems. When there is no expectation, he always rem
ains the same. And at that time, he attains purity of mind & a pure mind is able
to realize the Self.
Why is it essential that a pure mind is required for realizing the Self????
The Self is to be realized and not attained like heaven or other worldly things.
The Self is the Subject, it is ones own very nature. To realize the Self, one ha
s to turn inward. When the mind is full of thoughts, it turns a person outward &
such a person can never realize the inward and subtle Self. Therefore, purity o
f mind is required. Purity of mind is nothing but mind which is always still or
mind is like an ocean without waves. A person can go deep into the ocean if ther
e are no waves. Similarly the substratum of all the changing world, the mind and
body is known only when the mind is free and pure. Therefore, the Self is reali
zed only when the mind is pure.
Once a person realizes the Self, then he also realizes that whatever is present
is the Self alone. When he realizes that everything is the Self alone as in the
dream state (where the world and any objects are only the dreamer), he doesnt get
sad or deluded or happy. He always rejoices in the eternal bliss of the Self. O
nly when duality is perceived, a person has sorrow because of seeing multitude a
nd difference. When difference is removed, then there is no sorrow but happiness
alone. This happiness is enjoyed by every person in deep sleep. The eternal bli
ss of the Self is much more than & incomparable even with the happiness that a p
erson gets in deep sleep!!!!!
Thus, through this path of action, purity of mind is achieved and which in turn
leads one to liberation or realization of ones own real nature.
Therefore the two conditions that determine the path of action are Action without
expectations and offering the action to the Lord.
Vedas speak basically about two types of actions
Sakaama Karma action done with expectations
Nishkaama karma action done without any expectations
Sakaama Karma leads one to bondage while nishkaama karma leads one to purity of
mind & thereby to realization.
The very ancient Ishavasya Upanishad says about this karma marga
Kurvan eva iha karmaani jijeevishet satam shamaah
Evam tvayi na anyathethosthi na karma lipyathe nare
A person should desire to live 100 years doing action (with the attitude of renu
nciation of fruits & with the thought that everything is God alone). Only by thi
s way it is ensured that actions and their fruits will not cling to the person.
Sri Krishna says in Gita
Tasmaat sarveshu kaleshu maam anusmara yudhya cha
Fight war or do your actions but always thinking of me.
Ananyaah chintayantho maam ye janaah pari upaasathe
Teshaam nitya abhiyuktanaam yoga kshemam vahami aham
Those who think of Me alone & do actions (offering it to me), I take care of the
ir good and well-being.
Therefore this path of action when done with the right attitude will lead one to
eternal bliss inherent in the Self. Maharshi in the next few slokas explains th
e different types of actions and elucidation of the various methods in this path
of action.
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