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Thursday, September 18, 2008

Ma Phaleshu Kadachana?


Karmanye va adhikaraste ma phaleshu kadachana
ma karmaphalahetur bhur ma te sango stva akarmani
 Meaning:
Thy business is with action only, never with its fruits so let not fruit of action be thy motive nor be thou to inaction attached.

This is a very difficult, concise enunciation in the BhagavadGita - that we have duties but we cannot expect any fruits from the duties that we perform.
Is this really possible? Doing things without expecting some specific consequence? Accepting whatever consequence one gets is one thing, but not even desiring a particular result is altogether a different thing.
I, if not everybody, need some kind of motivation to do something, to put in effort. Who would even go for a movie, without expecting to have a good time? Even when I donate, I expect it’ll help someone in need. Without such type of basic motivation, it is very unlikely that I’ll raise my hand even to scratch my head.
It’s true that we cannot get the desired result 100% of the time, but should we stop desiring for something just because we’re not sure that we can get it? This concept is completely different from the one that causes innovations. 
Without expectations or motivations, only discoveries can take place, not inventions. Necessity is the mother of invention. Necessity comes from desire. No expectation for results, no desire, no necessity, no invention. Even profitless research work is a result of enthusiasm to learn. Without this motivation, man would have made only discoveries and that too accidentally. Wheel would have been discovered, but the cart would never have been invented.
Can a student study without the desire of grades? Even a sanyasi would not follow his path without dreaming of a better life after rebirth.
It also takes away the sense of responsibility from one’s actions. How will a person do a job sincerely and responsibly, without expecting the desired result?
After so much of ‘manthan’ what I understand is, that "it may not be our right to expect that the result of our actions should be as desired, but it is our need to desire some particular result of our actions, to bring out the best in us."

Edit: 
Nice *autopsy* of the shloka by Shri Gupta here.
Good that he has written some techniques about how and when to follow the "do not think about result" part.
He has presented a very interesting analogy with novel reading. I think one has to plan while keeping the result in mind and then in the execution phase just *trust* his planning and work accordingly. This would also save the need of reviewing the plan repeatedly and prematurely.


12 comments:

  1. It was really great reading something like dis..............i really thank you to create such a great blog.........thnxx again....hope u continue with all such great things..........god bless u!!!

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  2. thanks for reading ashish..
    keep following..!

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  3. very well polished thoughts have been shaped up ....infered from wat i understood....fruit is desired else the inputs are not so well allocated....guud...keep it up..bt just to say wat i feel is wat krishna meant n wat u mean are two face n entirely different...both of u i feel are correct n contexted according to circumstances..

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  4. very true maayankka... i was trying to analyse the shloka in my(student's) sceanario, and do we find such a situation in 2day's world..? cuz gita is something many Indians respect and follow(or try to!)
    thanks for ur inputs! keep following

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  5. i guess what the shloka means is not being attached to a particular thing or person ... when we expect results ... the doer becomes important ... and the work is neglected .... its about putting in your complete effort ... true ... the desire prompts us to do what we do ... but we must be aware of what we're doing ... and if we're diverted by the temptation of the result while we're working ... it reduces the importance of the work that needs to be done ....

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  6. I concurr with what rachit said above.. Another way of being motivated is passion for what you are doing.
    That way the focus is on the action and not the result.

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  7. Here are my thoughts http://godearthlove.blogspot.com/2010/08/bound-by-duty.html

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  8. thoughts nicely put together... love the way you did so...
    another way to look at is like .. detach yourself from the results WHILE you are working, coz that takes away the niche of giving your 100%. Which is what is reflected poorly on the results too.
    While you give your 100% you are in trance.. and that's one of the most beautiful things the life has to offer.
    Nevertheless, thanks for the circumstantial insight to the shloka.
    Warm Regards!!!

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  9. @Shri
    thanks. The aim really was to explore another insight.

    Animesh

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  10. I am just happy that you took the interest in writing such an article. you should have at least studied the entire Gita to understand this (karmanyeva....) shloka completely.
    To begin with, Expecting and desiring are completely two different things.
    We expect consequences as there would be consequences for anything we do. The shloka claims that we have no authority over the consequences. We may expect something but we have no right. You may watch a movie but you will never have a say in having a good time. You can donate but you can't decide who's gonna profit from your help. You may scratch your head but you will never know if that can lead to further scratching or to a soothing effect.
    Necessity is definitely the mother of invention. The shloka doesn't disprove it. Some students may study for grades but its not the perfect way. A student should study and grades show the extent of his learning. A perfect sanyasi has no rebirth. A person's job is to the job sincerely and responsibly and and not to desire the results. He should do that no matter what or else he would suffer.
    The best comes out of us if we do our best when acting without any desire, not the way around. Read and re read the Gita and you would understand it better.

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