Bhakti and Karma in the Bhagavad Gita - Research Paper Example

 Bhakti and Karma in the Bhagavad Gita In the Indian epic Mahabharata, when the battle of Kurukshetra was about to begin between the armies of the Pandavas and Kauravas, the third Pandava: Arjuna was overcome with a feeling of despondency. He felt depressed at having to fight against the members of his own clan. He laid down his weapons and refused to proceed with the battle. In such a precarious situation, Arjuna’s friend, philosopher and guide Lord Shri Krishna (who was also his charioteer) advised him and inspired him to continue with the war. Lord Krishna’s words of advice to Arjuna constitute the chapters of the Bhagavad Gita. The Gita is regarded as the sacred text of the Hindu religion. The Chapter 3 of the Bhagavad Gita describes the main principles of “Karma Yoga” while chapter 12 gives an account of the basic tenets of “Bhakti Yoga”. (Swami xv) Karma Marga and Bhakti Marga According to Lord Shri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the Bhagavad Gita, people who work should follow the “Path of Action” or “Karma Yoga” in their journey towards enlightenment. The word “karma” denotes “action”. The person who practices the Path of Right Action is called the “Karma Yogi”. His mind monitors his senses and he is able to perform his actions remaining detached with them. The Supreme Lord advises the great Arjuna and thus the entire mankind to perform their respective duties and to undertake the necessary actions to accomplish those duties. Persons undertaking actions are usually restrained by their own activities, unless the actions are offered as a sacrifice. Therefore, people should offer their actions as objects of sacrifice which will help them to remain unattached. Lord Krishna further declares that “All action originates in the Supreme Spirit, which is Imperishable and in all sacrificial action the all-pervading Spirit is consciously present.” (S. p.27; 3.15). The Lord advises the human race to accomplish their duties perfectly, without thinking about the consequences of their actions. It is the duty of man to perform his actions even for the benefit of his fellow human beings. He can, in fact, set a worth example for the others to follow because, men always look to emulate the behavior of great men. The Lord gives his own example by saying that there is no action in this Universe which He is compelled to perform neither is there anything left for Him to achieve, yet he is consistently active. If the Lord were to abstain from action, the human race would be faced with chaos and would ultimately be destroyed. A person who does his duties following the Karma Yoga is ultimately able to attain the Supreme Creator. (Klostermaier, 122-123) In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Shri Krishna specifies another path for the human race to achieve salvation: “The Path of Bhakti” or “Bhakti Yoga”. The term “Bhakti” refers to devotion. In other words, deep and intense love is known as “bhakti” and the devotees who worship the Supreme Lord through the expressions of bhakti are called “bhaktas”. (Meher Baba). Spiritual seekers who are able to maintain their focus fixed on the Lord and who always worship Him with undaunting devotion and concentration, are able to attain perfection in their pursuits. (Klostermaier, 185-186) In the words of the Lord “Those who worship Me as the Indestructible, the Undefinable, the Unmanifest, the Omnipresent, the Unthinkable, the Primeval, the Immutable, and the Eternal,”………. (S. p.99; 12.3) Restraining their senses, if these devotees are able to maintain their composure in all circumstances of life and consistently work for the betterment of mankind, they are successful in attaining the Supreme Lord (S. p.99; 12.3). Persons who submit their actions to Lord Krishna, who sincerely meditate on him, pray religiously to Him, whose minds are concentrated upon Him and whose thoughts center only around Him, are blessed with the mercy of the Lord. The Supreme Creator rescues them from the cycle of life and death. Lord Shri Krishna advises Arjuna and thus to the entire mankind to practice concentrating his mind and intellect only upon the Lord. If a person is unable to focus his mind following this method, but instead dedicates his life to the service of the Lord and performs all his actions for the sake of the Lord, he will still be able to attain the Supreme Creator. The Common Concepts in the Two Paths Both the “Karma Yoga” and the “Bhakti Yoga” as described by Lord Shri Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita are two different paths for attaining salvation. Both these “Yogas’ or paths lead the spiritual seeker to the ultimate union with The Supreme Creator. Under “Karma Yoga”, the spiritualist aims to achieve this union by following the Path of Right Action. When the Karma Yogi is able to perform his actions in the correct manner, by surrendering all his actions and their consequences to the Lord, he becomes detached from all his activities and submits himself entirely to God. On the other hand, “Bhakti Yoga” advises the spiritualist to become a true devotee of the Lord, by worshipping him with pure love and devotion. The “Bhakta” (a true devotee) should be dedicated to the service of the Almighty and train his mind, intellect and thoughts to focus solely upon The Master. In this way, the devotee is able to receive the mercy of the Lord and be liberated from the cycle of rebirth. (Hopkins 90-91) The Ultimate Goals of Karma Yoga and Bhakti Yoga In the Hindu philosophy, the ultimate aim of all souls is to attain salvation by way of union with the Supreme Lord. According to Hinduism, the souls are a part of the magnificent divine power, the only difference being they are a small manifestation of the latter. However, the souls have accumulated their own “karmic” accounts after having passed through many births on this earth. They must settle this account of “karma” before they again unite with the Supreme Power. Therefore, the souls assume a physical form (any living being) and are born on the earth to undertake the effects of their “karma”. Karma denotes action and can be classified as “good karma” and “bad karma” depending upon the intention of the actions. Souls which have accumulated positive karma (from their previous lives) are gradually elevated towards the path of their salvation. On the contrary, souls having accounts of negative karma have to bear the effects of those actions in their present life. If the soul cannot negate the effects of the bad karma in a single lifetime, it must be born again to nullify its karmic account. This is called the karmic cycle of birth and death. Further, according to the Hindu belief, a soul can assume a human form after being after passing through 8,400,000 lives as other living creatures. Human beings are considered to be the most intelligent species among all living being. They are endowed with a body, mind and intellect. Therefore, during the lifetime of a human being, the soul can settle its karmic accounts and simultaneously progress on the spiritual path using its human faculties. Humans can consciously steer their lives on a desired path and seek the ways of getting liberated from the karmic cycle and attaining the desired union with the Creator. Other living creatures are devoid of this sense of consciousness; they live only by their instincts. It is for this reason, that the human birth is considered as a wonderful opportunity. From ancient times, Hindu spiritual masters have emphasized on four different ways of attaining salvation: Karma Yoga or the Path of Right Action, Jnana Yoga or the Path of Knowledge, Dhyana Yoga or the Path of Meditation and Self-Control and Bhakti Yoga or the Path of Love and Devotion. The four paths advocate four different methods of liberating the soul from the effects of its past karmas and progressing on its journey towards salvation. However, the ultimate aim of the four Yogas is the same: to emancipate the soul from the karmic cycle and unite it with the Supreme Power. This paper has discussed Karma Yoga and Bhakti Yoga as enumerated by Lord Shri Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita. The two paths profess separate approaches for achieving enlightenment: Karma Yoga stresses on undertaking right actions while Bhakti Yoga emphasizes on personally worshipping the Lord with intense love and devotion. However, both the paths lead to the common aim of uniting with the Beloved Lord. (Hopkins 100-105) Are the Two Paths advocating the Same/ Similar Lessons? The “Karma Yoga” and the “Bhakti Yoga” both embody the concept of sacrifice, though it is applied in two different contexts. Sacrifice refers to the concept of “yajna” in Sanskrit. In the ancient Vedic traditions of the Hinduism, “yajna” indicated the holy offerings made to the scared Fire. However, the term “sacrifice” has come to acquire a more universal meaning through the ages. According to sage Aurobindo, sacrifice means to undertake any action of pleasing the Lord, usually undertaken with selfless love being devoid of any selfish motives. To sacrifice means to offer one’s own self: “one’s mind, heart, body, actions and life” to the Supreme Creator. Under “Karma Yoga”, the spiritualist seeks to achieve enlightenment by following the “Path of Right Action”. Lord Krishna declares “In this world, people are fettered by action, unless it is performed as a sacrifice. Therefore, O Arjuna! let your acts be done without attachment as sacrifice only.” (S. p.27; 3.9). When persons perform actions for accomplishing selfish motives, they become attached to the actions and their results. In this case, the path of actions does not guide the spiritual seeker towards achieving salvation. Therefore, the Lord advises man to undertake his actions as an act of offering or sacrifice to the Supreme Creator. Only then, he will be able to detach himself from his activities and their respective consequences. The Supreme Lord further states that during the beginning of Creation, God had created mankind by sacrificing Himself. Human Beings themselves have been endowed with the ability to procreate by sacrificing themselves and this was supposed to satisfy all their desires. Lord Krishna instructs the human race to revere and worship Nature’s Forces which in turn would nourish mankind with their resources. The sacrificial actions of the humans would encourage Nature to provide the best of its resources to satisfy man’s desire. In this way, if man is able to develop a mutually supportive relationship with the Forces of Nature, he would be able to attain the highest level of welfare for the entire civilization. Under the ancient Hindu Vedic tradition, the pious sages used to first offer their cooked food as sacrifice to God and then eat the remnants of that food; in this way, the hermits were liberated from their sins. On the other hand, persons who prepare and consume food only for satisfying their senses keep accumulating their sins by this method. Lord Krishna has identified “sacrifice” as the most noble of all actions. He states the all living beings are nourished by food, which is produced with the help of rain and rainfall itself is a product of sacrifice. Thus, sacrifice results in a life sustaining natural force which preserves the existence of the human race on this earth. Therefore, sacrifice can be inferred as the righteous form of all actions. According to the Lord, the Supreme Imperishable Spirit is the actual origin of all actions and this all-encompassing is present in all actions undertaken for sacrifice. In contrast, a person who performs actions for the selfish motive of satisfying his senses does not contribute to the continuous cycle of sacrifice and thus leads a sinful life. “On the other hand, the soul who meditates on the Self, is content to serve the Self and rests satisfied within the Self – there remains nothing more for him to accomplish”. (S. p.27; 3.17). Lord Krishna advises man to accomplish his duty with perfection without worrying about the results of his actions. This is how the concept of sacrifice is enumerated in the Karma Yoga which will ultimately guide the spiritualist towards attaining union with the Supreme Creator. (Klostermaier, 124-127) Under “Bhakti Yoga” the spiritual seeker embarks on a journey to attain salvation following the Path of Love and Devotion. The concept of sacrifice is embodied in this path also, though in a different way. Lord Krishna tells his subordinate Arjuna that the devotees who “Suduing their senses, viewing all conditions of life with the same eye, and working for the welfare of all beings, assuredly they come to Me.” (S. p.99; 12.4). This verse of the “Bhakti Yoga” conveys the idea of sacrifice. The Lord asks his devotees to restrain their senses of pleasures and adopt a calm attitude in all circumstances of life so that they can work towards the betterment of the entire human race. The spiritualists are advised to sacrifice the enjoyment of their sensual pleasures and participate in constructive actions that would benefit the society at large. In the words of the Lord “Verily those who surrender their actions to Me, who muse on Me, worship Me, and meditate on Me alone, with no thought save of Me, O Arjuna! I rescue them quickly from the ocean of life and deaths, for their minds are fixed on Me. Then let your mind cling only to Me, let your intellect abide in Me, and without doubt you shall live hereafter in Me alone” (S. p.99; 12.6, 7, 8). Lord Shri Krishna advises his true devotees to sacrifice all their actions to Him. He asks them to worship Him, meditate on Him and focus their mind and intellect on Him alone so that all their thoughts are centered round Him. The Lord directs his followers to surrender their own selves: their thoughts, minds and intellect to the Lord Himself. He would bestow his mercy on such worshippers and emancipate them from the cycle of birth and death. Therefore the path of Bhakti Yoga, advocates the complete surrender of the human self to the Divine Power of the Lord. Lord Krishna further tells his devotees, that if they are unable to focus their minds on Him even after regular practice, then they should dedicate themselves to the service of the Lord and perform all their actions for His sake. By offering their services and activities to the Lord in this way, the “bhaktas” will be able to attain Him. The Lord says that if the devotees are too weak to accomplish this, then they should seek shelter in their unification with the Lord. Once the ‘bhaktas” are able to sacrifice their entire selves to the Lord, they would be able to unite with the Supreme Master. A true devotee should be able to detach himself from the consequences of all his actions by way of controlling his senses. This is the way in which the concept of sacrifice and offering is mentioned in the Bhakti Yoga. (Klostermaier, 186-190) Concluding remarks Initially, the Karma Yoga and the Bhakti Yoga seem to advocate separate preaching. However, deeper analysis leads to the inference that the two paths seem to preach similar aspects. Under the Karma Yoga, the spiritual seeker would be guided to the path of salvation by undertaking the right actions while in the Bhakti Yoga, the devotee would attain union with the Supreme Lord by worshipping Him personally with love and affection. From this point, the two Yogas seem to be professing different lessons. However, a detailed study of the verses that describe the two Yogas, reveal that both the Paths ultimately advocate the complete surrender of the body, mind, soul and actions of the human beings to the Great Creator. Here, the two Yogas appear to be advocating similar messages. This is quite logical since the ultimate aim of the Karma Yoga and the Bhakti Yoga is the same: to liberate the human soul from the karmic cycle and unite it with the Supreme Creator. Read More