Bhagavan gave good narrative of Karma and Karma Yoga in the third chapter of Bhagavadgita. We have to understand certain principles before we can practice this Karma Yoga. We can not travel without having a goal to reach. It is essential to have the knowledge of the object that we want to achieve and means to reach that object. Arjuna was confused after listening to Bhagavan about Saankya Yoga and Karma. He could not decide the path that he needs to adopt. He prostrates to Lord Sri Krishna and asks him to show him the path which is good for him. He felt that he was losing his mind, so he begged Lord Krishna to rescue him. Then Bhagavan said the following verse.
Loke'smin -dvividhaa Nishtaa Puraa Prokthaa Maya anaghaa!
Jnanayogena Saankyanaam Karma Yogena yoginaam !!
In this world there is a two -fold path, as I said before: O sinless one; the "Path of knowledge" of the Saankyaas and the path of action of the Yogis.
There are two paths that were described in the above verse; one is The Path of Knowledge and second one is Path of Action. We have to adopt one of these paths. No one can avoid karma and humans cannot achieve salvation without performing Karmas (action). In a similar way we cannot reach the goal just with knowledge. So we need both of them.
We do so many karmas in daily life such as getting up from sleep, eating, drinking, breathing, eliminating waste from the body, sleeping, dreaming, thinking etc. All these can not be avoided. These are the involuntary aspects of the human life. The trigunas (Satva, Rajo and Tamo) are the main reason why we are gravitated towards doing karmas. A Jnaani also goes through all these actions but a jnaani does not have the interest in the fruits of those actions. That's why they are not influenced by good or bad outcomes of those actions. If we can practice not getting attached to the results of an action, then we also can also travel towards salvation easily.
Sri Shirdi Sai emphasized the same kind of practice by teaching the practical aspects of life and how to adopt these techniques through routine events of life. Sri Sai focused on Dharma and we can learn this through the stories of Sai Satcharita. We have to read scriptures to learn this Dharma. If we do not know the rules of the game, how can we even conduct ourselves this so called Life show. We have to learn to revere great souls who can teach us these principles and lead us in this path. Otherwise we will be wandering in this jungle of life without a proper direction.
Lord Sri Krishna beautifully portrays the art of converting each karma into Karma Yoga in the third chapter of Bhagavadgita. We will all pray to our Guru Sri Sai to give us the wisdom to understand this Karma yoga so that we can incorporate into our daily life.
OM SRI SAI RAM!
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