Notes
Part III: “Let Every Step Be Its Own Reward”
1 Krishna’s first teachings to Arjuna in Chapter 2 are about the soul. Krishna tells Arjuna he is much bigger than his small human story. Krishna reveals that the soul is quite wonderful: she survives the dark night, and even the death of the body.
2 Karma-yoga is the main teaching that dominates the first third of the
Bhagavad Gita, particularly Chapters 2–5. Chapter 6, along with other passages in the
Mahabharata, contains the earliest complete exposition of the yoga system later taught by Patanjali. Krishna explains that renunciation, or letting go of the fruits of action, is an inherent feature of such yoga practice. In other words, Patanjali’s yoga system can be properly undertaken only by someone who has mentally withdrawn their mind and senses in the manner achieved by practising Karma-yoga.
3 See
Bhagavad Gita, 3.4–8. This passage is aimed at those who say giving up worldly desires is possible only by withdrawing from the world. Krishna advises that better than physically renouncing the world is to cultivate a mood of inner renunciation while remaining active in the world.
4 Bhagavad Gita, 2.50:
yogah karmasu kaushalam (“yoga is skill in action”).
6 Bhagavad Gita, 18.47. “Own path” translates
sva-dharma, used here to refer to one’s path aligned with one’s own nature. In the
Bhagavad Gita, dharma is not just what a person ought to do; it’s a reflection of a person’s inner nature (
sva-bhava). “Go wrong” translates
apnoti kilbisham, which means, literally, “incurs sin or fault”. The first half of this verse is repeated from
Bhagavad Gita, 3.35.
7 Bhagavad Gita, 2.47. The opening verses of the
Isha Upanishad refer to the same teaching of desireless action, which doesn’t bind the performer.
8 Early on in the
Bhagavad Gita, Krishna advises Arjuna to act without attachment to success or failure, and thereby perform yoga (2.48). A sage of steady mind, Krishna says, is free from attachment (2.56). Krishna warns Arjuna that attachment leads to intense longing, and frustrated longing turns into anger (2.62). Indeed, the subject of attachment is treated in one way or another throughout the
Gita. It is fitting, therefore, that the text begins with Dhritarashtra’s paradigm of attachment, evinced by the word
mamakah, “belonging to me”.
10 Bronnie Ware,
The Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing (2011), pp. 34–43.
11 Bhagavad Gita, 18.47, paraphrased.
12 Bhagavad Gita, 3.35, paraphrased.
13 Bhagavad Gita, 18.47–8. This passage refers to Arjuna by his name Kaunteya.
14 Steve Jobs, Stanford University commencement speech, 12 Jun. 2005.
16 For example, see
Bhagavad Gita, 18.47. Every person is born with an inherent nature (referred to in the
Gita as
sva-bhava), and one’s personal dharma is a reflection of that nature. The broad differences in inherent natures were reflected in ancient India in the division of society into four categories: teachers and thinkers (
brahmanas), warriors and managers (
kshatriyas), traders and entrepreneurs (
vaishyas), and artisans, labourers and servants (
shudras). Of course, the sacred texts also speak about the highest dharma (known as
para-dharma), which relates not to the temporary body and mind, but to the eternal soul. That dharma, as we shall see, is sacred love for the Divine, the Soul of all souls (e.g.
Bhagavata Purana, 1.2.6).
17 Bhagavad Gita, 18.45, italics added. “Full perfection” translates
samsiddhim.
18 Bhagavad Gita, 18.48.
Saha-jam means, literally, “born along with”. This indicates we are each born to perform a particular type of action.
19 Bhagavad Gita, 18.46. Our work becomes worship when we follow the three steps of Karma-yoga and make what we do an offering to the Divine, the origin of all beings and of all natures.
20 For example,
Bhagavad Gita, 2.47–48.
21 Paraphrased. Krishna defines yoga as remaining the same in success and failure (
Bhagavad Gita, 2.48:
samatvam yoga uchyate).
23 Paraphrased. On success and failure:
Bhagavad Gita, 2.38 and 2.48.
24 In
Bhagavad Gita, 6.23, Krishna defines yoga as
duhkha-samyoga-viyogam, “severing our connection with suffering”. The wisdom of ancient India is designed to free one from suffering associated with the three phases of time (e.g.
Bhagavata Purana, 1.7.7).
25 The subject of attachment, and of letting go, is treated in one way or another throughout the
Bhagavad Gita. For example, see
Bhagavad Gita, 2.48, 2.56, 2.62, 2.64, 3.7, 3.19, 3.25, 3.34, 4.10, 4.20, 4.23, 5.10, 5.11, 7.11, 13.10, 13.11, 13.15, 14.22, 17.5, 18.6, 18.9, 18.23, 18.34 and 18.51.
28 Paraphrased. As Krishna later confides, yoga is “the unwavering offering of love” (
Bhagavad Gita, 13.10).
29 For example, see
Bhagavad Gita, 10.8 and
Bhagavata Purana, 4.31.14.
30 Bhagavad Gita, 3.25. See also
Bhagavad Gita, 3.20 and 5.25.
32 A
mudra may be a simple position of the hands and fingers or may involve the whole body.
Mudras of the hands and fingers are known as
hasta-mudras.
33 Indeed, the very first word of the
Gita is “Dhritarashtra”, a compound word that denotes one who has seized the lands of another.