Karma Yoga Prakaranam (Topic of Practical Devotion)

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1) Bhatkernirūpaṇaṃ karma, doṣāddoṣaḥ guṇāt guṇaḥ |
Gurvasadguru bhedo'yam, vāhayoriva dṛśyate||

[If the knowledge about God is true and complete, the devotion that arises out of it is also true. If this theoretical spiritual devotion is true, the practical proof of it is the practical devotion. We are not sure that the soul has gained complete true spiritual knowledge from a guru or not because we are not sure that the guru is Sadguru or not. Even if the guru is not Sadguru, if the guru preaches the spiritual knowledge exactly preached to him by Sadguru, such a guru can be treated as Sadguru. If the guru deviates from Sadguru here and there, and introduces his own concepts which contradict the true spiritual knowledge, such a guru is asadguru and the result is that the disciple fails in practical devotion. A guru following the concepts of Sadguru like Krishna is like the train moving on the same railway line without deviation. A asadguru is like the bus deviating slightly to the sides on the road.]

2) Trayo'santaḥ śiṣya lakṣya—svārthājñā vaparau kṣatau |
Tayośśiṣyāḥ pramādoṣa—bhagna saudhā hi niṣphalāḥ ||

[The asadgurus are of three types:- 1) asadguru, knowing the truth modifies the truth a little bit to suit the psychology of the receivers. Such an asadguru is not really asadguru, but, appears as asadguru for the sake of the welfare of the receivers. This type of guru diverts the receivers to the right path shortly. 2) Asadguru knowing the truth modifies the truth for the sake of self-benefit so that the receiver is pleased and offers heavy dakshina (money). Such an asadguru is a serious asadguru, who will be severely punished by God. 3) Asadguru not knowing the truth speaking wrong knowledge will be punished by God since such an asadguru is hasty to become a guru for the sake of name and fame. The followers of 2^nd and 3^rd types gain defective knowledge and carry on the defect into their final practical devotion (karma yoga), which becomes a waste. The defect in foundation will enter the entire building resulting in cracks and will collapse.]

3) Jñāna lopo'sti niṣkāma—bhakti vardhana sādhanam |
Śruti svādhyāya gītādi, putra bhaktyantalakṣyavat ||

[Today, theoretical devotion, service and sacrifice are seen to the climax as in the olden days. The basic foundation, which is spiritual knowledge, is highly defective due to which the directions of theoretical devotion and sacrifice of service and fruit of work are completely spoiled. The main defect lies with the fundamental approach of devotion, which shall be like issue devotion at least if not like fan devotion (i.e. fan becoming mad of the hero). Prostitution devotion and business devotion must be avoided in the beginning itself because these two types maintain a business account with God. In order to achieve such selfless devotion without aspiration for any fruit in return, we must analyze the example of fan devotion in which all the attraction in the mind of the fan started and developed based on the projection of the excellent personality of the hero. Similarly, the spiritual knowledge must project the divine personality of God by which alone, the devotee must develop attraction to God. Preaching of sadguru, reading holy books and singing songs of good devotees will develop such selfless attraction to God.]

4) Sādhanaṃ sarva madyāsti, pare śūnyālayāpadaḥ |
Ādau doṣasthiteḥ kāmyāḥ, vedoktā na tu bhinnadhīḥ ||

[Today, karma yoga (both service and sacrifice) is purely based on instrumental devotion only and goal devotion is not at all seen anywhere. If the goal devotion alone is existing, in the present situation, all the temples will be vacant including the absence of priests also because they are also working with instrumental devotion only. Such situation should not be taken as the exhibition of our importance because God does not bother about this entire earth. He is not a politician, who worries about the absence of supporters. We are only the total losers. But, God, being compassionate on created souls, allows the instrumental devotion of souls in the beginning so that in course of time the souls will enter goal devotion. Hence, the Vedas allow instrumental devotion in the beginning. Even though millions of births are passing, the soul does not even think about goal devotion. As a result, only a very few souls that left business—instrumental devotion entered goal devotion and reached its ripened state. If instrumental devotion is absent, there are some worst souls, which will not have even a trace of even theoretical devotion! They feel that it is a waste of time and mental energy if there is no practical use.]

5) Sādhane vipaṇi prajñā, prema sāntatya śūnyatā |
Draupadyā vastra khaṇḍena, bahu chiīraprado Hariḥ ||

[People are not realizing the real merits of goal devotion. In instrumental devotion, the transaction is closed by one marketing, which has no influence on the second marketing. It becomes only a business transaction and each business transaction is independent and has no continuity. It is just like a transactional dealing between the shopkeeper and the customer. In goal devotion, there is no business transaction at all and only true love without business balance exists. The business bond is temporary and is born fresh again and again for each transaction. When Krishna’s finger was cut by sugar cane, all His wives ran in all directions for a piece of bandage cloth. Draupadi immediately tore her worn new sari and applied the bandage. In fact, Draupadi was sitting in the sacrificial worship and should not tear her new sari since such act would give poverty. Draupadi knew this and really became a beggar to go to forest. But she never thought about this point in her mind since Krishna was more than everything for her. When Draupadi needed saris while being insulted in the court, Krishna gave thousands of saris and did not think about business for a small piece of cloth. In goal devotion, help to the extent of need is only seen and not business equality!]

6) Śaktereva parīkṣā'tra, Dattamūlyaṃ na hi kvacit |
Pūrṇā' pūrṇatva mevekṣyam, vijitā eva nirdhanāḥ ||

[If the devotee is incapable of something, such a thing is not the subject of sacrifice. An old and poor soul is unable to do service and also is unable to do sacrifice of fruit of work. In such a case, theoretical devotion is sufficient for God. A healthy poor soul is able to do service. A healthy rich soul is able to do both service and sacrifice. Service is meant for saints whereas service and sacrifice are meant for householders. In the sacrifice, the sacrificed quantity is not seen, but its percentage in the total possessed counts. A beggar donating one coin (total sacrifice) is appreciated than a rich man donating a hundred coins (partial sacrifice). In the sacrifice of fruit of work, only poor people could succeed. Hence, it shall not be misunderstood as business in which magnitude of sacrificed money brings proportional value.]

7) Jñānāmbu bhakti pāṃsubhyām, aṅkuraḥ phaladāyakaḥ |
Na phalaṃ cāṅkurābhāve, vārdheḥ pāṃsu girerapi ||

[Knowledge is the basic life like water for a plant. Devotion is growing strength like the manure for a plant. But plant or karma yoga is the ultimate, that alone is giving fruits. Even an ocean of water and a hill of manure can’t give a single fruit. But, without water, the plant dies immediately and without manure, the plant can’t grow into a tree to give the fruit. Hence, a plant associated with water and manure alone can give the fruit. Jnaana yoga is the water, bhakti yoga is the manure, and karma yoga (both service and sacrifice) is the plant that alone yields fruit.]

8) Dhanāt karma phala tyāgaḥ, sarva bandhottaraḥ prabhoḥ |
Parīkṣaiva na lābho'tra, viśvarthī vañcanaiva vāk ||

[Krishna polished the Vedic idea from mentioning sacrifice of wealth to the sacrifice of fruit of hard earned work because the bond with hard earned money is more than the bond with wealth given by ancestors. The idea is only that the strongest worldly bond must be defeated before the bond with God so that the bond with God is really the strongest and this means that all worldly bonds are weaker than the bond with God. Here, the entire process is only to test whether the theoretical love developed by spiritual knowledge is really true or not. There is no question of any benefit to God because God is the owner of the entire world. Some clever people say that God is not in need of our sacrifice and use this argument to escape from practical sacrifice!]

9) Sarvado'pīkṣito bhikṣuḥ, channaḥ prema parīkṣitum |
Tyāgāt nirupitaṃ satyam, ye yathā māmitīritam ||

[Actually, God has hidden the truth that He is the donor of all your wealth because if this fact is known, tests can’t be seriously conducted. He appears as a beggar and all the wealth of the rich man was blessed by Him only. Hiding this fact, He begs the rich man to test the quality of sacrifice only even though there is no need. A grandfather purchased a packet of biscuits and gave it secretly to his daughter-in-law. The grandson gets biscuits from his mother and the grandfather begs the grandson for a biscuit. The grandfather is not in need of the biscuit at all and he is testing the love of his grandson for him. The reality can be seen only through practical sacrifice and this is perfect truth even in worldly life. God told that He will respond to you in the same path in which you approach Him. This is told by Lord Krishna in the Gita “ye yathā māṃ prapadyante…”.]

10) Niṣkāma karma yogārtho, gīto dattasya cāṃśadhīḥ |
Mahāśā dattamūlyānna, sudāma Kṛṣṇayoḥ katha ||

[Nishkaama karma yoga is a very famous slogan of God Krishna in the Gita, which means that you must serve and sacrifice practically to God without aspiration for any fruit in return. Gopikas sacrificed butter, which is their hard-earned wealth. Sudaama being almost a beggar, sacrificed a handful quantity of parched rice, which was procured by him on loan! Surrender of total possessed without aspiring anything in return is the concept here and not sacrifice of a little bit of your total possessed with a view to get a lot of benefit in return. What is important is not the magnitude of your sacrificed quantity, but the percentage of sacrificed in the total possessed by you. Always poor people have won in this practical sacrifice, not rich people.]

Chapter-1: Matāntarīkaraṇa Prakaraṇam

Chapter-2: Parabrahma Prakaraṇam

Chapter-3: Māyā Śakti Prakaraṇam

Chapter-4: Īśvara Prakaraṇam

Chapter-5: Avatāra Prakaraṇam

Chapter-6: Ākāśa Tejaḥ Prakaraṇam

Chapter-7: Vibhūti Prakaraṇam

Chapter-8: Sṛṣṭilakṣya Prakaraṇam

Chapter-9: Jagat Sṛṣṭi Prakaraṇam

Chapter-10: Jīvātma Tattva Prakaraṇam

Chapter-11: Matasamanvaya Prakaraṇam

Chapter-12: Yoga Vicāra Prakaraṇam