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Gita Chapter -3
(Karma Yoga)
Essence of Chapter-3
Arjuna felt Krishna was giving him contradicting statements
in this chapter. Arjuna asked Krishna whether he should fight or
not fight the war, he was more confused with Krishna's answer of
seeking the knowledge of Unconditional Consciousness or Brahman.
Arjuna's question is a very
valid question indeed. “If you think that knowledge of knowing
our true nature, that is Unconditional Consciousness or Brahman is superior to
action, why then O Krishna, do you engage me in this terrible action (war)?
We would
also ask the same question like Arjuna. If the purpose of life is know the
Self, then why live a family social life, why not retire to the Himalayas?
Krishna replies, “Man cannot remain even
for a moment without performing some kind of action. Everyone is helplessly
driven to action by the qualities born of nature. One may be able to
physically stop doing actions for few minutes or hours, but the thinking
action goes on incessantly.
Action
in inaction
and inaction
in action.
Since
action is inevitable then what matters is, how the action is conceived
 at
the mental level. The difference between an ordinary person and a self
realized person lies in this great truth.
Krishna tells Arjuna to see action in-action, which means the body is at
rest, but witness the thinking action going on. We are always doing non-stop
thinking and so we are not able to notice the Un-Conditional Consciousness,
which is our true nature. We are not the thinker but the one who witnesses
thinking.
Whereas the Self realized person witness (in-action) the thinking
event (action) and so Krishna says in-action in action. In-action is
witnessing the action. While watching movies we become so identified with
the shadow characters on the screen that we forget our true nature that we
are witnessing a movie. Like the movie and the viewer and different the
thinking-thinker and the witnessor are different.
“The egoistic man thinks ‘I am the doer’. In reality Prakriti (Nature) does
everything. This means that it is the Ego that thinks that it is the doer
and enjoyer of the pleasures. However the irony is that the Ego does not
accept the fact that it is also bound to suffer pain.
Arjuna's
immediate question was how to free oneself from mode of action and instead
be the witnessor of actions? How to do an action without attachment or not
expecting the fruits of an action?
Krishna replied
that by performing
action (duty) without attachment will alone help us know that
we are really the witnessor. This identity correction to be the
witnessor is "Freedom" or Moksha.
This immediately
gives rise to two questions: 1. Freedom from what? and 2. What is
detachment?
Please
click here to continue read chapter-3.
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