Bg duty

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The concept of "duty" (or dharma) in the Bhagavad Gita emphasizes performing your prescribed duties without attachment to the results, as seen in verses like 2.47, which states, "You have the right to do your duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions". It also stresses acting according to your innate nature rather than another's, even if your own duty is flawed, and performing it with equanimity in the face of success or failure. 

Key Verses on Duty

Bhagavad Gita 2.47: "You have a right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions". This is the core teaching on duty and selfless action, urging detachment from the outcome. 

Bhagavad Gita 2.48: "Perform your responsibilities or duties while letting go of attachment and remaining even-minded in success and failure; this is what yoga is all about". This verse defines yoga as the balanced execution of duty. 

Bhagavad Gita 3.35: "It is far better to perform one's natural prescribed duty, though tinged with faults, than to perform another's prescribed duty, though perfectly". This highlights the importance of acting according to one's true nature (svadharma). 

Bhagavad Gita 18.47: Similar to 3.35, this verse states, "It is better to do one's own dharma, even though imperfectly, than to do another's dharma, even though perfectly. By doing one's innate duties, a person does not incur sin". 

Understanding Duty in the Gita

Selfless Action: Duty is performed for its own sake, not for personal gain or reward. 

Equanimity: One should maintain a steady mind, remaining indifferent to the outcomes, whether they are victories or defeats. 

Natural Inclination (Svadharma): Fulfilling one's duty means acting in accordance with one's natural tendencies and societal role. 

Inaction vs. Detachment: True "inaction" in the Gita is not physical idleness but mental detachment from the fruits of one's actions, which frees the individual from the cycle of karma. 

Righteous Action: Fulfilling your duty, especially when it upholds righteousness, will not result in sin. 

Easwar

 

4-1 Avatara 4(1 to 9,14)   4-2 Visvarupa 7(8 to 12), 9(15 to 19) 9(15 to 19.  

 Vibhuties of Isvara-Divine Glory 10(1 to7,12 to 42), 15(12 to 15)

Jagat

 

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Jagat 2(28), 7(4 to 7), 8(3,4,17 to 19), 9(7 to 10), 13(6,7,26), 14(3,4), 15(1 to 3) 

• All beings are unmanifest in their beginning, O Bhārata, manifest in their middle state, and unmanifest again in their end. Why, then, lament for them? (2.28)
• Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, reason, and also egoism – these are the eightfold divisions of My nature. (7.4)
• O Arjuna! This is the inferior (described in the previous verse), Know My other nature, the Higher – Para Prakriti, the life-element by which the universe is upheld. (7.5)
• Know this (Prakriti) to be the womb of all beings; I am the source of the outcoming of the whole universe, and like-wise the source of its dissolution. (7.6)
• There is nothing higher than Myself, O Arjun. Everything rests in Me, as gems strung on a thread. (7.7)
• The Lord said: Brahman is supreme, imperishable. Its essential nature is called Adhyatma (Self-knowledge); the act of sacrifice that causes the birth of beings is named karma (action). (8.3)
• O best of the embodied souls, the physical manifestation that is constantly changing is called adhibhūta; the universal form of God, which presides over the celestial gods in this creation, is called adhidaiva; I, who dwell in the heart of every living being, am called Adhiyajña, or the Lord of all sacrifices. (8.4)
• Those people who know the length of the day of Brahma which ends in a thousand yugas and night which also ends in a thousand yugas, know day and night. (8.17)
• At the approach of the day all manifest objects come forth from the unmanifested, and at the approach of the night they merge again into that which is called the unmanifested. (8.18)
• The same multitude of beings, coming forth again and again, merge, in spite of themselves, Ο Pārtha, at the approach of the night, and remanifest themselves at the approach of the day. (8.19)
• At the end of a cycle all beings, Ο son of Kunti, enter into My Prakriti, and at the beginning of a cycle I generate them again. (9.7)
• Controlling My own Prakriti, I send forth, again and again, all this multitude of beings, helpless under the sway of māyā. (9.8)
• And these acts, Ο Dhananjaya, do not bind Me; for I remain unattached to them, as one unconcerned. (9.9)
• Prakriti, under My guidance, gives birth to all things, moving and unmoving; and because of this, Ο son of Kunti, the world revolves. (9.10)
• The great elements, I-consciousness, understanding, and the unmanifested; the ten senses, the mind, the five objects of the senses; Desire, hatred, pleasure, pain, the aggregate, intelligence, and fortitude— this, briefly stated, is the Field together with its modifications. (13.6-13.7
• And there are yet some who do not know It by these means. They hear of It from others and worship. They too pass beyond death through their devotion to what they have heard. (13.26)
• The Great Nature is My womb; in that I place the seed of life, and thence are born all beings, Ο Bhārata. (14.3)
• Whatever form is produced, Ο son of Kunti, in any womb, the Great Nature is its womb, and I am the seed-giving Father. (14.4)
• The Lord said: They speak of an imperishable Aśvattha Tree with its root above and branches below. Its leaves are the Vedas, and he who knows it knows the Vedas. (15.1)
• Above and below spread its branches, nourished by the gunas. Sense-objects are its buds; and its clustering roots spread downward in the world of men, giving rise to action. (15.2)
• Its true form is not comprehended here, nor its end, nor its origin, nor even its existence. Having cut down this firm-rooted Aśvattha with the strong axe of detachment, one should pray, “I take refuge in that Primal Being from whom has streamed forth this eternal activity,” and seek that Goal from which they who have reached it never return. (15.3-15.4)
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Jiva

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Jiva 2(10 to 12,18),13(20),14(5),15(8 to 10)

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• O king Dhritarashtra! Seeing Arjuna lamenting in the middle of two armies, Lord Krishna, as if laughing loud, spoke these words. (2.10)
• The Lord said: O Arjuna! You grieve for those for whom there need be no sorrow, yet you speak words of wisdom. The wise do not grieve for the dead or living. (2.11)
• Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor these kings of men. Never will there be a time hereafter when any of us shall cease to be. (2.12)
• http://These bodies which belong to the real imperishable, unknowable Atma are said to be subject to an end; therefore fight, O Arjuna!t. (2.18)
• Know that Prakriti and Purusha are both without beginning; and know, too, that all forms and gunas are born of Prakriti. (13.20)
• O Arjuna! Born of Prakriti, the three Gunas, Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas bind the imperishable Jivatma in the body. (14.5)
• When the lord acquires a body, and when he leaves it, he takes these with him and goes on his way, as the wind carries away the scents from their places. (15.8)
• Presiding over the ear and the eye, the organs of touch, taste, and smell, and also over the mind, he experiences sense-objects. (15.9)
• The deluded do not perceive him when he departs from the body or dwells in it, when he experiences objects or is united with the gunas; but they who have the eye of wisdom perceive him. (15.10)

Gita ...the path

 to understand where we stand now is more important than to focus on what we would expect to happen afterwards. 

Forgetting the present predicament is to become feeble at our base when we try to ascend further and further. 

Every step that we take in spiritual life should be a firm step. It does not matter if we take only one step, but it should be a firm step. 

If we hurriedly take steps,  afterwards we may have to retrace our steps. That should not be done. 

Even if years are needed to take these steps, it does  not matter, as long as the little that we have achieved is a firm and solid achievement. 

When the spiritual seeker passes some years in self abnegation, a determined spirit arises: 

I have risen above all the desires of the world. I have had enough of all things. I am now here to fight the battle of life, to transcend the world, to face it, to overcome it, 

and then to go beyond it.

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Gita 5.22

 "Bhagavad Gita The Song of God

Chapter 5 : Karm Sanyās Yog > Verse 22

ये हि संस्पर्शजा भोगा दु:खयोनय एव ते |

आद्यन्तवन्त: कौन्तेय न तेषु रमते बुध: || 22||

ye hi sansparśha-jā bhogā duḥkha-yonaya eva te

ādyantavantaḥ kaunteya na teṣhu ramate budhaḥ

Translation

BG 5.22: The pleasures that arise from contact with the sense objects, though appearing as enjoyable to worldly-minded people, are verily a source of misery. 

O son of Kunti, such pleasures have a beginning and an end, so the wise do not delight in them.

Commentary by Swami Mukundananda

The senses create sensations of pleasure in contact with the sense objects.  The mind, which is like the sixth sense, derives pleasure from honor, praise, circumstances, success, etc.  

All these pleasures of body and mind are known as bhog (material enjoyment).  Such worldly pleasures cannot satisfy the soul for the following reasons:

Worldly pleasures are finite, and hence the feeling of deficiency remains inherent in them.  One may feel happiness on becoming a millionaire, but the same millionaire becomes discontented on seeing a billionaire, and thinks, “If only I also had one billion, then I too would be happy.”  In contrast, the bliss of God is infinite, and so it gives complete satisfaction.

Worldly pleasures are temporary.  Once they finish, they again leave one with the feeling of misery.  For example, an alcoholic enjoys the pleasure of drinking alcohol at night, but the next morning, the hangover gives him a splitting headache.  However, the bliss of God is eternal, and once attained, it remains forever.

Worldly pleasures are insentient, and hence they continuously decrease. 

The pleasure from material objects keeps decreasing as we enjoy it.  

(In Economics, this is defined as the Law of Diminishing Returns. )

 But the bliss of God is sentient; it is sat-chit-ānand (eternal ever-fresh divine bliss).  Hence, one can go on chanting the same divine Name of God all day long, and relish ever-new devotional satisfaction in it.

No sane person enjoying a delicious dessert would be willing to give it up and eat mud instead.  Similarly, when one begins to enjoy divine bliss, the mind loses all taste for material pleasures.  Those endowed with the faculty of discrimination understand the above three drawbacks of material pleasures, and restrain their senses from them.  

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Gita 8.7

 Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 8, Verse 7

तस्मात्सर्वेषु कालेषु मामनुस्मर युध्य च |

मय्यर्पितमनोबुद्धिर्मामेवैष्यस्यसंशयम् || 7||

tasmāt sarveṣhu kāleṣhu mām anusmara yudhya cha

mayyarpita-mano-buddhir mām evaiṣhyasyasanśhayam

Translation

BG 8.7: Therefore, always remember Me and also do your duty of fighting the war. 

With mind and intellect surrendered to Me, you will definitely attain Me; of this, there is no doubt.

Commentary

The essence of the Bhagavad Gita is in the first line . 

It reiterates the definition of karma yoga and applies to people from all walks of life. 

Shree Krishna says to Arjun, “Do your duty with your body, and keep your mind attached to Me.”

 As a warrior, Arjun must fight; that is his duty. However, the Lord says to Arjun that even in the middle of a battle, he should remember God. 

The same message is for everyone—be it farmers, engineers, doctors, students, homemakers, or any other professional. 

People often disregard their worldly duties and responsibilities with the pretext of leading a spiritual life. 

On the other hand, some give an excuse of their worldly engagements for not practicing spirituality. They perceive that both material and spiritual goals; cannot be pursued concurrently.

 But Shree Krishna’s message  defies all these myths and can sanctify our entire life.

In karma yoga, the body is engaged in worldly work, but the mind is attached to God. Hence, while we work to fulfil our worldly duties, these works are not bound by the Law of Karma.

 Works; that are performed with attachment result in karmic reactions. In the absence of attachment, one is not considered guilty even in the worldly laws.

The above example illustrates that even in the material world, one is not held liable for actions taken without attachment to results. Similarly, in the spiritual world, the Law of Karma holds the same principle.

In the Mahabharat war, Arjun fulfiled his duties as a warrior. He fought valiantly without any attachments to worldly gain. He followed Shree Krishna’s instructions and kept his mind constantly attached to God.

 Therefore, at the end of the war, Shree Krishna declared that Arjun had not accrued any bad karma.

The very instant we forget God, our mind is taken over by—desire, envy, greed, lust, anger, hatred, etc. Therefore, it is necessary that we keep our mind always attached to God.

Some people claim to be karma yogis because they practice both karma and yoga. Every day they do their worldly duties, which they call their karma, and a few minutes of yoga, by meditating on God. 

However, this is not the definition of karma yoga given by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita. He says that in karma yoga, there are only two conditions:

1) While doing any work, the mind should always be thinking of God.

2) The remembrance of God should be constant throughout the day and not intermittent.

A famous couplet by Saint Kabir beautifully expresses this concept:

“Remember God just as the village woman remembers the water pot on her head. She speaks with others and walks on the path, but her hand keeps holding onto the pot.”

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