Krishna on Bondage 4

Krishna says a wise man gives up attachment to the fruits of action and attains to freedom from bondage of birth and death. The whole thing needs to be understood in depth. Firstly, Krishna does not talk about our release from action itself. He emphasizes release from attachment to the fruits of action. He does not ask us to give up action and become inactive. Krishna urges us not to do something with a motive, with an eye on results of the action. There is a meaningful difference between action and the fruit of action. I would like to go deeply into the important matter of action without attachment to its fruits, because it is really arduous. If someone tells us to do something, but not to expect any result from it, we will say,” It is sheer madness to suggest such a thing. If there is no motive to work, why should one work at all?”

This phrase, “Freedom from attachment to the fruits of action” has put many interpreters of Krishna in difficulty. So many found a clever way to circumvent the real meaning of Krishna’s teaching and bring in “Fruit of action” by the back door. They said one who relinquishes attachment to the result of one’s labour attains moksha, liberation. So the fruit of action is in the form of liberation. It is the same if we say that one attains to liberation if he gives up his attachment to fruit of action. Krishna is not providing an incentive to desire less action. An action with an incentive can never be desire less, because what is incentive but a desire for result? Krishna’s “release from bondage” is a consequence which follows desire less action as its shadow. 

Krishna does not say that those who want to be free from the bondage of birth should give up attachment to the fruit of their action. If he says so, he is providing a motive, he is contradicting himself. No, he only says that freedom or liberation is a consequence of desire less action, not its motive. One who desires liberation or freedom can find it very difficult to come to it, because desiring is the barrier. So the question is: How to work without attachment to result?  

Let us contemplate over this and later we shall analyze about two kinds of action in our life!

Wishing you good health & happiness,

Dr. Dwarakanath, Director, Mitran foundation- the stress management people