Krishna
gives so much emphasis on akarma or
inaction. In-action in depth is his message. As discussed earlier, even if we
want to remember a friend’s name we cannot succeed as long as we go on
straining our mind. Memory comes alive only when we give up efforts and become
totally inactive. Similarly if we become totally inactive – inactive in depth-
the memory buried in the cosmic unconsciousness will spring like an arrow from
there and shoot up to our conscious mind. And when the meteor of remembering,
awareness arising from the cosmic unconscious, reaches and illumines our
conscious mind, we know who we are. So inaction is the key to remembering, as
remembering is the key to devotion. On the other hand, action is the central to
spiritual discipline, it is only
through action that we can discipline our self and achieve our goal. And
inaction is the door to devotion. It would be good to properly understand
Krishna’s principle of inaction. Unfortunately it is not properly understood by
many, many interpreted Krishna, thought inaction as renunciation. Here
renunciation is escapism, escape from life. And all this happened in the name
of Krishna. Few bothered to see that Krishna himself is not a person who led a
life of renunciation; he never left his world, his family and his worldly
responsibilities. He loves, marries, fights wars and negotiates peace. He does
many other things. So by no stretch of imagination can Krishna’s inaction be
interpreted as renunciation and escape.
In this
context Krishna uses 3 words: akarma, karma and vikarma, meaning inaction, action and non-action. What is
action? According to Krishna, mere doing is not action. It is true- if any kind
of doing is action, then one could never enter into inaction. Then the inaction
of Krishna’s definition will be impossible. For Krishna, action is that which
you do as a doer, as an ego, an
egocentric act, an act in which the doer is always present. As long as ‘I’
remain as a doer, whatever we do is action- karma. Even if we take sanyas it is
an act, an action. Even renunciation becomes an action if a doer is present in
the act.
Inaction is just the opposite
kind of action- it is action without a doer. Inaction does not mean absence of
action, but it certainly means absence of the doer. An egoless action is
inaction. If I do a thing without the egoistic sense that I am the doer, that I
am the center of this action, it is inaction. It has to be clearly understood,
inaction is not laziness. If the center, the ego, the I, the doer, ceases and
only action remains, it is inaction. Krishna’s every action is egoless, and
therefore it is inaction. Between action and inaction there is akarma or
non-action, which means a special kind of action. Inaction is ego-less action
and action is egoistic action, so the non- action is a special kind of action.
The thing which is in between action and inaction, Krishna calls non- action
should be understood rightly.
Wishing you all health and
happiness,
Dr. Dwarakanath, Director,
MITRAN foundation- the stress management people
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