| 4. Not by abstaining
from action does man win actionlessness, nor by mere renunciation does be
attain perfection.Action refers to the acts of worship (Yajna) which, performed
in this or a previous birth, conduce to the destruction of sins committed
in the past and cause purity of mind (sattva, antahkarana) ; and by thus
purifying mind, they cause knowledge to spring up and lead to the path of
devotion to knowledge. It is said in the Mahabharata:Knowledge springs in
men on the destruction of sinful karma, when the Self is seen in self as
in a clean mirror.By abstaining from action man cannot attain to actionlessness
(naishkarmya), freedom from activity, .e devotion in the path of knowledge,
the condition of the actionless Self. From the statement that man wins not
freedom from activity by abstaining from action, it is understood that by
the opposite course, i.e by performing action, man attains freedom from
activity. For what reason, then, does he not attain freedom from activity
by abstaining from action ? The answer follows:For, performance of action
is a means of attaining freedom from activity. Certainly there is no attaining
of an end except by proper means. Devotion to action is the means of attaining
freedom from activity, i.e devotion to knowledge,as taught in the sruti,
as well as here. In the sruti, for instance, karmayoga is declared to be
a means to jnanayoga in the following passage:The Brahmanas seek to know
this (the Self) by the study of the Vedas, by yajna or worship.In this passage,
karmayoga is pointed out as a means of realizing the Self that is sought
after. Here (in the BhagavadGita) the following passages point to the same
view:But without Yoga, O mightyarmed, renunciation is hard to attain. (v.
6.)Having abandoned attachment, Yogins perform action for the purification
of the Self. (v.11.)Sacrifice, gift and also austerity are the purifiers
of he wise. (xvi). |
