Bhagavad Gita 2.47 ,the Bhagavad Gita sloka most educadet indians have learned

[Paramananda das]

Chapter 2. Contents of the Gita Summarized

TEXT 47

karmany evadhikaras te ma phalesu kadacana ma karma-phala-hetur bhur ma te sango 'stv akarmani

SYNONYMS

karmani--prescribed  duties; eva--certainly; adhikarah--right; te--of you; ma--never; phalesu--in the fruits; kadacana--at any time; ma--never; karma-phala--in the result of the work; hetuh--cause; bhuh--become; ma--never; te--of you; sangah--attachment; astu--be there; akarmani--in not doing.

TRANSLATION

You have a right to perform  your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never  consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, and never  be attached to not doing your duty.

PURPORT

There are three considerations here:  prescribed duties, capricious work, and inaction. Prescribed duties refer to  activities performed while one is in the modes of material nature. Capricious  work means actions without the sanction of authority, and inaction means not  performing one's prescribed duties. The Lord advised that Arjuna not be  inactive, but that he perform his prescribed duty without being attached to the  result. One who is attached to the result of his work is also the cause of the  action. Thus he is the enjoyer or sufferer of the result of such actions. As far as prescribed  duties are concerned, they can be fitted into three subdivisions, namely routine  work, emergency work and desired activities. Routine work, in terms of the  scriptural injunctions, is done without desire for results. As one has to do it,  obligatory work is action in the mode of goodness. Work with results becomes the  cause of bondage; therefore such work is not auspicious. Everyone has his  proprietary right in regard to prescribed duties, but should act without  attachment to the result; such disinterested obligatory duties doubtlessly lead  one to the path of liberation. Arjuna was therefore advised by the Lord to fight as a matter of duty  without attachment to the result. His nonparticipation in the battle is another  side of attachment. Such attachment never leads one to the path of salvation.  Any attachment, positive or negative, is cause for bondage. Inaction is sinful.  Therefore, fighting as a matter of duty was the only auspicious path of  salvation for Arjuna.

Commentary by Sri Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur

The Lord wanted to speak about the processes of jnana, bhakti and karma yoga to Arjuna, who was his dear friend. Having spoken of jfiana and bhakti yoga, the Lord considered that these two were not suitable for Arjuna. He then spoke of niskama karma yoga.

“You are qualified for works. But those who crave the results are very impure in consciousness. But you have an almost pure heart. I can say this about you since I know you.”

“But in doing actions, a result must come.”

“By doing an action with a desire for a certain result, you become the cause of that result. But you should not act in that manner. I give you that blessing. And do not become attracted to non-performance of your duty, or in doing sin (akarmani), rather you should hate doing that. I give you that blessing also.”

However, in the next chapter, Arjuna says, “My intelligence is bewildered by these equivocal words.” This apparent lack of communion between the two by seeing the previous and later statements should be understood to be intentional, having a purpose “Just as I stand as your charioteer awaiting your order, also should await my order.” One should see that Krishna and Arjuna had real agreement of mind.

Rudra Vaisnava Sampradaya: Visnuswami Sridhara Swami's Commentary It may be postulated that since the results of all actions are attained  simply by worshipping the Supreme Lord, what is the use of any other actions  other than devotion to Him? To counter this conclusion the Supreme Lord states  that all living entities have the right to perform actions but none have the  right to claim the results. An aspirant of the highest knowledge must know that  to hanker or yearn for reward for one's actions is the cause of bondage in the  material existence. But it may be said that all actions produce a result, just  as eating satisfies the urge of hunger. Anticipating this question the Supreme  Lord states that one should not let the anticipated results of actions be the  cause of motivation. Be not one who is controlled by fruitive desires. As heaven  is attained only when desired being connected to the living entity who performed  the rites in the scriptures to attain such an end it can be seen that what is  not desired does not take place. Then on the other hand although fruitive  actions are binding be not attached and not devoted from fear of this bondage to  inaction. This is the idea of this verse.

Brahma Vaisnava Sampradaya: Madhvacarya Madhvacarya's Commentary An embodied soul controlled by mundane desires is considered to be  reprehensible. Even the desire for heavenly enjoyments are to be shunned as they  have the taint of fruitiveness as well. Therefore for those possessing spiritual  intelligence, motivation for the desire of reward is not advisable. Arjuna is  certainly spiritually intelligent and being the son of Indra the ruler of the  demigods he certainly has sufficient adhikari or qualities. Only for the purpose  of giving His unequivocal instructions for posterity has the Supreme Lord  Krishna utilised him to benefit all the worlds. Only those actions prompted by desire for reward are prohibited. Because all  rewards are factually independently ordained by the Supreme Lord it is not  correct to imagine that any reward which one receives is due only to ones own  efforts. Similarly the desire for the rewards of fruitive rewards is also  provided without any aspiration for such. Therefore even by not performing any  actions an opposite result may occur and it can be seen that rewards are  available neither through wisdom nor through desire. So one spiritually situated  performs actions unattached to reward. Verily such is the way of action. Neither  by accepting desires nor by rejecting desires is wisdom gained. Desire is the anticipation of a reward, action motivated by desire for reward  makes an action fruitive and therefore binding. Even so, one who desires engages  in the performance of austerities and penance as a means of sacrificing these  desires. One should not perform penance and austerities with the hope of  obtaining reward otherwise these activities also become frutive as well. Actions  performed without desire as a matter of duty are full of wisdom. Therefore the  wise are not bound by desire for rewards. This is why the Supreme Lord Krishna  states the words ma te meaning never. Never be attached to the fruits of  actions. Any desires which appear are ordained according to the will of the  Supreme Lord. Those that receive the causeless mercy of the Supreme Lord Krishna  are the devotees of the Supreme Lord and by His grace they are benedicted by the  desire only to exclusively serve Him. They have no desire for even liberation  from material existence if it is to be separated from Him. When they are requested to ask for any desire to be granted their only desire is to remain in  service to Him birth after birth, lifetime after lifetime. It is seen and  realised that by possessing the desire to serve the Supreme Lord Krishna in  devotion ones love for Him automatically increases. So from this it can be  understood that those who are imbued with true wisdom perform exclusive  devotional service unto the Supreme Lord Krishna. Now begins the summation. Actions alone are all that living entities are entitled to. The results  however are only within the power of the Supreme Lord Krishna to give. So it is  apparent that one who is governed by the desire for fruitive results is not  properly situated and have subconsciously desired the impossible delusion of  usurping the Supreme Lords infallible position. One should understand that it is  fallacious to believe that one is the ultimate controller of their own destiny  because all results are ultimately ordained by the Supreme Lord. By this  revealing statement which is found in the Paingi scripture it is again clarified  that the living entities are always distinctly different from the Supreme Lord.

Sri Vaisnava Sampradaya: Ramanuja There is no commentary for this verse.

Kumara Vaisnava Sampradaya: Nimbaditya Kesava Kasmiri's Commentary The question may arise that if one seeking liberation from the material  existence should instead acquire firmness in spiritual knowledge and then what  is the use of actions. To this Lord Krishna instructs that everyone has the  right to perform actions in order to purify ones existence and advance in  spiritual knowledge. But one should not cultivate ones mind to think that by the  right to perform actions one receives rewards. This mentality is destructive to  spiritual advancement because then one will get attachment to the actions and  then subsequently to the rewards. So Lord Krishna emphasises never be attached  to the rewards of actions or even consider the rewards because this attachment  will keep up locked in the material existence. A living entity performing  actions without considering the rewards will never develop the fragmentation and  indeterminate nature of one whose mentality is attached to the fruits of their  actions. It is also important to understand that it is not that the person who is performing actions without attachment to the rewards will not receive the  rewards thereof. To the contrary they will certainly receive rewards as well but  the difference is they are not concerned about the reward do not let reward be  the reason for the motivation of their activities. We must perform all of our  actions without being motivated by the fruit. Now in contrast it may be proposed  that instead of performing actions without motivation to the rewards perhaps it  might be better to perform no actions at all. To this Lord Krishna instructs  that one should neither be attached to inaction of not performing ones  prescribed activities. We should not allow our egos to dictate to us that we  should be inactive because then we incur the sin of non-committance in  performing our natural duties everyday and duties in special circumstances and  thus not being responsible as declared in Vedic scriptures. One inclines towards  spiritual advancement should never perform prohibited actions and should avoid performing frivolous actions but with the understanding of responsibility one  should always perform ones obligatory activities daily and occasionaly.

[Paramananda das]

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