Live Session - Pragmatic Gita - Chapter 4, Shlokas 21 to 28, Vancouver, BC

Prerequisites for succeeding in Nishkama Karma Yoga

In the last few verses, we learned the importance of nishkama karma as it was the only way to engage in inaction and avoid the karmic reactions of our actions. Shree Krishna explains a few key traits of pure devotees who have mastery over their minds and are capable of nishkama karma. 

Nirashih - Free from expectations

Yata Chittatma - Full control over their mind and intellect

Tyakta Sarva Parigraha - Free from sense of ownership

Krishna says that people with these traits, when they perform nishkama karma, they are not bound by their actions and they do not incur any sin.

We have to realize that nobody can escape from the dual nature of this world. Wherever there is night, there is also day. Where there is happiness, there will also be sadness. Where there is abundance there will also be scarcity. Etc. These are called Dwandwas. They always go together. If you have one, you will have the other also. So if you can experience happiness today, you will be experiencing sadness (unhappiness) some other day. It is not a question of if but rather a question of when. 

The concept of Dwandwa, or duality, is a fundamental principle in many philosophical and spiritual traditions. The dual nature of the world is described in many scriptures and philosophies, both Eastern and Western.

Upanishads: In the Upanishads, which are ancient Indian scriptures, this dual nature is extensively discussed. For instance, the Isha Upanishad (verse 9) talks about those who engage in the dualities of the world, and contrasts them with those who seek the underlying unity. It is suggested that the wise should avoid the snare of duality which arises from ignorance and attachment.

Buddhism: In Buddhism, the concept of "Samsara" refers to the cycle of life, death, and rebirth, characterized by dukkha (suffering, anxiety, dissatisfaction). Buddha preached about transcending this duality of pleasure and pain, gain and loss, and so forth through the Eightfold Path, towards the state of Nirvana which is beyond all dualities.

Taoism: In Taoism, the concept of Yin and Yang symbolizes the duality of the universe. Everything has both yin (dark, passive, downward, cold, contracting, and weak) and yang (light, active, upward, hot, expanding, and strong) aspects. Harmony of life lies in balancing these opposites.

Christianity: Even in Christian thought, there are teachings which speak to the dual nature of the world. For example, in the Book of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, it is said that there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, etc.

The ninth verse from the Isha Upanishad is very interesting and insightful in this context:

अन्धं तमः प्रविशन्ति येऽविद्यामुपासते ।

ततो भूय इव ते तमो य उ विद्यायां रताः ॥ 9॥

Andhaṃ tamaḥ praviśanti ye'vidyāmupāsate |

Tato bhūya iva te tamo ya u vidyāyāṃ ratāḥ || 9 ||

Into blinding darkness enter those who worship ignorance (Avidya and rituals).

Into greater darkness, as it were, enter those who blindly worship Vidya.

This verse is a commentary on two groups of people. The first group is those who engage in rites and rituals without understanding the underlying principles of unity in the divine – these people, according to the verse, are entering into blinding darkness.

The second group is those who are engrossed only in the intellectual understanding of divine knowledge, but do not have humility and compassion and do not practice devotional activities and other things that they learned. Such people, it says, enter into an even greater darkness.

The Dualities of Nature
Knowledge without action, and action without understanding, are both incomplete. It's a teaching about the importance of holistic spiritual development: understanding, acting on that understanding, and unifying oneself with the divine in all aspects of life.