न हि देहभृता शक्यं त्यक्तुं कर्माण्यशेषत: |
यस्तु कर्मफलत्यागी स त्यागीत्यभिधीयते || 11||
na hi deha-bhṛitā śhakyaṁ tyaktuṁ karmāṇy aśheṣhataḥ
yas tu karma-phala-tyāgī sa tyāgīty abhidhīyate
na—not; hi—indeed; deha-bhṛitā—for the embodied being; śhakyam—possible; tyaktum—to give up; karmāṇi—activities; aśheṣhataḥ—entirely; yaḥ—who; tu—but; karma-phala—fruits of actions; tyāgī—one who renounces all desires for enjoying the fruits of actions; saḥ—they; tyāgī—one who renounces all desires for enjoying the fruits of actions; iti—as; abhidhīyate—are said
Translation:
Indeed, it is not possible for the embodied being to give up all actions completely; He who renounces the desire for the fruits of action is called (the true) Tyagi (renouncer).
Commentary:
The embodied being has to perform action if only for the maintenance of the body. It is impossible for anyone to renounce action altogether. Therefore, working without concern for any reward flowing from it, is the best method of life. He is not bound by action. He alone is called the real Tyagi. We understand clearly that Tyaga definitely means the renunciation of the fruits of action and not the actions. There should not be any sense of doership; there should not be any secret longing to enjoy the fruits of work. No one can be a tyagi by simply giving up work, nor can he obtain the merit of renunciation. Performing all works and yet being unconcerned with fruits is the characteristic feature of the true Tyagi. Abandoning external objects is not Tyaga. The abandoning of the mental attitude, the internal thought of enjoyment, is the ‘sine quo non’ of true Tyaga. Therefore, the Lord’s command is to carry out all prescribed duties in a selfless detached spirit.
Sri Ramakrishna Says —
MASTER (to Hazra): “What you are doing is right in principle, but the application is not quite correct. Don’t find fault with anyone, not even with an insect. As you pray to God for devotion, so also pray that you may not find fault with anyone.”
HAZRA: “Does God listen to our prayer for bhakti?”
MASTER: “Surely. I can assure you of that a hundred times. But the prayer must be genuine and earnest. Do worldly-minded people weep for God as they do for wife and children? At Kamarpukur the wife of a certain man fell ill. The man thought she would not recover; he began to tremble and was about to faint. Who feels that way for God?”
Hazra was about to take the dust of the Master’s feet.
MASTER (shrinking): “What is this?”
HAZRA: “Why should I not take the dust of his feet who has so kindly kept me with him?”
MASTER: “Satisfy God and everyone will be satisfied. ‘If He is pleased the world is pleased.’ Once the Lord ate a few greens from Draupadi’s cooking-pot and said, ‘Ah, I am satisfied.’ Immediately the whole world and all its living beings were satisfied; they felt as if they had eaten their fill. (BG 15.14) But was the world satisfied or did it feel that way when the rishis ate their food?
(To Hazra) “A perfect soul, even after attaining Knowledge, practises devotions or observes religious ceremonies to set an example to others. (BG 3.26) I go to the Kali temple and I bow before the holy pictures in my room; therefore others do the same. Further, if a man has become habituated to such ceremonies, he feels restless if he does not observe them.
“One day I saw a sannyasi under the banyan-tree. He had put the salagram on the same carpet with his guru’s sandals. He was worshipping them. I said to him, ‘If you have attained Knowledge to that extent,8 then why such formal worship at all?’ He replied: ‘What difference does it make? Since I do everything else, why not this too? Sometimes I offer the flowers at the guru’s feet and sometimes to God.’
“One cannot renounce work as long as one has a body. As long as there is mud at the bottom of the lake, bubbles will be produced. (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)
—–
“How long should a man perform his duties? As long as he identifies himself with the body, in other words, as long as he thinks he is the body. That is what the Gita says. To think of the body as the Atman is ajnana, ignorance.
(To the bearded Brahmo devotee from Shibpur) “Are you a Brahmo?”
DEVOTEE: “Yes, sir.”
MASTER (smiling): “I can recognize a worshipper of the Formless by looking at his face and eyes. Please dive a little deeper. One doesn’t get the gem by floating on the surface. As for myself, I accept all — the formless God and God with form.”
The Marwari devotees from Burrabazar entered the room and saluted the Master. He began to praise them.
MASTER (to the devotees): “Ah! They are real devotees of God. They visit temples, sing hymns to God, and eat prasad. And the gentleman whom they have made their priest this year is learned in the Bhagavata.”
MARWARI DEVOTEE: “Who is this ‘I’ that says, ‘O Lord, I am Thy servant’?”
MASTER: “This is the lingasarira, or embodied soul. It consists of manas, buddhi, chitta, and ahamkara.”
DEVOTEE: “Who is the embodied soul?”
MASTER: “It is the Atman bound by the eight fetters. And what is the chitta? It is the ‘I consciousness’ that says, ‘Aha!'”
DEVOTEE: “Revered sir, what happens after death?”
MASTER: “According to the Gita, one becomes afterwards what one thinks of at the time of death. King Bharata thought of his deer and became a deer in his next life. Therefore one must practise sadhana in order to realise God. If a man thinks of God day and night, he will have the same thought in the hour of death.” (BG 8.5)
DEVOTEE: “Why don’t we feel dispassion toward worldly objects?”
MASTER: “Because of maya. Through maya one feels the Real to be the unreal and the unreal to be the Real. The Real means That which is eternal, the Supreme Brahman; and the unreal means that which is non-eternal, that is to say, the world.”
DEVOTEE: “We read the scriptures. Why is it that we can’t assimilate them?”
MASTER: “What will one accomplish by mere reading? One needs spiritual practice — austerity. Call on God. What is the use of merely repeating the word ‘siddhi’? One must eat a little of it.
“The hand bleeds when it touches a thorny plant. Suppose you bring such a plant and repeat, sitting near it: ‘There! The plant is burning.’ Will that burn the plant? This world is like the thorny plant. Light the fire of Knowledge and with it set the plant ablaze. Only then will it be burnt up.
“One must labour a little while at the stage of sadhana. Then the path becomes easy. Steer the boat around the curves of the river and then let it go with the favourable wind. (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)
Question: Is it possible to abandon acts altogether?
Answer: No. It is not possible for the embodied being.
Question: Who is a Tyagi?
Answer: He who renounces the longing for the fruits of action is a Tyagi ( and not he who abandons action )
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(78 Verses)