Action is a given. The quality of action is determined by the intention, the motive. Perform niyatam karma, obligatory action, the highest quality of action. Reduce kamya karma, desire-driven action, which can take you away from your goal. Keep away from nishiddha karma, actions prohibited by your conscience. As long as you remain focussed on duty the mind is calm, intellect sharp and action brilliant. As desires mount the mind gets agitated and action becomes flawed. When desires outstrip your resources you perform dangerous actions that your conscience revolts against.
Krishna underscores the importance of yajna (sacrifice), actions dedicated to a higher ideal.He says, when the Creator made the human being He gave him the unique capacity of sacrifice and said,“With sacrifice may you prosper. Let it be the fulfiller of all your desires.” It is impossible to succeed if you do not act in a spirit of service and sacrifice. Yet we are all trying to prosper through selfish pursuits!
Identify your svadharma, inner calling, core interest. In the area of your svadharma fix a goal that is beyond your selfish interests. Thought of self is the greatest barrier to excellence. There is perfection in everyone. All you have to do is get yourself out of the way – your ego, desire, selfishness! The higher ideal helps you tap into sources of energy you never thought you had. You get creative. And you are exhilarated at work.
Krishna then gives the ingredients of perfect action. The intellect directs all thoughts to the chosen ideal, the mind feels for the goal and the body acts dynamically. This creates energy which tends to dissipate into the unproductive avenues of past worry, future anxiety and present frenzy. The intellect plugs this wasteful dissipation. Follow this formula to achieve success, happiness and spiritual evolution.
Arjuna asks – What takes me away from my path and makes me do things I ought not to do? Krishna answers – It is desire, it is anger, born of the quality of rajas, passion. Desire comes in three shades – sattva purity, rajas passion and tamas gnorance.The brilliance and splendour of Atman shine forth in a sattvika person. Rajas covers Atman like dust on a mirror. Tamas completely covers Divinity; it takes time to overcome lethargy and indolence.
Desire is your greatest enemy. It devours you and causes a great deal of mental agitation and stress. It is unquenchable, like fire. Trying to satisfy desire by fulfilling it is like trying to extinguish fire with fuel! Moreover, it mutates into other far more destructive forms like greed, delusion, envy and arrogance. Yet everyone is fanning desire – individuals, organisations as well as nations.
Rise to a higher desire, the lower will lose its hold over you. And the object of desire will come to you unsought. Krishna concludes with a highly inspiring message – “Kill the formidable enemy in the form of desire by rising to the highest desire, that of Self-realisation.