Geeta Chapter 2 Verse 48

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Verse 48

योगस्थः कुरु कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा धनंजय ।
सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्योः समो भूत्वा समत्वं योग उच्यते ॥२-४८॥

yogastha˙ kuru karmāṇi saṅgaḿ tyaktvādhanañjaya
siddhy-asiddhyoḥ samo bhūtvāsamatvaḿ yoga ucyate ॥ 2-48 ॥

Transliteration

In Bhagavad Gita chapter 2 verse 48 Lord Krishna addressing Arjuna as Dhananjaya (one capable of winning unaccountable wealth in wars)... simply means that fighting capability of Arjuna as a warrior chieftain was unblemished and he could easily win wars, no matter how mighty the opponent be!

Lord Krishna advises Arjuna to detach self from fruits of karma performed (never karma itself)! Non-indulgence in karma was a sin unpardonable by god. No human being, no spiritual seeker could free self from cycle of birth and death forever without indulgence in karma. Karma was integrated into psyche of living beings from beginning of life! Every single thought precipitates into an act of karma.

Lord Krishna tells Arjuna not to shun karma but keeping away from fruits of karma performed! For an ordinary mortal, fruits of karma were the only motivation to continue life! Our ego also prompts us to go after fruits of karma performed. But our soul atman, the spirit within prompts otherwise! From a spiritual angle, fruits of karma always belonged to the right owner, our true inner self... our soul atman, the spirit within! Why hanker after something that truly did not belong to us.

Lord Krishna advises Arjuna to establish himself in yoga... nishkama karma yoga! Sri Krishna tells Arjuna to live like a trustee of god, offering fruits of karma performed to God Almighty all the time! In this way... karma would not be binding (no karma bandhan)! Indulgence in karma nishkama karma way was the only way to dissolve dross impurities within our soul atman, the spirit within! By developing a single pointed concentration, we need concentrating all our energies behind a single absolute goal of life!

Travelers of spiritual path following path of nishkama karma yoga finally attained Siddhi. At times even a nishkama karma yogi would encounter unpleasant circumstances in form of failures on earthly plane! Here Lord Krishna advises Arjuna to practice equanimity in both stages of life... in happiness and in sorrows! By maintaining a feeling of samatva (equilibrium) in both stages of life, Arjuna would not only progress on earthly plane but also spiritual realm!

This path of samatva has been termed samatva yoga in geeta chapter 2 verse 48. Samatva yoga is another name for path of nishkama karma yoga. The end result of both paths is same. Samatva is an inherent characteristic of a spiritual person. In absence of practice of samatva... none could travel path of nishkama karma yoga! JRD Tata (Jeh... man of steel) was a perfect Karma Yogi who travelled path of samatva all the time. Never for a moment in his life, did he go after money, wealth!

JRD Tata knew nothing of Bhagavad Gita yet, his lifestyle should be emulated by all seekers of spirituality without fail!



The Explanation


Through Bhagavad Gita chapter 2 verse 48 Lord Srikrishna highlights importance of self-discipline for seekers interested in travelling spiritual path. It is only through path of self-discipline... one could practice equanimity (samatva) in all phases of life. Unless we learnt to control five senses, we could never overpower mind. Control on mind power was necessitated to reach stage of samatva. Difficult to practice in real life, for a serious seeker of spirituality travelling path of samatva was not that difficult.

When a seeker viewed both gains and losses equally, one was capable of practicing samatva! Living life with an unattached attitude was the mantra. Unattached to fruits of karma performed and not karma itself! Indulging in nishkama karma yoga was the highest level of meditation that could ever be practiced by human beings! Most on earthly plane worked for the sake of fruits of their efforts. If the fruits were denied to them... there was a distinct possibility that they stopped working altogether!

This feeling of samatva, indulgence in nishkama karma yoga must develop from within! Mere pretence in field of spirituality never yielded any results. We had to be truthful to the core to travel path of nishkama karma yoga... samatva yoga! We could fool others but not our true inner self... our soul atman, the spirit within! The control of karma of all human beings lay directly in hands of God Almighty. One had to work within limits lest we face wrath of God Almighty.

Allegorically, bhagavad gita chapter 2 verse 48 conveys a very potent hidden inner meaning. Lord Krishna that exists in our heart as our soul atman, the spirit within always prompts us on right path! For reaching god in present life, for accomplishing the ultimate goal of life on mother earth... our belief, our faith in existence of our soul atman, the spirit within must be absolute!

Many human beings world over did not believe in existence of a soul atman within our heart! Can such human beings ever realize their true inner self within their lifetime? In domain of God Almighty, it was absolute faith in God that paved way for miracles, grace of God Almighty! The moment we develop absolute faith in presence of soul atman, the spirit within our heart... we could hear the sweet small inner voice of our soul atman all the time! It is this voice of our soul atman... following which any human being world over could easily reach god in ones lifetime. God was never far away from us. It all the time existed in our heart in miniscule form as our soul atman, the spirit within!

When travelling path of spirituality, it is the voice of this soul atman that prompts from within to follow path of nishkama karma yoga... path of samatva yoga all the time! Right from six years of age, I have done it all the time! Practicing truthfulness at every stage of life... I could hear the sweet small inner voice of my soul atman all the time! My faith in God Almighty all the time was absolute. My faith in existence of a soul atman within my heart was absolute. So much so, if God Almighty himself came disguised to sway me from path of absolute truthfulness... I would have not! With passage of time I realized that I was a spirit, a soul atman on its cosmic life cycle of 8.4 million manifestations that entailed an earthly journey of 96.4 million years.

The moment I realized I was a spiritual traveler, I indulged in karma nishkama karma way! JRD Tata inherently became my guide for life. All his life JRD Tata lived like a true trustee of God almighty. Not for a single moment did JRD Tata believed that he owned Tata empire. He always considered himself as an instrument in hands of God Almighty, doing his bidding all the time! JRD Tata truly worked like a true trustee of God Almighty. He was a nishkama karma yogi par excellence. JRD Tata far excelled achievements of many so-called sages and saints of present era. To reach god in present life... one must try to emulate character of JRD Tata in their life!

JRD Tata knew nothing of Bhagavad Gita yet, he practiced teachings contained in Bhagavad Gita all his life! When we worked for welfare of mankind at large, selfish interests died of their own! The entire Tata Empire as of today stands for ethical and moral values that younger generation of present times must follow tooth and nail! To become a karma yogi, one need not wrap saffron clothes and become a mendicant, a wandering saint! The feeling of samatva, equanimity must always flow from within!

Commentary by: Vijay Kumar "Atma Jnani"... The Man who Realized God in 1993 - your query!
 

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