Ni

shkamakar
ma–Unsel
fi
shact
ion
Sri Krishnahasgi venel aboratediscour ser egardingt he
characteristi
cnat ur eoft hesoul .Thi siscall
edSaankhy am.Theknowl edge
regardingt heeter nalit
yoft hesoul hasbeeni mpar tedtoAr j
una.Sri Krishnasay s
nd
slokhano. 392 chapt erthatisgoi ngt oteachKar may ogaher eafter.Thi s
karmay ogawhi chi salsocal ledBhagav at
haDhar ma, weneedt ofindoutwhati s
therootcauseofsi n.Themer eact ioni snei
thersi nfulorv i
rtous.Thei ntensi
on
behindt hekar maper f
ormedi sthedeci di
ngfactor .Anykar maper formedwi th
selfi
shmot iv
ei scal ledSakaamaKar ma.Thesameactwi thoutanysel fi
shnessin
theinterestoft hel argersoci etyiscal ledNishkaamaKar ma.I fajudgegi vesa
j
udgementofdeat hsent encet othecr i
minalmur der erandanof fi
cial executes
theorder ,
bothar enotaf fectedbyanysi nsincet heyact edaccor dingt ot helaw
notbyper sonal l
ikesanddi slikes.Theyar edischar gi
ngt heirdutywi thoutany
selfi
shness.Theywi llnotbeconsi der edassi nners.Wher east heyar er espected
asdut i
fulof f
ici
alsandsi ncerecitizensoft hecount ry.

I
nt hisNi shkaamaKar ma, self
lessact ion,therei sno
l
ossofef fort,t
hereisnoadv erser esulteveni fitisnotcompl etedi nonel i
fe
eit
herinthecul t
ivati
onori nanybusi ness, i
fhest opsinthemi ddl e,wewi ll
incur
alotofloss.Whenwet akemedi cinesuchasant ibioti
cs,
ifprescr ipti
oni snot
fol
lowedst r
ictl
y,notonl ydi seasei suncur ed,itwi ll
alsohav esomeadv erse
effect
.Wher easinspi r
itual pursuits,sriKrishnapr omi sesthatev enifyouar e
abletoperform al i
tt
lebi tofni shkaamakar ma, i
twi ll
savey ouf rom t hef earof
bir
thanddeat h(samsaar a).Inspi ri
tualpursuit,i
tisnott hequant um oft hekar ma
butthequalityofitwhatmat ters.Justascur rencynot e(I
R2000)t hatcarries
somespeci alfeatures,ishi ghlyv aluabl
et hant hebundl esofot herpaper s.The
karmat hathasbeenper formedwi thoutanysel f
ishnessast hewor shipofgod
forthewelfareoft hesoci etyisbei ngni shkaamakar mabr i
ngsabout
i
mmeasur ablebenef i
tincludingMoksha–l i
beration.

Sl
oka41,inthispathofnishkaamakar ma,t
het eachi
ng
ofresol
uteconvi
cti
onbasedoncor rectexper
iencesoundl ogi
candt rue
test
imonyisonlyone(v
yav asaay
aatmi kaabuddihiekaa)thedet
erminate
knowledgebasedoncri
ticalexaminati
oni ssi
nglepointed.Whereasthe
teachingsoft heunset tledmi ndsorirresol
utear eofbr anchedouti ninnumer able
number swithmut uallycontradicti
ngideals.Accor dingt osri
kri
shna, t
herecanbe
onlyonet ruth.Twodi fferentmut uall
yconf l
i
ctingst atement sonthesame
subjectcannotbet rueatt hesamepl aceandt ime.ei therinspiri
tualormat eri
al
sciences(phy sics,chemi str
y,maths..
)twocont radictoryst at
ement scannotbe
accept edasv ali
d.f orexampl e2+2=4ei t
herinindi aori nLondonori nusa,it
cannotbe5i nanycount r
yatanyt imesi mil
arlythespi rit
ualaspectsdescr i
bedby
contradict
or yt heoriescannotbev ali
d.t wodoct orspr escri
bingquiteopposite
medi ci
net ot hesamedi seasecannotbesci enti
ficall
yaccept abl
esi mil
arlytwo
diff
erentdi agonal lyopposi t
ephi l
osopher swhocl ai
mt hatwhocl aimt hateach
onei sonlyrightandot hersarewr ong,cannotbeaccept abl
e

Ther earedi f
ferenttypesofbelievers,somedonot
bel
ieveanyunperceptableent i
ti
essuchassi normerit,
hel
l orheav en,
atmaor
god,t
henon-beli
eversaretotall
ydi smissedi nthepresentcont ext.Amongt he
bel
iever
s,thereareoftwot ypesa) vai
dikasandb) Non-vai
dikas.
Vaidi
kas,
foll
owersofVedas, Upanishadsandot herholyscr i
pturesbasedther eon.
Non-vai
dikasdonotacceptt het enetsorpr inci
plesofholyscr i
pturesasvalid.
AgainKri
shnadoesnott alkaboutnon- vaidikassincetheyar edoomedt ohell.

Amongbel i
ever s,
therear esomanymut ual l
yconf li
ctiong
theori
es.Amongt hev aidikas, theMeemaamsakaas( Karmakandi s)wer every
predomi nantonceuponat ime, thecreditgoest oSr i Shankarachar y awho
encount eredthem indebat eandest ablishedt heknowl edgeofBr ahmani sthe
pri
mepur portoft heUpani shads.Ev ent hought hemeemaamsakaasaccept
VedasandUpani shadsast esti
moni est heydon’ tacceptmokshaassupr eme
goal.Theywi l
ltrytointerpr etVedasatsur facel ev el.accordingt ot hem thev edic
ri
tualsar emor eimpor tanti nor dertosecur epleasur esintheheav en, t
heyar e
veryconser vativeandr igid.Theyar emosti nt
erest edonl yi
nunsoundar gument s
i
nv edicdebat es.Theyhav enotmast eredt heVedasandunder stoodt he
essentialmeani ngwi tht hehel pofexhaust ivest udyofbr ahmasut rasandt he
bhagav adgita.Butsr i
krishnacondemnst hem v er yser iousl
y.Srikrisknacr i
ti
cize
thosepeopl et hattheyar eonl yf ul
lofwor dl ydesi resandhappyonl ybychant ing
andpr onounci ngthewor dsoft heVedas, theylookuponheav enast hesupreme
goalanddenyt hattherei snot hingbey ondheav en( sloka42,43,44). t
heyut t
er
fl
av ouryspeechr ecommendi ngmanyr it
ual
sofv ariouskindsforat t
aining
pleasur eandpowerei t
heronthiseart
horintheheav en.Suchpeopl et emptedby
mat erialsensualpleasureswil
lnotgetfi
rm essentialspir
it
ualknowledge.Hence,
theyf ailt
ohav epropermedi t
ati
onongodwhi chleadst osupremedev oti
on
whichi nturnleadstot heSakshaatkar
aofgod.Onl yaf t
erattai
ningsakshaatkar
a,
hewi llhavegr aceofgodwhi chleadstomoksha- l
iberati
on,t
heul t
imategoal.

Ni
shkaamakarmawil
lclenseouri
nnermi
ndwhichwil
lrecei
ve
properspi
ri
tualknowl
edgebyshr
avana,mananaanddy
aana(
hear
ing,cogi
tat
ion
andcontemplat
ion).

(9thch-sl oka20, 21) Kr

ishnahi mselfverycleart hatwhoper form
actionwi t
hsomesel fishmot iveaspr esvri
bedbyt heVedas, theywi l
lgetper ged
ofsi nandat tai
nswar gal oka( Indra’spar adise)asar esul toft heirvir
tous
deeds, ofcourset heyenj oydiv i
nepl easur esofgodsi nheav en.Hav i
ngenj oy ed
theext ensiveheav enlyj oy,
theywi llreturnt othiswor l
dofmor talsoncet heir
mer its(puny am)gotexhaust ed.So, heav enlybli
ssattainedbyper formi ngv edic
ri
tual sisalsot empor ary.Whati sper manenti sonlyMoksha, thereforesr i
Kr i
shna
advisesnott of ollowt heappar entmeani ngoft heVedasanddon’ tengage
your selvesonl yinr itualswhi char et hemeansofat tainingi mper manent
enjoy ment (Nistraiguny obhav a).Per form act i
onsraisi
ngabov epai rsofopposi t
es
(pl
easur eandpai net c. )settl
edi nmedi tati
onofgod.Heal sosay shewi ll
take
careofy ourneedsandcomf or tsi
fy ouper for
m unselfishdeedswi t
hf ull
enthusi asm anddext er it
yhav ingfull fait
hi ngod.Compar edwi thmoksha
sukham-t hest at eoft otalbli
ss, al
lot herbenef i
tsareinsi gnifi
cantf oran
enli
ght enedsoul .

(
sloka47,
48-2ndch)t
hescr i
pturespr escr
ibedt hatiti
syourrighttodo
work,don’
thavetoomuchofexpect ati
onr egardi
ngt hefrui
tsbecausei ti
sgod
al
onewhogi vesthefrui
tsofouracti
on.y ouhav enor i
ghtt oli
vewithoutacti
on.
Gai
ningevenmindednessinallci
rcumst ancessuchasj oyorsor r
ow,gainor
l
oss,vi
ctor
yordefeat
,successorfail
ureiswhatcal ledy oga,t
hemet hodof
per
formingacti
on,i
tiskarmayoga.(exampl esofbusinessmanoraf armerwho
get
sintohisworkwithoutknowingsuccessorf ail
ure).