Therefore, constantly perform your duty without attachment; for by performing action without attachment, man attains the Supreme.
**Commentary:** The word 'therefore' here connects this verse with the preceding ones. In the previous verses, the Lord stated that even though there is no necessity for a perfected great soul to act for himself, actions are still performed by him for the welfare of the world. Hence, using the word 'therefore', the Lord instructs Arjuna to similarly (with a desireless attitude) perform his duty and attain the Supreme. The reason is that there is no purpose in performing or not performing action for one's own essential Self. Action is always for the 'other' (others), not for the 'Self'. Therefore, by performing action for others, attachment to action is destroyed, and one abides in one's true nature.
Attachment is the attraction towards objects that are alien to one's own nature (inert). To be free from attachment, it is essential to know its cause. The belief "I am the body" and "The body is mine" imprints the importance of perishable objects like the body on the inner being. This very cause leads to attachment towards those objects.
It is attachment that causes downfall, not action. Due to attachment alone, man, considering himself related to inert objects like the body, senses, mind, intellect, etc., performs various actions for his own comfort and enjoyment. Such a relationship, assumed with attachment due to inertness, is the cause of man's repeated birth and death—"association with the modes of nature is the cause of his birth in good and evil wombs" (Gita 13.21). By performing action without attachment, the relationship with inertness is severed.
An attached person cannot do good to others, whereas from a detached person, the welfare of all beings happens naturally and spontaneously. All his actions are solely for the welfare of others.
With the materials (body, etc.) obtained from the world, we have performed actions only for ourselves until now. We have used them for our own enjoyment and accumulation. Therefore, the world has a debt upon us, and to repay it, it is necessary to act only for the welfare of the world. By performing action for oneself (cherishing desire for results), the old debt is not cleared; rather, a new debt is incurred. To become free from debt, one has to be born repeatedly in the world. By performing all actions solely for the welfare of others, the old debt is cleared, and by doing nothing for oneself and desiring nothing, no new debt is incurred. Thus, when the old debt is cleared and no new debt is produced, with no cause for bondage remaining, man is automatically liberated.
No action is constant, but attachment (in the inner being) is constant. Therefore, the Lord uses the words 'constantly' and 'without attachment' to instruct one to be constantly free from attachment. The seeker should constantly maintain the awareness, "I must not be attached anywhere." The meaning of the above words is that while remaining constantly unattached, whatever prescribed duty comes before one should be performed, considering it merely as duty.
In reality, if seen, attachment is not constant in anyone's inner being. When the world is not constant, changing every moment, how can attachment to it be constant? Even so, attachment appears constant with the assumed 'I'.
'Duty' refers to that which one can do and must do. In other words, duty means abandoning one's own selfish interests and doing good to others, i.e., fulfilling that scripturally sanctioned, just demand of others which we have the capacity to fulfill. Thus, duty is related to the welfare of others.
Everyone is free and capable in fulfilling their duty; no one is dependent or incapable. However, due to negligence and laziness, the bad habit of not doing duty develops, and due to desire for results, fulfilling duty seems difficult in the present. Otherwise, nothing is as easy as fulfilling duty. Duty is related to circumstances. Man can freely fulfill his duty in every circumstance. By fulfilling duty, attachment is destroyed. By doing what ought not to be done and not doing duty, attachment increases. By performing duty, i.e., action for the welfare of others, attachment to the present is destroyed, and by desiring nothing, attachment to the future is destroyed.
The word 'perform' implies that duty should be performed very carefully, enthusiastically, diligently, and according to scriptural injunctions. The slightest carelessness in performing duty can hinder the perfection of Karma Yoga.
According to one's varna (class), ashrama (stage of life), nature, and circumstances, whatever scripturally prescribed duty is stated for a person, when the opportunity arises, that alone is his 'natural duty'. Even if some fault appears in natural duty, one should not abandon it (Gita 18.48); because a person performing his natural duty does not incur sin (Gita 18.47). Therefore, here the Lord is as if telling Arjuna: You are a Kshatriya; therefore, fighting (even though it appears terrible) is your natural duty, not a terrible action. Hence, one should perform the natural duty that comes before one, without attachment. Only by being unattached is equanimity attained.
**Special Point:** When the soul takes birth in a human form, it receives all materials like body, wealth, land, house, etc., and when it departs from here, all materials are left behind. This simple fact easily proves that all materials like the body, etc., are received, not one's own. Just as a man goes to an office to work, he receives all materials like chair, table, paper, etc., only for doing the office work, not to consider them his own and take them home. Similarly, man receives all materials like body, etc., in the world only for doing the work (service) of the world, not to consider them his own. If a man works for the office diligently and enthusiastically, he receives salary in return for that work. The work is for the office, and the salary is for himself. In the same way, by performing all work only for the world, one's relationship with the world is severed, and the experience of Yoga (one's eternal relationship with the Supreme) is attained. 'Karma' and 'Yoga' together are called Karma Yoga. Karma is for the world, and Yoga is for oneself. This Yoga is like the salary.
The world is the field of instruments. Here, every material is received as an instrument, never for enjoyment and accumulation. Worldly materials are not one's own and not for oneself at all. Upon attaining one's own object—the Supreme Principle—the desire to attain any other object ceases (Gita 6.22). But worldly objects, however many are obtained, the desire to attain them never ceases; rather, it increases.
When man considers the received object as his own and for himself, he becomes bound due to this mistake. To remove this mistake, the practice of Karma Yoga is the easy and excellent means. The Karma Yogi, not considering any object as his own and for himself, engages it in the service of others (considering it theirs). Thus, he easily becomes free from worldly bondage.
All beings perform action, but there is a vast difference between the actions performed by an ordinary being and a Karma Yogi. An ordinary man (doer) performs action with attachment, possessiveness, desire, etc., while a Karma Yogi performs action having renounced attachment, possessiveness, desire, etc. The flow of the doer's actions is towards himself, and the flow of the Karma Yogi's actions is towards the world. Therefore, the doer is bound, and the Karma Yogi is liberated.
'For, performing action without attachment'—It is man who connects himself to the world with attachment, not the world. Therefore, it is man's duty to perform all actions only for the welfare of the world and not desire any fruit in return. Thus, by performing action for the world without attachment, i.e., with the feeling "I desire nothing from anyone," one's relationship with the world is automatically severed.
The Karma Yogi severs his relationship with present objects by serving the world and with future objects by desiring nothing.
In a fair, volunteers serve travelers all day, considering it their duty, and desire nothing in return from anyone; therefore, at night while sleeping, they remember no one. The reason is that while serving, they desired nothing from anyone. Similarly, one who performs all actions with a spirit of service only for others and desires no respect, praise, etc., from anyone, does not remember the world. He easily becomes free from worldly bondage.
All perform action, but Karma Yoga happens only when actions are performed without attachment for others. Attachment can be destroyed only by performing scripturally sanctioned duty—'dispassion arises from Dharma' (Manas 3.16.1). Attachment can never be destroyed by performing scripturally prohibited actions.
'Attains the Supreme'—Just as in the thirty-fourth verse of the thirteenth chapter, the Lord used the word 'Supreme' to state the Sankhya Yogi's attainment of the Supreme, similarly here, with the word 'Supreme', He states the Karma Yogi's attainment of the Supreme. The meaning is that whatever path a seeker follows (according to inclination, faith, and capability)—Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, or Bhakti Yoga—the object to be attained through it is only the Supreme (Gita 5.4-5). The attainable principle can only be that in whose attainment there is no alternative, doubt, or despair, and which always exists, exists in all places, in all times, for all, is everyone's own, and from which no one can ever be separated even slightly in any state, i.e., which is always attained by all in an inseparable form.
**Doubt:** While performing action, how can the Karma Yogi's sense of doership be destroyed? Because without the destruction of the sense of doership, the experience of the Supreme Principle is not possible.
**Resolution:** An ordinary man performs all actions for himself. By performing action for himself, the sense of doership remains in man. A Karma Yogi does not perform any activity for himself. He believes that whatever materials are received from the world—body, senses, mind, intellect, objects, money, etc.—all belong to the world alone, not to himself. Whenever an opportunity is received, he engages those materials, time, capacity, etc., in the service of the world. While engaging them in the service of the world, the Karma Yogi believes that he is engaging the world's objects in the world's service, i.e., the materials, time, capacity, etc., belong to those who are being served. By believing so, the sense of doership does not remain.
In doership, the cause is enjoyership. The Karma Yogi does not perform action hoping for enjoyment. A man hoping for enjoyment is not a Karma Yogi. Just as when washing one's own face with one's own hands, the feeling does not arise that "I have done a great favor"; because man considers both the hands and the face as his own limbs, similarly, the Karma Yogi also considers the body as a limb of the world. Therefore, if a limb has served the possessor of the limb, what sense of doership can there be?
It is a rule that the purpose with which man engages in action, upon the completion of the action, he becomes absorbed in that very goal. Just as a merchant engages in business for the purpose of wealth alone, so upon closing the shop, his attention automatically goes towards the money, and he starts counting it. His attention does not go towards who came today, from which community they came, etc. The reason is that he has no purpose with the customers. A man who performs action with the purpose of the world, however absorbed he may be in the world, cannot have oneness with the world; because in reality, there is no oneness with the world. The world is constantly changing and inert, while the 'Self' (one's own nature) is immutable and conscious. But one who performs action with the purpose of the Supreme attains oneness with the Supreme (whether the seeker experiences it or not); because the 'Self' has an automatically established (essential) oneness with the Supreme. Thus, when the doer becomes 'duty' and becomes one with his purpose (the Supreme Principle), then the question of sense of doership does not remain.
The purpose for which the Karma Yogi performs all actions—the attainment of the Supreme Principle—in that (Supreme Principle) there is no sense of doership or doership (being a doer). Therefore, due to the experience of oneness with that purpose at the beginning and end of every action, the sense of doership does not remain in the Karma Yogi.
Every action performed by any being has a beginning and an end. No action is constant. Therefore, no one's doership is constant; rather, with the end of the action, doership also ends. But man makes the mistake that when he performs some action, he considers himself the doer of that action, and even when not performing that action, he continues to consider himself the same doer. Thus, by constantly considering himself the doer, his sense of doership is not destroyed; rather, it becomes firm. For example, a man is a speaker while delivering a lecture, but if at other times also he considers himself a speaker, then his sense of doership is not destroyed. By constantly considering himself a lecturer, the feeling arises in his mind that "listeners should serve me, respect me, fulfill my needs," and "How can I sit with these ordinary people, how can I do this ordinary work?" etc. Thus, his relationship with the action of lecturing remains constant. The reason for this is the feeling of obtaining something—wealth, respect, praise, comfort, etc.—from the action of lecturing. If there is no feeling of obtaining anything for oneself, then doership remains limited only to performing the action, and upon the completion of the action, doership becomes absorbed in its purpose.
Just as man considers himself the enjoyer, i.e., the one eating, only while eating, not after eating, similarly, the Karma Yogi considers himself the doer of an action only while performing that action, not at other times. For example, a Karma Yogi is a lecturer and has great respect among people. But if he ever has to listen to a lecture, he can sit anywhere and listen to the lecture easily. At that time, he needs neither respect nor a high seat; because then he considers himself a listener, not a lecturer. If after delivering a lecture, he gets the task of cleaning a room, he performs that work with the same diligence with which he performs the work of delivering a lecture. Not even the slightest feeling arises in his mind that "Being such a great lecturer, how can I do this menial work of room-cleaning! What will people say! My honor will be trampled in the dust," etc. He considers himself a lecturer while delivering a lecture, a listener while listening to a discourse, and a room-cleaner while cleaning a room. Therefore, his sense of doership is not constant. That which is not constant, but keeps changing, does not truly exist, and its relationship is also not constant—this is the principle. As soon as the seeker's vision goes to this principle, he experiences the reality (the nature devoid of the sense of doership).
The Karma Yogi performs all actions with the same feeling with which an actor playing a role performs in a drama. Just as in a drama, the role of Harishchandra is only for the play, and upon the play's conclusion, the Harishchandra role is abandoned along with the role, similarly, the Karma Yogi's doership is limited only to performing the action, like a role. Just as in a drama, the person playing Harishchandra, while performing all actions of Harishchandra, does not in reality consider himself the doer of those actions (the real Harishchandra), similarly, the Karma Yogi, while performing all scripturally prescribed actions, does not in reality consider himself the doer of those actions. The Karma Yogi, not considering all objects like body, etc., as his own and for himself like a role, engages them (considering them the world's) in the service of the world alone. Therefore, in no state can there remain even the slightest sense of doership in the Karma Yogi.
Just as the Karma Yogi does not consider doership as constant in himself, similarly, he does not consider his relationship with mother, father, wife, son, brother, sister-in-law, etc., as constant. He considers his relationship with them (only for serving) only while serving. For example, if someone is a husband, he is a husband for the wife, i.e., even if the wife is sharp-tongued, ugly, quarrelsome, but having accepted her as a wife, it is the husband's duty to maintain her according to his capability and capacity. As a husband, he must tell her about improvement, whether she accepts it or not. One must not consider oneself a husband all the time; because what is known if she was a wife before this birth? And what certainty is there that she will remain a wife after death? Also, in the present, she is someone's mother, someone's daughter, someone's sister, someone's sister-in-law, someone's husband's sister, etc. She is not always a wife only. By believing so, the desire to derive pleasure from her is automatically destroyed, and the conviction that "she is only for maintenance (service)" becomes firm. Thus, the Karma Yogi properly enacts the role he has received in the world as father, son, husband, brother, etc. He does not look at whether the other fulfills his duty or not. It is only due to the sense of doership in oneself that one's vision goes to the duties of others, and as soon as one's vision goes to the duties of others, man falls from his own duty; because seeing the duty of others is not one's own duty.
Just as the Karma Yogi does not consider his relationship with beings of the world as constant, similarly, he does not consider his relationship with varna, ashrama, caste, sect, event, circumstance, etc., as constant. That which is not constant is automatically non-existent. Therefore, the Karma Yogi's sense of doership is automatically destroyed.
**Essential Point:** With the Supreme, in whom there is no doership, all beings have an automatically established oneness. The seeker's mistake is that he does not pay attention to this reality.
Just as a swing, however swiftly it may go back and forth, each time it certainly comes to equilibrium, i.e., it comes in line with the point from which the swing's rope is tied,
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