Chapter 4 Shloka 17

कर्मणो ह्यपि बोद्धव्यं बोद्धव्यं च विकर्मण:।

अकर्मणश्च बोद्धव्यं गहना कर्मणो गति:।।१७।।

The Lord says:

One must know the truth

of Karma, Akarma and Vikarma

(action, inaction and negative action);

because the course of action is mysterious.

Chapter 4 Shloka 17

कर्मणो ह्यपि बोद्धव्यं बोद्धव्यं च विकर्मण:।

अकर्मणश्च बोद्धव्यं गहना कर्मणो गति:।।१७।।

The Lord says:

One must know the truth of Karma, Akarma and Vikarma (action, inaction and negative action); because the course of action is mysterious.

Little one, first understand the meaning of karma as given in the Scriptures.

Karma

1. Actions enjoined by the Scriptures.

2. Actions performed in the spirit of yagya.

3. The actions of an Atmavaan and all such actions that take one towards the state of an Atmavaan and union with the Supreme.

4. Actions that free one from sin and moha.

5. Deeds that take one towards selflessness, detachment and freedom from the attitude of doership.

6. That which transforms one’s life into a selfless worship.

7. Actions which render one’s life a yagya, a devotional offering.

8. Those deeds which eradicate the thought of ‘I’ and ‘mine’.

9. That which annihilates the doership attitude while performing deeds, is true action.

Vikarma – Negative actions

1. Selfish actions, contrary to yagya.

2. Actions that augment the body-related intellect.

3. Actions that are contrary to a divine attitude and conducive to a demonic attitude.

4. Actions motivated by greed and desire fulfilment; actions that pander to one’s likes.

5. Actions that inflate one’s ego and increase one’s attachments.

6. Actions that promote pain and mental disturbance.

7  Actions that degrade one, rather than improve one as a human being.

8. Actions that augment ignorance and the sentiment ‘I am the partaker and the doer’.

9. Actions which sway one away from the path of duty and dharma and blind one to the difference between dharma and adharma.

Akarma – Inaction

1. One who abdicates both dharma and adharma and foolishly sits back, dwells in akarma.

2. Abandoning duty without a care is akarma.

3. Abandoning of both the spiritual and the materialistic paths – shreya and preya, is akarma.

4. Those with a tamsic attitude abide in akarma.

Another view: Bhagwan has earlier said that a person cannot evade action even for a moment (Chp.5, shloka 3). In this respect, akarma will have another connotation which the Lord clarifies later. Karmas are virtuous actions and vikarmas are vile, debased actions. The Lord has also said earlier that all actions are controlled by gunas which interact with other gunas. They are the motivators of action. Seen in this perspective, it is clear that the classification of actions has some meaning only so long as the sense of doership prevails.

1. Karmas increase one’s satoguna – the quality of sattva; they destroy ignorance and establish the individual in sattva.

2. Vikarmas increase one’s rajoguna – the quality of rajas; they are based on greed, covetousness and desire.

3. Akarmas increase one’s tamoguna – the quality of tamas. They are based on ignorance and promote laziness and sloth.

And yet:

a) All gross actions are dependent on our qualities and are automatic.

b) Birth and death, name and form – all these are endowed by Nature (Prakriti) and the individual has no hand in them.

c) Qualities attract, repel, promote or destroy other qualities. In life there is constant interaction of the qualities.

1. Knowing this, all thought of doership will cease if one does not claim any deed to be one’s own.

2. One will transcend actions even whilst performing all actions.

3. Nothing is gained by changing the arena of action – if attachment with action is annihilated, one becomes a non-doer.

4. If attachment to actions disappears, then one will abide in akarma (inaction) even whilst performing action. One’s life will then become a yagya.

Actions devoid of attachment

If attachment does not remain:

a) no action remains ‘one’s own’;

b) then even the body idea vanishes;

c) one has no selfish motive;

d) doership is eradicated;

e) when doership thus ceases, the distinction between karma, akarma and vikarma does not exist. Such a one is ever a non-doer.

Now understand this from yet another point of view:

Since all actions are instigated by the interaction of qualities, then:

1. It is doership that creates the seed for the birth-death cycle.

2. Attachment sprouts the fruit in the otherwise barren action.

3. Therefore it is essential to eliminate the idea of doership. Merely renouncing action will not lead to the Lord.

“I want to do this, I want to be that” – abandon all such thoughts and take refuge in the Lord and His Word and act accordingly. Whatever you do, leave all to Him. Knowing that actions are a result of qualities interacting with other qualities, blame nobody. If you become devoid of criticism, it will not be difficult to transcend your body.