The Karma

“KARAMANYAVADHIKARASTHE MAA PHALESHU KADACHANA

MAA KARMA PHALA HETUR BHURMA TE SANAGOSTVAKARMANI”

             

                                                           Sloka-47, Chapter-2. Bhagbhat Gita

Meaning: An individual has a right on the work but not on the outcome or results it bears.

I have often wondered in my childhood days that how is it possible to work and yet don’t expect results from your hard work. It never made any sense then.

Now, I think these lines, though very briefly written but embeds stupendous volumes of meaning.

Often we compare ourselves with others, get elated when we are better then them and vice versa. At the same time disassociation from the result of work that we perform is not easy and some of the time its not possible at all.

For example when we appear for an exams we study to pass it. If some one says that only study but don’t aim to pass then the suggestion seems as an unpractical proposition. How can we aim for a goal and yet won’t strategize the course of the outcome as it is not our rights. Is this sloka only idealistic and far from reality some people wonder and ponder?

But if we analyze these lines deeply then the real meaning becomes more pragmatic. When the sloka says that an individual has a right to work then it also assimilates the aspiration of an individual to succeed.

To elaborate this concept further lets go back to our former example, where an individual appears for an exam. The person in this context has to have a mindset to pass it. Keeping an option to fail will make him more complacent and decrease his enthusiasm to put in his best efforts. The individual can perform his best if he aims to succeed, then only he can concentrate on his goal and work hard. The sloka does not say that he should not expect to pass. Every individual put on effort when he has a hope to achieve it.

But due to some circumstance if he fails then he should not be disheartened. There, he has no control over his results.

Sometimes we see very hard working and honest people failing and people with low integrity succeeding. Their success is temporary and eventually the righteousness and truth will prevail. It may take time but at the end the dharma wins. Like the Pandavas had to lead a difficult life but they won at the end.

Some situation may move us, but we have a right on our performance only. The supreme force controls all the results.

But that does not mean we will not get results for our honest work. If we fail in some thing despite of our hard work then the result of that service will be given to us in some other form. May be something better awaits us somewhere else. Hard and honest work never goes unrewarded. We need to have patience and perseverance to wait for our results and keep doing our duty.

The quest of life is to perform good work or Sukarma.