yajnayacharatah
karma samagram praviliyate (4.23)
The person who is totally detached
(gatasanga), and free from attachments (mukta), and
established in the wisdom of life – (jnanavasthita-ceta), and who
performs action as a sacrifice
as detailed in the Third
Chapter, for him every action melts, as ice before the sun.
No action will produce a
reaction in the case of a person who acts as if in a yajna
or a sacrifice – i.e., as a participation in the cosmic purposes and not
as an individual actor for the purpose of reaping an ulterior
fruit. Expecting a fruit is a special characteristic of
selfish action, and there is no expectation of fruit in an
unselfish action. It is work for work’s sake, duty for duty’s
sake, as they say. The moment there is an intention in the
mind to reap a consequence or a fruit tomorrow or the day after
or in the future, as the result of karma
or action done today, that person is actually thinking in terms of the time
process, because the fruit of an action will accrue only after
some time. The expectation of the fruit of an action,
therefore, is tantamount to involvement in the process of time, and
time is equal to death; and such a person is bound by karma. But one
who performs actions as a yajna, as a duty,
does not expect any fruit. Ulterior motive is totally absent in the case of unselfish action.
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