Bhagavad Geeta 18:03—Moksha Sanyasa Yoga—The Path of Liberation by Renunciation

Bhagavad Geeta 18:03—Moksha Sanyasa Yoga—The Path of Liberation by Renunciation

त्याज्यं दोषवदित्येके कर्म प्राहुर्मनीषिण: |
यज्ञदानतप:कर्म न त्याज्यमिति चापरे || 3||

tyājyaṁ doṣha-vad ity eke karma prāhur manīṣhiṇaḥ
yajña-dāna-tapaḥ-karma na tyājyam iti chāpare

Some sages declare that all action should be relinquished as evil, while others say that Yajna, gift and austerity should not be relinquished.

Cause and effect are contained in karma in all of its forms. The effect is inevitable when the cause is set in motion. When it rains, the farm and a house under construction alike get wet. The effect is good to the former and bad to the latter. Cause here in the form of rain has both good and bad effects on two different things. The burning of a lamp which is the cause, produces a good effect for a reader of the Bhagavad Gita and a bad effect on the insects that fall in the flame and perish. In man’s maintaining his life, there is the good effect of his dedicating it to the adoration of God and the bad effect of his consuming other lives as food. Evil is thus inherent in all actions. A third set of sages who take note of the evils contained in karma, advocate its complete abandonment. They are for liquidating mundane life as quickly as possible. Some go to the extent of enforcing slow suicide with the noble intention of not adding to the existing evil.

A fourth group of sages is in favour of Persisting in the performance of Yajna, dana and tapas even though they are fraught with evil. The plea of these wise men is that the evil of mundane life cannot be eradicated completely. Let life be accepted therefore for what it is worth. As much good as possible may be derived even from this defective existence. The rose is amid of thorns; but on that ground the raising of roses should not be suspended. Poison is bad no doubt; but a beneficial medicine may be extracted even from that deadly stuff. Karma is undoubtedly an evil. It binds man in bondage to Prakriti and to the wheel of birth and death. Still, by converting karma into the acts of Yajna, dana and tapas, maximum good may be extracted from it. These meritorious acts ought not to be abandoned, is the view of these great ones.

Source: Srimad Bhagavad Geeta-Commentary by Swami Chidbhavananda