If you desire wealth…but do not dare to plunge into the struggle for wealth for fear of the world… your mind, nonetheless, will be running day and night after money. So plunge into the world and fulfill all your desires. Until that [time], it is impossible for you to come to the state of calmness, serenity, and self-surrender.

This quote from one of Swami Vivekananda’s lectures really got me thinking.

When we try to suppress our urges, we meet with a lot of internal resistance. Our mind becomes a veritable Kurukshetra battlefield, with one part of us wanting to indulge fully in the senses, and another part making us feel guilty about it. When we try to live a life of austerity and denial, it will only end up making us yearn all the more for the things that we have tried to suppress.

A practical path for us to follow would be to avail of and enjoy the benefits, and bear the burden of sufferings that wealth brings us. After we go through the ‘indulgent’ phase, we will ideally reach the ‘been there, done that’ phase where we will be in the proper mental framework for attaining the state of the sthithapragna – a state of tranquility, peace and calmness. We would be like the lotus in the pond – IN the world but not OF the world.

However, this does not necessarily mean that one should commit all the mistakes in order to realize that they are indeed mistakes. For instance, we all know smoking to be bad for our health. If one indulges in smoking, it will be very difficult for him or her to get out of this bad habit. It would thus be foolish to insist that one has to experience the ill effects of a bad habit to rise above it.

So when we speak of detachment as we do so often in many of our posts, keep in mind that attaining a sense of detachment and rising above such desires is a goal that can be worked on as one makes his or her journey through life. We can indulge with moderation. Over time, we will all rise above our desires and attain that ‘state of calmness, serenity and self-surrender.’

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Chapter 5, called the “The Way of Renunciation,” opens with a pointed question. Arjuna wonders about the apparent contradiction in Krishna’s message: while Krishna advocates renunciation of action, he also urges Arjuna to act. The remainder of the chapter is Krishna’s response. The verses are philosophically intricate and challenging.

One particular theme stood out for me. Verse 20 reads as follows: “Resting in Brahman, with intellect steady, and without delusion, the knower of Brahman neither rejoiceth on receiving what is pleasant, nor grieveth on receiving what is unpleasant” (Swami Sarupananda’s 1909 translation). “Resting in Brahman” refers to the nature of one’s identity. “The Knower of Brahman” rests in Brahman. In other words, the true knowledge of Brahman, unlike other knowledge, completely transforms one’s identity. By knowing Brahman, you become one with Brahman.

What are the characteristics of an individual whose identity has been transcended into Brahman? An important characteristic is “evenness of mind” (Chapter 2, verse 48) where the individual is neither too happy in good times, nor down in bad. But why would anyone be devoid of emotional cycles of ups and downs that the rest of us experience daily? More importantly, how can someone attain such evenness of mind?

The answer lies in resting in Brahman. If you identify more with the cosmic oneness than with the narrow selfishness, there is little reason to partake in the rollercoaster ride of small joys and sorrows. The evenness of mind comes from the tranquility of pure consciousness. The ethereal reality of Brahman is made only of peace.

I have asked many times the question, how do I know what my duty is? I am starting to realize that the question I have been asking is irrelevant. The important question is: in what does my identity rest upon? If it rests up my narrow self, then regardless of what duty I follow, I am only purchasing the ticket to the show of emotional upheavals we all know intimately well. Similarly, if my identity rests in Brahman, then again it is irrelevant what duty I follow because one resting in Brahman will only follow her true nature. It is the sun’s duty to give light, not because it is the “right” thing to do, or that the sun’s “dharma” dictates it, but because the sun simply can’t do anything else.

Swami Ji mentioned that the Sanskrit word swastha comes from the root swa- meaning self, and stha meaning rest. In Hindi, and in my native language Nepali, swastha in common parlance means healthy. But in original Sanskrit, when someone asks if you are swastha, she is literally asking whether or not you are resting in your real self (Brahman). And maybe that’s the only question that actually matters: Are you swastha?

As for me, the quest for a “healthy” life has been elusive.

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“Krishna teaches Arjuna the way to resolve the dilemma of renunciation and action. Freedom lies, not in the renunciation of the world, but in disciplined action (कर्मयोग). Put concretely, all action is to be both performed without attachment to the fruit of the action (कर्मफलासंग) and dedicated with loving devotion to Krishna. Disciplined action within the context of devotion is essential to the religious life envisioned in the Gita.”

Barbara Stoler Miller, Introduction to The Bhagavad Gita

Coming across these lines in the introduction to Miller’s translation of the Gita, I remembered reading something similar before. Indeed I had. In a brief reference to the Gita in The Argumentative Indian, Amartya Sen brings up Krishna’s comment to Arjuna that he must “fare forward” rather than “fare well.” This concept of disinterested action (निष्काम कर्म) challenges any less-than-completely-enlightened soul. Perhaps this underlies why Miller and Sen both choose to dilate upon the point.

In both India and the United States, the emphasis placed on results is almost absolute. For most Hindus at Harvard, who aspire to become doctors, investment bankers, consultants, or lawyers, professional aspirations seem to be at odds with this divine religious calling outlined by Krishna. To add, most of our parents, concerned for our welfare, have rather high expectations of the results we put out; many just assume we will employ honest methods to attain these ends, or they do not stress the methods as being of equal importance to the ends. Aside from the basic challenge of disinterested action, such environmental factors make the task even more difficult. In the Adam Smithian world we live in, detaching self-interest from action seems to corrupt one of the foundation stones upon which our society is based. Living in America’s democracy, where, as Alexis de Tocqueville writes, “out of cupidity, [individuals] see in the public fortune their own,” extricating self from action would seem erode the success of our system of governance.

Should we decide to sacrifice selfish ends, renunciation looks like a better path. By renouncing the material world, we renounce its goods and bads. This culminates in the purging of our souls. Purged souls are clean. By extension, we too are clean. All this is achieved without tackling the paradox of disinterested action and confronting the resolution of the means-ends connection in कर्मयोग. To be sure, this method of purification may be as difficult or even more so than कर्मयोग. Rejecting love, human connections, pleasures, pain, and attachment require an almost boundless strength of the mind and iron fortitude. There’s a reason why only a very small percentage of Hindu society successfully attains true sannyasi status; the barriers to entry into this “occupation” are extremely high. And in the Indian diasporic community, sannyasis are virtually nonexistent. Perhaps even the sannyasi example is invalid; sannyasis make it their business to teach the general populace how to become aware of God and live virtuously. In doing so, they connect themselves to other human beings and thus do not renounce them completely. Nevertheless, if choosing a goal, the goal of the sannyasi at least seems mildly possible and ultimately successful.

Why then, does Krishna instruct Arjuna otherwise? Why does Arjuna listen to Krishna and help destroy the Kauravas? The answer may lie in the fact that renunciation implies cowardice. By skirting the issue of disinterested action, by not making the effort to extricate means and higher purpose from concrete ends, we fall in the trap of human mediocrity. We choose an easy way out. And as much as Western society and our upbringing ask us to put ourselves and our objectives first, it also teaches us to pursue knowledge wholeheartedly and to contemplate the mysteries and contradictions of life. By pursuing self-improvement through disinterested action, a concept that initially strikes us as at odds with our value system, we stand a greater chance to gain knowledge than we do by rejecting everything.

The insight provided by pursuing disinterested action will outweigh any benefits of renunciation. This method takes a bold stand against a challenge instead of scurrying away from it.

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