My Thoughts on Life and its Philosophy

N V Satish Kumar

Tag: Duty

  • Karma Yoga – The Right Attitude in Practice

    Bhagavad Gita : Chapter-3

    Opening Context

    The Bhagavad Gita is a silent flame within the Mahabharata. It is a still moment found in the midst of war. A conversation that transforms external conflict into internal inquiry, internal inquiry into internalised knowledge, and internalised knowledge into a realised complete freedom. Across eighteen chapters, the Gita charts a path from confusion to clarity, from fear to freedom.

    From Sorrow to Twofold Path

    The first chapter of the Gita is Arjuna Vishada Yoga. Here Arjuna represents the ordinary human being. External circumstances deeply unsettle his inner personality, leaving him shaken in judgment and overcome by sorrow. As a symbol of this collapse, Arjuna declares he does not desire victory (na kāṅkṣe vijayaṁ kṛṣṇa – 1.32). Overcome by grief, he drops his bow (evam uktvā’rjunaḥ saṅkhye – 1.47). Unless we see ourselves as Arjuna, the Gita does not speak to us.

    The second chapter is Sankhya Yoga. The teachings begin to refine Arjuna — and through him, us — both from inside and outside. This is generally understood as a two‑fold path. The first path addresses the inner personality namely, ‘Self’. The true nature of the ‘Self’ is eternal. The self is never born, never dies, and always exists (na jāyate mriyate vā – 2.20). Fire cannot burn it, water cannot wet it, weapons cannot pierce it (nainaṁ chindanti śastrāṇi – 2.23). The second path addresses outer action (karmaṇy-evādhikāraste – 2.47), the duties of the individual. These two paths converge in the goal of sthitaprajñatā, the steady wisdom that arises when desires are abandoned (prajahāti yadā kāmān – 2.55).

    For an overview on Chapter-2 : Click here : https://nvsatish.com/2025/10/17/bg-sankhya-yoga-02/

    Beginning of Karma Yoga

    In the third chapter, the Gita turns fully to Karma Yoga. Both the path of knowledge and the path of action are good. For those engaged in activity, action is the right way. Therefore the Gita does not ask us to abandon action. Instead, it teaches that performing action is better than renouncing it (niyataṁ kuru karma tvaṁ – 3.8). It instructs us to act with the right attitude. The Gita explicitly rejects the idea of avoiding action. No one can remain without action even for a moment. Everyone is compelled by the forces of nature (na hi kaścit kṣaṇam api – 3.5). Even the wise continue to act. Their actions guide others and sustain the world (yad yad ācarati śreṣṭhaḥ – 3.23). They act without attachment, setting an example, and take care not to disturb those still learning.

    The Right Attitude in Action

    Karma Yoga proclaims that action done without selfishness, as yajña, frees one from bondage (3.9). Such selfless action is known to purify the mind, making it fit for knowledge. This philosophy is explained through yajña, the method of mutual offering that sustains life. Rain supports food. Food supports beings. Beings support the cycle by acting in the right spirit (sahayajñāḥ prajāḥ sṛṣṭvā – 3.10–3.15). When this harmony is ignored or disturbed, the cycle of life becomes incomplete and disjointed. On the other hand, when it is honoured, individuals become free and a sense of cosmic responsibility prevails.

    Qualities and Non‑Doership

    Through this chapter, the Gita says that all actions of an individual arise only from the three guṇas, the characteristic qualities of nature (prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni – 3.27). Action is merely an interaction between such qualities, and the individual is not the doer. One who knows this truth does not claim to be the doer. By giving up doership, ego falls away. Fear disappears. Actions continue, but the burden of “I” is gone.

    Surrender and Duty

    Another mark of right action is surrendering all actions to the Lord. Then fear and expectation vanish (mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi – 3.30). Each person acts according to their own nature (sadṛśaṁ ceṣṭate svasyāḥ – 3.33). Therefore the Gita teaches us to perform our own duty. Action that does not belong to one’s dharma can be dangerous. Only action in line with one’s own dharma is safe (śreyān svadharmo viguṇaḥ – 3.35).

    Desire and Its Veils

    Desire clouds judgment, hiding the inner light (kāma eṣa krodha eṣaḥ – 3.36–3.37). Like smoke covering fire, dust covering a mirror, or a womb covering the embryo (dhūmenāvriyate vāhnir – 3.38), desire veils clarity. The way to overcome desire is to know the Self to be higher than the senses, mind, and intellect. Use that knowledge of the intellect to discriminate between right and wrong and let the intellect control the mind from desires (evaṁ buddheḥ paraṁ buddhvā – 3.43).

    Closing Message

    We need to understand that renunciation, in the context of karma Yoga, is not escape from work. It is giving up attachment to the outcome, while acting with focus and skill in every work. This chapter begins with the necessity-to-act and ends with freedom-while-working. Such attitude ultimately leads to liberation.

  • The Fourfold Path: Act, Think, Question, Seek

    Life today moves quickly. Tasks pile up, responsibilities stretch across the day, and time often feels too short even for what is essential. In the rush to meet deadlines, fulfill roles, and keep things running, we may find ourselves doing things robotically — completing what’s needed, but without space to pause or reconsider. It’s not neglect; it’s simply the pace of modern life. Yet within this very pace lies a quiet possibility: to make small space for thoughtfulness, to bring a little more clarity into what we do, and to gently re-align how we go about our day.

    It is undoubtedly an accepted and known fact that, in our everyday life, we have to fulfill Duties & Responsibilities (D&Rs) that are essential and that need to be done mandatorily. It could be professional work, family duties, small humanitarian commitments etc. (I have discussed these D&Rs in my previous article  titled “Where are We – A Mid-life Introspection”. https://nvsatish.com/2025/01/28/where-are-we-a-mid-life-introspection/ We will now look further). Is it enough to simply keep doing these things? Are we right in just completing them somehow, without asking what they truly serve?

    Precisely this is what the Bhagavad Gita emphatically teaches — “Duties Must be Done; Action Cannot be Escaped; Societal Purpose Must be Served.” (Karma Yoga, 3.25). Through this teaching, the Gita enlightens us on the need for working towards a larger purpose. That larger purpose could be to carry out our works and duties in such a way so as to benefit the people around us, to support the neighbouring community, or even to help a wider section of society or world at large — rather than serve only private & personal gain.

    So, all our duties and responsibilities should not only be completed without deferment but must also be examined to see whether each one is truly serving that larger purpose. Repeating those tasks in the same robotic spirit without inward reflection can turn them into habit, and that habit may drift us farther away from its original aim. To prevent this drift, one must quietly examine how the duty is being done. Taking care not to interrupt the work itself, one must be aware of the direction & purpose that it is serving on a larger scale. This kind of reflection is not a break from duty; it is that part of duty which guides us towards fulfilling its purpose.

    Such timely reflection, if we observe, helps us in two ways. (i) It gives a scope for correcting the mistakes in our motive and (ii) it reshapes us on how duties need be carried out. Over a period of time, this kind of inward reflection makes duty thoughtful instead of mechanical. Slowing down is not escape from responsibility; it is how responsibility becomes wise.

    When inward reflections expose gaps between our actions and their intended purpose, disciplined inquiry becomes a need. In that pursuit, one must lift oneself by one’s own effort — uddhared ātmanātmānaṁ (Gita 6.5) — and make steady inward attention a responsibility. Giving this a spiritual turn, Shankaracharya puts it in Vivekachudamani (Verse 11): vichāra eva jñānasya mārgaḥ — inquiry is the path to knowledge. Knowledge lights the path of duty; questions keep that light alive.

    The Gita’s instruction — tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā — teaches the method: approach the wise, serve, and ask with respect (Gita 4.34).

    Ko’ham — “Who am I?” — is an inner spark ignited by Ramana Maharshi and remains the most fundamental and profound inward question.

    While inward inquiry is essential and a crucial stepping stone for inner clarity, it may not always be self-sufficient. Each person carries a unique lens, shaped by one’s own experience, temperament, and way of seeing. When like-minded seekers come together, individual views begin to broaden. What began as a personal search becomes a shared journey. In such company, questions become more purposeful, and answers offer greater clarity. Insight deepens — and everyone benefits.

    Through satsang, questions are sharpened, and weak answers fall away. Yoga Vasistha affirms the enormous significance of Satsang in its Vairagya Prakarana (2.12). One should take up others’ questions when none arise within; doing so trains the mind in attentiveness, humility, and the habit of seeking. Dialogue strengthens awareness and invites clarity. One should, within one’s capacity, try to seek answers even for others’ questions before those answers arrive from elsewhere. Shankaracharya’s ‘satsangatve nissangatvam…’ verse (Bhaja Govindam-9) shows the practical effect of such company.

    Irrespective of one’s ability to pause for inward reflection, and in these days of running around all day, even the very idea of joining a Satsang physically may seem difficult to think of. Luckily however, the opportunity to associate with Satsang — even in digital form — always brings direction to life. It adds clarity, steadiness, and quiet value that deepens over time. Who said digital technology has no role in developing one’s inner awareness ?

    In practice the sequence is simple and necessary: carry out responsibilities, let each action be accompanied by a quiet inward check of motive and method, turn to inquiry when there’s any confusion, get into a respectable Satsang with your unclarified questions, and once there, pursue answers actively — even for others’ questions. Above all, keep sight of any rightful question and of its answer, wherever that answer is found and whoever has asked this question. By now we can clearly see that thinking and questioning are essential companions even as one continues to perform one’s bounden duty.

    So, let us conclude with conviction that what keeps duty alive and aligned to the purpose is not just action, but the fourfold rhythm that must accompany it: Act. Think. Question. Seek. Let these four guide every karma you perform — and you will be on your way to becoming a Karma Yogi. – The way of Bhagavad Gita.

    (ఈ వ్యాసాన్ని కనుక తెలుగులో చదవాలనుకుంటే , క్రింది లింకును క్లిక్ చెయ్యండి – https://nvsatish.com/2025/10/01/chaturvidha-margam/)