"The power to promote and reward, as also to demote and punish the individual and his fate in this world, lies within his mind, its thoughts and feelings. No external agency is necessary to bring this infallible fruition. As the growth and development of a seed, an embryo, or a cell designed and preserved by its own inner makeup, here too the causal forces for what one rightly deserves lurk within one’s own invisible bosom."

The Guiding force of Narayanashrama Tapovanam & Center for Inner Resources Development

Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha

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<< Chapter 12 Verse 11 >>
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अथैतदप्यशक्तोऽसि कर्तुं मद्योगमाश्रितः ।
सर्वकर्मफलत्यागं ततः कुरु यतात्मवान् ।। १२.११ ।।

athaitad-apy-aśakto’si kartuṁ mad-yogam-āśritaḥ |
sarva-karma-phala-tyāgaṁ tataḥ kuru yatātmavān || 12.11 ||

Audio Audio-BG-12.11
 

Krishna is sufficiently considerate and thoughtful. He always upholds wholesome, all-embracing nature. Thus he adds that even if one is not able to take to this kind of wholesome dedication and attunement, there is an effective alternative:

अथैतदप्यशक्तोऽसि कर्तुं मद्योगमाश्रितः ।
सर्वकर्मफलत्यागं ततः कुरु यतात्मवान् ।।

If remaining attuned to the Supreme, you are unable to do even this, then take to the practice of self-control and abandon inwardly all kinds of subjective results accruing from actions.

Even if the path of wholesome attunement is not found suitable or feasible, says Krishna, do not lose heart. There is still another alternative. Adopt the principle of self-control. Let a consistent note of moderation and control be there in speech, thought and action. Self-restraint, indispensable for healthy individual and social life, is something all can accept and also imbibe. But something more should be there to make the seeking fruitful and fulfilling. The seeker must make it a point to keep away from the mind’s dual involvement, namely the feeling of desirability and undesirability about the results his actions fetch.

Needless to say, the karma-phala that Bhagavad Gita speaks of is not objective at all. It is the subjective triple results: ishta, anishta and misra (desired, undesired and a mixture of the two). When these triple notes are abandoned, it ensures the inner welfare and progress of the seeker.

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