न द्वेष्ट्यकुशलं कर्म कुशले नानुषज्जते ।
त्यागी सत्त्वसमाविष्टो मेधावी छिन्नसंशयः ॥ १८.१० ॥

na dveṣṭy-akuśalam karma kuśale nānuṣajjate |
tyāgī sattva-samāviṣṭo medhāvī chinna-samśaya: || 18.10 ||

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Impersonal Self and nirdvandvatā in active life

Krishna has explained the three kinds of tyāga (renunciation), and shown that the sāttvika kind alone is the right one. He elaborates the point in the next eight verses, emphasizing how the sāttvika renunciation becomes functional in leading to supreme spiritual Wisdom.

A renunciate endowed with sāttvika qualities is wise and free of doubts. He neither dislikes unpleasant action nor clings to pleasant action.

All actions, when analyzed, fall into two categories: pleasant and unpleasant. They are like other pairs of opposites (dvandvas). Pleasantness and unpleasantness are felt not alone at the fruition of actions, but also right when they are begun, nay even conceived of. So the seeker should equip himself with the nirdvandva attitude right from the beginning.

Krishna has been advocating this nirdvandvatā all along. Thus, the prescription is that no resentment for unpleasant actions or any special clinging to the pleasant ones should be felt or fostered by the seeker. His intelligence should be very clear about this non-dual perspective.

Krishna declares that he alone is wise (medhāvī) who embodies this kind of evenness. Only when the seeker’s intelligence is perceptive enough to understand the greatness of adopting such a non-dual, transcendental attitude towards all actions, does he become spiritually wise.

In the fourth chapter, while describing karma and akarma, Krishna said (4.18): Whoever sees “actionlessness in physical activity” and conversely “activity in physical stillness” is indeed the “wise among the humans”. There he was bringing the Impersonal Self, which neither acts nor acts not, as the ground for the ‘Even Perception’. Here it is the sublimation of the notion of dvandvas, duality and gaining uniformity of perception brought about by nirdvandvatā that is the basis of wisdom.

Whether it is the Impersonal Self or the lofty concept of nirdvandvatā, the spiritual sublimational effect on the mind and intelligence is the same. Either makes the seeker wise, brilliant. If the first is from the standpoint of the actionless Self, the latter is by analyzing the nature and results of actions. The relevance of both concepts should be clearly borne in mind in order to grasp the great message of the dialogue.

He who has grasped the point, and brings its relevance to interactional life, is sattva-samāviṣṭaḥ. His being will be pure and sublime. He is free from all kinds of doubt about his sādhanā, its aim and fruition.

Instead of relating the sādhanā to the good and bad results of actions (karma-phala-samatva), the seeker finds its relevance at the very commencement of all actions – a striking difference. The benefit is instant. The intelligence becomes clear, brilliant and luminous, reflecting the Impersonal Self within. Generally any active involvement brings agitation. It no more does so. The seeker becomes radiant and buoyant because of the qualitative change of his mind and intelligence.

When nirdvandvatā begins to govern all activities, it cuts the very root of fear and disappointment related to the fate of actions. Consequently worldliness dissolves. Apprehensions about the life before and after, and the resultant hell and heaven, the conflict of worldliness versus spirituality — all these fall. It is like the vyavasāyātmikā buddhiḥ Krishna presented in the 2nd chapter, at the commencement of his karmayoga exposition (2.41).

What is there to doubt? Life in any level, kind and quality can and will mean only pleasantness and unpleasantness. Let their cause be anything. The net effect is the same. All of it stands engulfed by nirdvandvatā. Why should doubt linger then at all? The mind becomes peaceful, intelligence becomes clear. Stability surges forth in abundance. Is there anything more to attain as a supreme gain?

In the 2nd chapter, Krishna, while denouncing actions motivated by desires and selfishness, asked Arjuna to seek refuge under buddhiḥ (intelligence): buddhau śaraṇam anviccha. He calls those whose attention is only on the “object results” of whatever they do, as wretched and miserly (kṛpaṇāḥ phala-hetavaḥ 2.49). Krishna’s present exposition is a re-affirmation of what he said earlier.

In the 3rd chapter, he showed how the Knower of Truth (tattva-vit) remains unaffected and untouched, being aware: “It is prakṛti’s guṇas (qualities of Nature) that interact with each other. I am not verily involved in the process” (3.28). Only those deluded at heart will claim undue ownership of actions and get victimized by constant torment.

In the 5th chapter again, Krishna has explained how all activities and interactions are inter-play of the senses and their objects. The Knower of Truth (tattva-vit), who realizes this fact, clearly displays his disinvolvement in all actions, understanding fully that he does not verily do anything at all (5.8,9).

It is this single proposition that runs through all these statements. The seeker should link up all the revelations, so that the singular message of the dialogue is properly absorbed.