बुद्धियुक्तो जहातीह उभे सुकृतदुष्कृते ।
तस्माद्योगाय युज्यस्व योगः कर्मसु कौशलम् ।। २-५० ।।

buddhi-yukto jahātīha ubhe sukṛta-duṣkṛte |
tasmād-yogāya yujyasva yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam || 2.50 ||

In the next verse, Krishna presents how the yoga-buddhi takes one to mental transcendence, and how the yogic vision and practice make one distinguished in doing all kinds of karma –adventurous, hazardous or stupendous– dexterously:

By using the word buddhi-yukta it becomes clear that karma-yoga is a practice that rests in buddhi. Buddhi-yukta means one who is integrated well with samatva-buddhi. Buddhi being attuned to samatva as a constant overwhelming note, one is able to freely leave aside notions like sukrta (auspicious) and dushkrta (inauspicious). Why should Krishna make a special mention of sukrta and dushkrta?

To Arjuna the entire war looked extremely sinful. He thought the real virtue lay in abandoning fight and embracing ascetic life. This is the dual or differential outlook ‘bheda-buddhi’ of the common deluded man. Virtue and vice are considerations of the ignorant, constricted, disintegrated mind. To the yogic seeker, such differential notions should not have any appeal at all. In fact, the yoga-buddhi itself is taken up to dissuade the constant influence of the world in the form of dvandvas (duals): virtue and vice, good and bad, success and failure and the like. Where yoga-buddhi reigns, there dvandvas have no place or purpose. Arjuna has thus no cause to worry about dushkrta to be avoided or sukrta to be earned. His mind can become free and stable about whatever he was proposing to do.

Thus Krishna goes to the last quarter of the verse:

Yogah karmasu kausalam

Yoga, Krishna describes, is extreme dexterity in doing one’s karma. Far from desisting from any action, fearing any consequence or doubting about any possibility in its way, it is the skill and courage in going forward with any action whatsoever. Whether it is the devastating Kurukshetra war now, or the complex and painful task of administering the country later, to the yogic thinker it makes little difference. Yoga-buddhi gives him an efficiency, a confidence and perception which together make him immensely effective and doubt-free in whatever he does. Krishna calls karma-yoga as unique excellence and skill for doing karmas.

In fact, Krishna’s life itself was an open demonstration of the yogic excellence. You can find enough clues to this right from his early life. He was born as the nephew of Kamsa, who considered him to be a stark enemy and inflicted a number of adverse plights, the like of which human history has not recorded till date. The yogi can remain immensely active. His yogic vision will empower him to take up any venture, meet any eventuality and reconcile with any outcome any time. The man of yoga will not shudder at any situation or possibility. As earth moves in its trajectory ceaselessly, the river flows on and on from the mountain, so too the one enriched by yoga-buddhi will go forward and forward. While yet the pet boy of Vrindavan, Krishna was invited formally by Kamsa, his uncle, to Mathura, where the invincible Malla and Chanoora awaited him for a personal duel. Right at the entry gate stood the huge tusker Kuvalyapeeda, ready to charge the boy when he came to the spot. The young Krishna neither feared nor wished to retreat on any account, although every one in Vrindavan stood breathlessly on hearing about the hazardous journey. Krishna did go to Mathura and subdued the tusker as well as the powerful Malla and Chanoora to overpower Kamsa and install his father on the throne in all righteousness. What greater adventure can one think of attempting?

Just before the commencement of the Mahabharata war, Balarama, Krishna’s elder brother, became pensive and restless. He could not think of witnessing Duryodhana and Bheema, his disciples, facing each other in war. He left the scene and went on a pilgrimage. But Krishna, related to both equally, decided to be in the midst of the war, standing as a charioteer and steering every crucial event to uphold righteousness and win its cause.

When Krishna speaks about yoga-buddhi and describes it as karma-kausalam, it means a wonderful deal. Any one who wants to be effective in his field of activity, who intends to go ahead with whatever task lies ahead, whoever wishes to strive untiringly for greater and greater objectives in life, will do well to reflect upon this yogic exponent’s vision, will and excellence. Even a small percentage of the merits yoga-buddhi instils and bestows, is ample enough for any worldly individual to pursue his life with effectiveness and fulfilment.