Thread by @Upanishad_Ganga

Ishavasya Upanishad - Verse 2

कुर्वन्नेवेह कर्माणि जिजीविषेच्छतं समाः ।
एवं त्वयि नान्यथेतोऽस्ति न कर्म लिप्यते नरे

kurvanneveha karmani jijīvishecchatam samah
evam tvayi nanyathetosti na karma lipyate nare

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#Upanishads #Isha #Spirituality #Philosophy

Interpretation from Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan's book "The Principal Upanishads" - Verse-1 of Ishavasya Upanishad calls upon us to win inner freedom through renunciation. Verse-2 is addressed to those who seek salvation but cannot renounce the world

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#Upanishads #Isha

This verse tells us that we should wish to live 100 years (representative max age of human being) by always performing actions. And this is the only way the karma (actions and their consequences) don't cling to us.

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Seen together, verse 1 and 2 ask us to withdraw from world in mind and spirit but not in action. This is similar to what Bhagavadgita (which also is actually another Upanishad - Gitopanishad) teaches us about Nishkama Karma (action without desire)

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But what is this nishkama karma? Let me illustrate this through two practical examples. The first example that I will use is a widely used illustration of ""Categorical Imperative"" a moral philosophy put forth by German Philosopher Immanuel Kant.

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In a nutshell, Kant's Categorical Imperative is ""duty for the sake of duty and not for any desire"". An example for this is - Suppose a shopkeeper has an opportunity to cheat a customer. But the shopkeeper refrains from cheating, as otherwise he may lose future business

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While the shopkeeper did the right thing by not cheating, he did the right thing for wrong reason - his desire for future results. Hence the shopkeeper was not doing ""duty for sake of duty"". This is not the nishkama karma that Verse-2 of Isha upanishad talks about

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For the second example, let me take a moral dilemma that is often faced in corporate world. A manager has to take a decision about firing someone due to non-performance. But firing the person may put him (employee) in severe financial troubles. What should the manager do?

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Scenario-1: The manager fires the employee as if he doesn't fire the employee, the manager himself may be in trouble.
Scenario-2: The manager fires the employee as he is very angry with the underperformance of the employee.

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Scenario-3: The manager doesn't fire the employee as otherwise he would feel guilty about pushing his subordinate into financial crisis
Scenario-4: The manager doesn't fire the employee so that he could coach him and he (manager) could reap benefits of improved performance

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In all these scenarios, the manager is not doing nishkama-karma and therefore the karma gets clinged to him. In each of these scenarios, the manager has a certain desire for personal outcomes.

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Scenario-5: The manager doesn't fire the employee as he would want to coach the employee and help him improve his performance so that the company's objectives are met
Scenario-6: The manager fires the employee so that the employee could find a job where he would excel

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Scenario-7: The manager fires the employee as his (manager's) duty is to ensure that the company's objectives are met

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In scenarios 5,6 &7, the manager is performing his action without any selfish desire. When Verse-2 of Isha Upanishad says that we should wish to live for 100 years by performing actions, it is referring to such actions which are performed without any desire for self

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Such approach to actions is also termed in Bhagavadgita as Sva-Dharma (self-law).

स्वधर्मे निधनं श्रेय: परधर्मो भयावह: (Chapter 3 Verse 35).

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Kant later called it the "Autonomy Formulation" for his Categorical Imperative. A person can said to be acting in autonomy when he/she is acting under own will and not under some external influence such as fear of punishment or desire of gains

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So who will judge if a person is doing nishkama-karma or not? No one else but self. In the above corporate example, the manager could have fired the employee for selfish reason and could have gone around and convinced others that he acted in best interest of company

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But since he actioned for selfish reason, karma clings to him. He would ultimately fail to find right solution to performance issues of his team and eventually face the consequences or someday he may come under guilt for his own actions

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Even then the manager should not perform his actions to avoid karma getting clinged to him. But rather he should perform the action as a duty for the sake of duty. In any case it is only the self that knows whether one is following the path of nishkama karma or not

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"Ashtavakra Gita" Chapter-4 refers to an interesting conversation between King Janaka and Sage Ashtavakra where Janaka mentions about how a wise person of self-knowledge can lead a life without desire despite being in the midst of worldly enjoyments

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If we look deep into the Eight Fold path of Buddhism, even that also provides the approach to overcome the desires (root of suffering - clinging of karma) through right action and right mindfulness (nishkama karma)

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#Buddhism #Upanishads