What is action and what is inaction

Yog of Knowledge and Action 

Chapter 4, Verse 16

 

kiṁ karma kim akarmeti 

kavayo’py-atra mohitāḥ 

tatte karma pravakṣyāmi 

yaj-jñātvā mokṣyase’śubhāt

 

What is action and what is inaction, as to this, even the sages are perplexed and deluded. I will declare to you that kind of action by the knowledge of which you shall be released from all suffering.

 

Here Krishna says to Arjuna, “A true yogi is beyond action and inaction. They have the true knowledge that there is no action or inaction which is not done by the Will of God.”

 

“As to this, even the sages are perplexed...” If one doesn’t completely surrender to the Divine, even if one is a sage, one will get deluded and not realise the Divine.

 

If we take the lives of sages in ancient times as examples, in the ashram, they would do their daily routine, but they would not think, “I am doing it,” or, “How will I do it?” If the sages would start to think like this, the whole ashram would not function.

 

Krishna says, “I will give you the supreme knowledge. This is not just knowledge for you to know only intellectually. I am revealing it to you so you can get freed from the bondage of karma.” Many know it in the mind and many want to understand it in the mind, yet it’s very difficult to understand.

“What is action and what is inaction?” Whenever you look at things, there is always the game of action and inaction. If you look around, you perceive that there is always judgement of action and inaction. However, Krishna says that if you are wise, you look at everything as if God is doing it. If you are not wise, you will judge whatever happens in the world. Or you will judge what is happening physically in yourself and then you will start having pain and sorrow. Through that judgement knowledge is gone. Life is always like this. When something bad happens, one will not see that oneself is responsible for it. One will say, “Why has God allowed this to happen?” But when something good happens, you don’t say, “O God, why have You given me good things? Why are these good things happening to me?” You say, “I did it! I did it!” Exactly. We blame God for the bad things. No. It’s not God that should be blamed. It’s your mind.

Bhagavad Gita