Karmanye Vadhikaraste

It must be sometime in 1990s when the epic ‘Mahabharata’, directed by Ravi Chopra, was broadcast on the national television every Sunday at 9am. I vividly remember the TV series used to start with the following verse:

‘Karmanye Vadhikaraste Ma Phaleshu Kadachana,

Ma Karma Phala Hetur Bhurmatey Sangostva Akarmani’ ( 2:47, Srimad Bhagwad Gita)

Never ever in that tender age of 8-10 years, I had imagined that the above mentioned verse was the essence of the ‘Holy Gita’; the greatest spiritual book the world has ever known. It was in 9^th grade when I learnt Sanskrit in my school but I had no inspiration to find out at least the figurative meaning of the above verse. But after some experiences over the past 3 years, I somewhat realized the meaning of the above verse, though not completely yet.

Google the meaning and you will find out that the above verse means:

‘You have a right to perform your prescribed action, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be associated to not doing your duty.’

But, Google does not dictate what learning experiences we should have, even though we are entirely dependent on it for many things. Looking at our habitual dependency on the ‘search engine’, I am sure some people would have even searched for ‘happiness’ on it. Would Google have displayed ‘Page Not Found’ to them?

I always wondered, do we really act according to the above philosophy?  Do we ever do something without expecting an outcome? Do we ever stop cursing ourselves for a bad result? (Unless we run out of people to blame.)

The answer to all the above questions is NO. We do not. We never do. All our actions are guided by ulterior motives or we are forced to act/ do something because of certain unforeseen circumstances. We expect a lot from what we do. We expect to get a good job after the degree, an appraisal for a decent performance, a pat on the back for performing well in a game and the list of expectations goes on. We fail to realize that our expectations stem up from our desires. Desire is a root cause of all evils. Desire, can drive a man insane. If a person does anything with an expectation in his mind, he will just not enjoy his work. In the end, if his expectations are not met, he will be totally disheartened. That may be because his expectations were not realistic. Under the influence of a strong desire of a favorable outcome, he relinquishes the happiness, which in other case he would have got while performing his action. I feel, happiness is a path function. In simple words, happiness can be experienced along the path of your daily routine.

I know few people who are so annoyed with their work that they find it a burden to go to their work. I have been through such a phase. Having secured a job in one of the leading steel producers of India, I had expected a very good job profile. But, on the very first day of my work, I realized that my profile was not what I had expected. I was extremely frustrated with my choice of the company and cursed myself for appearing for the interview. To give an example, I had to sweep the floor with a dirty broom, which I had not expected at all. It was during this time, when I realized that I was unhappy because my expectations from the job were not fulfilled.

When I used to look at my colleagues, I wondered how and why these guys were so happy while working at a place where a 200 ton ladle is moving above your head,  possibility of sustaining serious injuries from the Hot Metal at any instant and so many of such depressing things. Gradually, I realized that they did not expect much from the work. They never came to work thinking it as a liability, but as a duty. They completely overlooked the depressing factors as if they didn’t exist and enjoyed those 8 hours. Eventually, I started aligning myself with their attitude. With dedicated practice, I could do that. I sensed the change in me when I realized that I had started enjoying my work, no matter what it was. I had stopped focusing on the result and  started taking sincere efforts to pursue happiness in any trivial thing I could find.

It is so simple to implement the above. Have no expectations from anything. But, hardly are we able to do so. That is because we are programmed to expect. Overcoming this tendency needs a lot of practice and patience. Initially, it is very difficult. But, having experienced it, I am sure this will be the easiest & loveliest thing one will ever do in life. Having done that, I am also sure that one will experience mental peace. Wouldn’t anyone love that?

Finally, I would like to say one must hope for the best in whatever he does. He should give his best efforts in it. Just do not expect anything. There is a very thin line between a hope and an expectation. One must be really careful to not to cross that line and jump into an infinite loop of expectations. But, hope is a good thing. No doubt, Andy Dufresne had realized this and had rightly said,

‘Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.’