यत: प्रवृत्तिर्भूतानां येन सर्वमिदं ततम् |
स्वकर्मणा तमभ्यर्च्य सिद्धिं विन्दति मानव: || 46||
yataḥ pravṛittir bhūtānāṁ yena sarvam idaṁ tatam
sva-karmaṇā tam abhyarchya siddhiṁ vindati mānavaḥ
yataḥ—from whom; pravṛittiḥ—have come into being; bhūtānām—of all living entities; yena—by whom; sarvam—all; idam—this; tatam—pervaded; sva-karmaṇā—by one’s natural occupation; tam—him; abhyarchya—by worshipping; siddhim—perfection; vindati—attains; mānavaḥ—a person
Translation:
By performing one’s natural occupation, one worships the Creator from whom all living entities have come into being, and by whom the whole universe is pervaded. By such performance of work, a person easily attains perfection.
Commentary:
Yatah pravrittir bhutanam: It is clear that Paramatma is the origin and source of all beings. All beings come from Him and return to Him. Paramatma is the vital Intelligence Principle without which insentient Prakriti can do nothing. Therefore the worship of Paramatma is the highest duty of man in whom Paramatma is manifesting in the highest degree.
Yena saravam idam tatam: All this is pervaded by the Lord. This declaration is made thrice in the Gita. Paramatma is present everywhere, like cream in milk. He is not seen with the external eye, but to the eye of knowledge, He is visible. He is ‘Sarvasakshi’, the Seer of everything because He is present in the innermost core of every being. So realising, man should be pure in thought and deed and should be devoted to Him who is the origin and source of his very being.
Svakarmana tam abhyarcha: The performance of one’s own duty is itself the worship of the Lord. This is the excellence of Kamayoga. The tiller in the field, the worker in the factory, the judge in the court, the minister in the cabinet, the trader, the cobbler, in fact, every man who is engaged in some form of work or other, can transform and sublimate that work into the worship of the Lord by offering it to Him-the action and its fruits altogether. Thus every step that he takes, every breath that he breathes, every action that he does becomes worship of the Lord. Such worship automatically purifies the mind, because the mind is agitated only when man becomes attached to his work for selfish ends and by selfish motives. He who can maintain the attitude of detachment and surrender remains restful and lives in peace. Such peace leads to the vision of Paramatma. Of all the methods mentioned to purify the mind, this is the best and most easy to practice. As man is engaged in some form of work, the ideal is to perform it as worship of the Lord, free from fear and anxiety, free from binding egotism and binding selfishness.
Thus Karma becomes the means to Moksha. Karma binds only when the performer desires to obtain this or that fruit either in this world or in other worlds. Man knows in his heart of hearts that he is attached to work by contemplating the pleasure of enjoying the rewards. This should be given up by the true seeker whose will is set on the realisation of ultimate perfection. The Lord declares that man attains perfection by following the principle of detached performance of one’s own duty.
This verse explains the combination of Karma, Bhakti, and Jnana.
- Performance of action (Karma)
- Worship of the Lord through action (Bhakti)
- Purification of the mind which brings about self-realisation (Jnana)
Swami Vivekananda Says —
Do not say we are weak; we can do anything and everything. What can we not do? Everything can be done by us; we all have the same glorious soul, let us believe in it. Have faith, as Nachiketâ. At the time of his father’s sacrifice, faith came unto Nachiketa; ay, I wish that faith would come to each of you; and every one of you would stand up a giant, a world-mover with a gigantic intellect — an infinite God in every respect. That is what I want you to become. This is the strength that you get from the Upanishads, this is the faith that you get from there.
Ay, but it was only for the Sannyâsin! Rahasya (esoteric)! The Upanishads were in the hands of the Sannyasin; he went into the forest! Shankara was a little kind and said even Grihasthas (householders) may study the Upanishads, it will do them good; it will not hurt them. But still the idea is that the Upanishads talked only of the forest life of the recluse. As I told you the other day, the only commentary, the authoritative commentary on the Vedas, has been made once and for all by Him who inspired the Vedas — by Krishna in the Gita. It is there for every one in every occupation of life. These conceptions of the Vedanta must come out, must remain not only in the forest, not only in the cave, but they must come out to work at the bar and the bench, in the pulpit, and in the cottage of the poor man, with the fishermen that are catching fish, and with the students that are studying. They call to every man, woman, and child whatever be their occupation, wherever they may be. And what is there to fear! How can the fishermen and all these carry out the ideals of the Upanishads? The way has been shown. It is infinite; religion is infinite, none can go beyond it; and whatever you do sincerely is good for you. Even the least thing well done brings marvellous results; therefore let every one do what little he can. If the fisherman thinks that he is the Spirit, he will be a better fisherman; if the student thinks he is the Spirit, he will be a better student. If the lawyer thinks that he is the Spirit, he will be a better lawyer, and so on, and the result will be that the castes will remain for ever. It is in the nature of society to form itself into groups; and what will go will be these privileges. Caste is a natural order; I can perform one duty in social life, and you another; you can govern a country, and I can mend a pair of old shoes, but that is no reason why you are greater than I, for can you mend my shoes? Can I govern the country? I am clever in mending shoes, you are clever in reading Vedas, but that is no reason why you should trample on my head. Why if one commits murder should he be praised, and if another steals an apple why should he be hanged? This will have to go. Caste is good. That is the only natural way of solving life. Men must form themselves into groups, and you cannot get rid of that. Wherever you go, there will be caste. But that does not mean that there should be these privileges. They should be knocked on the head. If you teach Vedanta to the fisherman, he will say, I am as good a man as you; I am a fisherman, you are a philosopher, but I have the same God in me as you have in you. And that is what we want, no privilege for any one, equal chances for all; let every one be taught that the divine is within, and every one will work out his own salvation.[Source]
WEAVING AS A WORSHIP
Kabir, a renowned saint of Kasi, was a weaver by profession. Even in his old age, Kabir continued his work as a weaver. Many rich and powerful people used to gather around him to hear him speak and sing ecstatically. They were drawn to him by the divine atmosphere around him. All of them, including the kings and the zamindars, who were his devotees, pleaded with him, “Why do you toil like this? Must you weave day after day? At this old age, you make clothes and walk all the way to the market to sell them. We feel ashamed that our Guru has to do all this! We are here to look after you and serve you. Just be here and sing your divine songs, and we shall listen and be blessed.”
Kabir laughed and said, “What else am I to do? This is the only work that this body can do. This is how I can worship Rama, who comes in so many forms. This is my pūja. Do you think I am weaving? Do you think I am toiling, working? No! It is not so. In fact, I stopped working long ago. Weaving is my worship. What is being woven here is not cloth but a divine fabric of which every thread is Rama. Wherever I look, I see only Him—jita dekhūṃ tita tūm—wherever I look, it is Rama. Kabir disappeared long back at the feet of Master Ramananda. In me, ‘I’ am not; only Rama is.” (Source: Srimad Bhagavad Gita – Elixir of Eternal Wisdom | Vol 3)
Question: What is the source of all beings?
Answer: Paramatma.
Question: By whom is this universe pervaded?
Answer: By Paramatma.
Question: How can the Jiva attain perfection?
Answer: If a man performs his prescribed duties in the spirit of the worship of the Lord, surrendering the fruits to him, he gets purification of mind and when the mind is purified, he attains Bahmajnana.
Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 18 🔻 (78 Verses)
| 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 |
| 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 |
| 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 |
| 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 |
| 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 |
| 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 |
