Hardwar and Rishikesh

Amitabh Shukla

Roaming on the banks of the holy river Ganga in Rishikesh sometime ago during a break from office, a question came to my mind. How can an office goer, who is into the daily grind of a metropolitan city keep a balance between his internal (spiritual) and external (material) growth?

With the religious and spiritual impact of the twin cities of Haridwar and Rishikesh deep on my conditioning at that point of time, the question kept troubling me in the ashram where I was putting up for 3 days. The next day itself, I got talking to a Swami of the Ashram. “You don’t have to look anywhere else. Just read the Bhagwad Gita. I am sure, you do not understand Sanskrit. Go for an English translation and explanation,” said the young Swami who was doing a three-month course on Yoga in the Ashram.

“I have read Gita a few times. The teachings does affect me for a while but when the problems around me manifests, I react from my conditioning and forget the teachings. The subconscious remains worried due to something or the other and sometimes without any reason,” I told the Swami honestly.

It was at this point that the young teacher, perhaps younger to me in age but much more qualified in spiritual matters, taught me the theory of doing your duty irrespective of the results. This was what Krishna taught Arjun on the battlefield of Mahabharata. I had read it but the way it was put before me was an eye and mind opener.

“There is no harm in action but dependence on the fruits of action is dangerous,” quoted the Swami from the Gita. “You cannot control anything of the world, you cannot change the world. Why bother about something on which you have no control at all,” the Swami continued. Referring to attachment, he said: “You only have control on your work, the type of work you do and how much you do. Just do it honestly to the best of your ability. You cannot control the rest – the fruits and the rewards which come along.

“You plant a sapling. You can just water it and put manure. You cannot decide how many branches would come out and how many leaves would be there on the grown up plant. This is the theory of nature”.

The example of the sapling immediately connected the theory of karma as enunciated by Krishna in all its myriad variations with my doubts. “The law of nature demands that you should not worry about the results if you have done your work honestly and best of your ability,” the Swami said. “Live life full, enjoy it to the hilt but maintain a distance from desire and ambition,” was his parting advice.

(2010)

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