18.8 duḥkham ity eva yat karma (Original)

SrI:  SrImathE SatakOpAya nama:  SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama:  SrImath varavaramunayE nama:

Chapter 18

<< Chapter 18 Verse 7

Simple

duḥkham ity eva yat karma
kāya-kleśa-bhayāt tyajet
sa kṛtvā rājasaṁ tyāgaṁ
naiva tyāga-phalaṁ labhet

‘Whoso, from fear of bodily fatigue, abandons work as of pain, such abstention is Rājasa; no benefit from abandonment doth he derive.’

Doubtless, work by steps conduct to Moksha (release); but as it involves pain (or trouble) in the shape of having to earn money (etc.,) for its accomplishment, and (involves) chastisement of body in the shape of undergoing great fatigue, it is agonizing to the mind. Dreading this, should one confine himself to the practice of meditation alone (jñan-ābhyāsa) for achieving Yoga (=self-Cognition or God- cognition), refraining from doing the āśrama-proper duties, such as the Mahāyajñas etc., such abstention by him from Work is due to Rajas; and such abstention is contrary to the sense of the Śāstras.

The benefit from abandonment, or the acquisition of wisdom (—which he supposes as arising from surceasal of works—) never accrues to him. So it is shown further on:

‘That intellect, Pārtha! which apprehends wrongly is Rājasa’ (Gi: XVIII-31).

And, forsooth, work does not by any visible means produce mind-purity, but by the medium of Bhagavān’s grace.

>> Chapter 18 Verse 9

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