यदृच्छालाभसन्तुष्टो द्वन्द्वातीतो विमत्सर: | सम: सिद्धावसिद्धौ च कृत्वापि न निबध्यते || 22 || |
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“Content with whatever gain comes of its own accord, and free from envy, they are beyond the dualities of life. Being equipoised in success and failure, they are not bound by their actions, even while performing all kinds of activities”.
Commentary :
The physical body, with its functions and actions, does not accrue karma. It is the delusional attachment of the individual consciousness to the body that causes the chain of rebirths. The progressing devotee clearly feels that he is not the actual owner of the body, but only a custodian and a guardian. The mindset and approach of a wise devotee is quite different. Perhaps a short checklist of few thoughts may help to understand. The wise devotee thinks:
“I will do my best and let my conscience be the judge” instead of thinking “I am worried about the outcome”
“I will work toward the goal enthusiastically but if I don’t achieve, I will still be happy, open to learn and try again” instead of thinking “I really want to have that experience in any way possible and I cannot be happy without it/him/her”
“God has given me this duty and I will work with a feeling of responsibility” instead of “I will do only what I like and love to do”
“It is like poisonous honey so I will carefully utilize or avoid it for my well-being” instead of “It is so tempting that I will yield to it to enjoy”
“I will be patient and loving just as God is with me inspite of my shortcomings” instead of “I can’t stand other people’s shortcomings when they don’t live up to my expectations”
In this way, the two mindsets of a wise person and an ignorant person differ.
Karma is a binding action that enslaves a person to the outcome and the resulting experience. When the wise devotee works just for the joy of work without attachment to past or current experience and future outcome, then he is not performing any sin of binding action.