________________
Aptavani-2
of the Self. A man cannot be in his home if he is in the farm and he cannot be in the farm if he is in his home; a person can only be in one place at a time. Similarly, a true sanyasi remains only in the Self.
431
People say nishkam yoga means, "Do what you have to do, but without any expectations of any reward." Well, not even a bug would leave its home without any expectation! No one would do any work without some expectation of a reward! Would anyone go to a shoe store without expecting to buy a pair of shoes? No one would go to the market if he knows he will not be able to buy any vegetables today. Nevertheless we have to say, "Do your work without expectations for a reward." What this does is, while working, this statement will remind you, 'The Lord has said to work without expecting a reward,' and because of this, the reward will be good. If people could truly work without expecting rewards, they would make progress, but they have not understood what Lord Krishna is saying. What the Lord said was, "When you go to buy vegetables, expect to get vegetables, however, having bought them, if they turn out bitter, then that is your reward. Therefore, do not have expectations for the rewards and do not do raag-dwesh. Accept whatever happens in the end." Maintain composure if your pocket gets picked. Do not lament over it. Maintain equanimity there. If you go out to buy a sari, naturally you expect to get a sari, but do not get depressed if it turns out to be a bad one. Accept the sari as it is. Do not expect anything more than that. Do not do raag-dwesh; that is what Lord Krishna is trying to say. You can go to a shoe store but do not harbor feelings of right or wrong, likes and dislikes. Therefore, nishkam karma is to not harbor like or dislike in the result of any effort.
God has said in the Gita, "You have to study the Gita (abhyas kar)." Now people have studied it so much that abhyas has turned into adhyas; their study has become the only focus and agenda, feeding only the intellect. The Lord has said that in
Aptavani-2
order to remove the wrong impression, people have to study, but that study itself has lead to a wrong impression; the intellect has taken over.
432
Today, no one understands a single word of Lord Krishna. Sanyast yoga means to not have the awareness of 'I am the doer', in all that one does; this is the definition of a true sanyasi. There is not even a drop of sanyast in today's so called sanyasis. Placing the self in the Self is sanyast yoga. An absolute sanyasi means dharma sanyas. This is the last sanyas (renunciation) of ours (mahatmas of Dadashri). Here the Self remains as the Self. Our religion is alaukik (beyond the world). In the relative religions, the self is made to support all the penances and renunciations through the body, supporting the ego.
Lord Krishna has said that a true sanyasi, whether he has renounced the world, whether he is a family man or any other, is the one who has these three qualities:
1. He does not have the pride of doer-ship.
2. He does not have any infatuation-asakti
3. He has no desires - kamna.
What is this infatuation (attraction; asakti)? Attraction is a quality of the physical body. What is it like? It is like the relationship between a magnet and a pin. The body becomes attracted to whatever subatomic particles (parmanus), it is suited to. The Soul has nothing to do with it, but people have an illusion of feeling 'I am attracted'. For us, those who have attained Gnan, there is attraction through the physical body; the body which has the qualities of attraction (asakti) and repulsion and the Self is beyond all attractions (anasakta). The Self is never pulled or attracted. True renunciation is defined as that in which the Self does not become absorbed or become one (tanmayakar) with the attraction. The false pride of doer-ship is verily the attraction (asakti).
