Class Summary for Oct 15, 2024 - Chapter-4 Slokas 13-18

Summarized by Yamini

Recap:
Discussion about how Chatur varnam  has been misconstrued to be caste system
4 Ashramas- brahmacharya, gruhasta, vanaprastha, sanyasa
It is a good idea to get prepared for the next ashrama when you are in the present ashrama.
Life cannot be strictly broken down into these ashramas, but each needs to gradually flow into the other.

4 Varnas: Division by occupation
Brahmana : gaining and spreading knowledge
Kshatriya : Fighting and taking risks
Vysya: Business
Shudra: Labor kind of work.(even in IT company people can be divided into varnas based on how they work)
Bhagavan says have faith in me. I created the varnashramas for humans to perform in the right direction.
I follow my duties but without being bound by actions, I am still a non-doer.
Realization of moksha is based on doing the right action with the right attitude. Irrespective of the classification, you should do your duty and not get attached to these classifications.
Explaining how Bhagavan is walking the talk by doing his duty without being attached, he says
“One who believes in me and follows me, knows me thus, will attains moksha.”

Some examples of attachments are drinking coffee or performing daily rituals in a place in the house or even meditating at a certain time of the day.
If a change in the time or place or the object agitates us or throws us out of balance, it is still an attachment. We should challenge ourselves by changing the activities a little bit to see how attached we are.

Any action with desire, brings Vasanas and the sadness that brings with it.
Having desire is not a bad thing. Desire for higher things. If you are in thamo guna, aspire to be rajo and then desire to be satvik.

Verser 16-18
Vasanas->leads to Desire-> leads to attachment
There are 3 types of actions : Right type of action, inaction and wrong action
Nitya karma(daily actions), nymitya karma(obligatory duties) come under right action
Inaction/Akarma does not create baggage.
Akarma is not the same as not acting. Akarma means doing all the actions with right attitude.
In a hall under fire, not doing any action is bad. When there is a police chase, not doing anything i.e., not getting involved is ok.

Sometimes we mistake desires with aims and goals.

Vedas do not say not to have desire, instead they say have desire without attachment to result.

Performing all the actions, but understanding that “we” are not the one doing it , is akarma

Example story:
A murderer , when caught said he was not the one who did it, and was fully detached when he did it.
The judge sentenced him to death and said, “I am not the one who is giving you the judgement , its brahman in me.”
Akarma cannot be used in the context of forbidden action.
Vikarma is forbidden action.

Once, some gopikas wanted to give food to Durvasa by crossing a river that was in full flow. They approached Krishna and he went to the river and said ‘If I have been a brahmachari, this river would part’ and the river parted. Gopikas crossed the river. After they offered food, they wanted to go back. Durvasa enquired how they crossed the river the first time. After hearing how, Durvasa said ‘If I didn’t eat even one morsel of this food this river should part’ and the river parted.
This shows that by doing actions without attachment, we can refrain from accumulating vasanas.

When a baby is sick all night and mother is tending to the baby, mother forgets all the tiredness once baby gets better, because the action was done with a dedicated attitude. If you think of it with love or spirituality you do not feel it as a chore.

This is also an example of how unattached actions do not incur vasanas and thus do not result in misery.

Discussion on the verses will be continued next week.