Verses 12.9–12.10🔗

Here Kṛṣṇa talks about Abhyāsa Yoga. What is Abhyāsa Yoga? Abhyāsa Yoga is the practice or method of yoga of holding the mind constantly in a state of union with Divinity. It is the state of complete immersion in the consciousness of Kṛṣṇa. Why does Kṛṣṇa speak about Abhyāsa Yoga? In the last chapter, Kṛṣṇa gives Arjuna a glimpse of the universal consciousness, Viśvarūpa darśan. However, Arjuna is unable to stay in that state permanently. Arjuna comes out of the experience because of fear or old saṁskāras, root thought patterns of past desires. He slips from that state of consciousness. Therefore, Kṛṣṇa speaks about Abhyāsa Yoga, how to establish oneself in that consciousness.

That’s why He speaks about abhyāsa, which means practice. A Path For Everyone He gives a solid path, or a solid solution to take care of our whole life, to establish ourselves in that consciousness. Continuously, again and again, in our daily life, let us receive these ideas, intranalyze these ideas in our consciousness and let our inner space be filled with these ideas. Let us not waste a few moments. Let our whole inner space be filled with these great thoughts. That is the way to establish us in that super consciousness. Kṛṣṇa continues to give more tips for establishing ourselves in that consciousness and radiating devotion. Kṛṣṇa instructs continuously over the next four verses.

He gives various options, step-by-step. He says: If we can’t do this, do that. If we can’t do that, do this. The first thing He says is, ‘Oh Dhanañjaya (winner of wealth), fix your mind upon Me. With constant practice, try to attain Me. If you are not able to practice, then perform actions for Me. In this way, develop the desire to attain Me. ’ atha cittaṁ samādhātuṁ na śaknoṣi mayi sthiram I abhyāsa-yogena tato mām icchāptuṁ dhanañjaya II 12.9 Rāmakṛṣṇa Paramahamsa had advised a lady to meditate upon the form of goddess Kālī. She said that however much she tried she was unable to meditate on Kālī; she was always distracted.

She came back to Rāmakṛṣṇa upset that she could make no spiritual progress. Rāmakṛṣṇa enquired whether the lady’s attention was diverted to someone or something else. The lady confessed that she was thinking of a young nephew, a child, whom she was fond of. Immediately, Rāmakṛṣṇa advised her, ‘Focus your attention on this child whom you love. Meditate upon him.’ The lady came back after a few weeks satisfied. Having started her meditation upon the child whom she loved, she could meditate. And once she could meditate, she could transfer her focus to goddess Kālī! The mind can be trained. What is important is concentration. Once we learn to focus our attention completely on something, single-pointedly, we can train the mind to be like a laser beam.

That laser beam can then be transferred to any object with equal facility and success. Vivekananda has said, ‘Once you learn all that there is to be known about a handful of clay by focusing your complete attention on it, you will know about all the clay everywhere in the world.’ Kṛṣṇa refers to completing with the mind through constant practice of meditation, which is part of the yogic path. Meditation is not about sitting down with eyes closed for half an hour every day or every other day or when we get time. Meditation is incessant and obsessive focus upon the Divine. Meditation is a way of life. Bhakti Yogaḥ Love Is Your Very Life 891 Since He knows that we may not be able to lose ourselves in devotion to Him, He offers this as an alternative.

‘If the mind cannot be focused on Me,’ says the Lord, ‘try this. Practice again and again uniting with Me through meditation.’ When neither seems possible, Kṛṣṇa offers one more way. ‘Do whatever you must. Do your duty as you need to and are able to. But then, surrender what you do to Me. Do what you do for My sake, mat-karma-paramo bhava.’ By performing whatever we do with total faith in Him, and with a deep feeling of surrender to Him, we reach Him. abhyāse ‘pi asamartho ‘si mat-karma-paramo bhava I mad-artham api karmāṇi kurvan siddhim avāpsyasi II 12.10 Kṛṣṇa implies two things through His statement. First, the results of whatever is done with an attitude of surrender to Him, belong to Him.

Our responsibility is to do, and do it well. We have the right to ‘doer-ship’ not ‘owner-ship’. The Lord is the owner of the fruits of actions that we perform on His behalf. When we learn to do this, we automatically imbibe the concept of non-attachment to the end result. What happens is in His hands, not ours. We then start focusing on the path, not the goal. We focus on the process, not the product. And when we do this, our performance gets better because we no longer are stressed by what the end result might be. We are no longer worried since the outcome is in safe hands.

If we travel with this awareness, whatever path we take is the right path. Whatever destination we reach through this right path is the right destination. When worship becomes a way of life, when spirituality becomes a part of daily life, there is an attitude of surrender to the Divine. One feels intuitively that whatever happens will be for common good and good for oneself. It does not matter if our neighbor has more than what we have. In fact, we rejoice that the neighbor has more than we have. We no longer have expectations of what we hope to get. When surrender happens, there is no end-point that one strives for.

Wherever the path leads is the right destination. With focus only on the path and not on the goal, expectations of what may happen drop. Whatever happens is good. This non-attachment and lack of expectations is the hallmark of a karma yogi, one who has surrendered his actions to the Divine. Kṛṣṇa implies one more thing. He wants us to do His service. He wants us to work on and enrich His mission. He says, ‘Engage yourself in activities on My behalf, and you will attain Me, mad-artham api karmāṇi kurvan siddhim avāpsyasi.’ I tell people, ‘Do not worry about whether I am here physically with you or not. If you chase Me, you will never be one with Me.

Work to enrich My mission. In whatever way you can, work on activities that enrich humanity. Work on My behalf. Then, instead of you chasing Me, I shall chase you. I shall always be with you.’ Working on the mission of the Divine is a sure guarantee to reach Divinity. Work For Me