Collective wisdom is a civilised term for a poor compromise.
Democracies often throws us a wrong man with right answers, but with little intentions to implement them, than a right man with the right attitude and reasonable solutions.
It has been a great puzzle to me as to how one can sustain "nishkama karma" for long sincerely, without "ashraddha" rearing its ugly head.
I would love rejoinders please.
Love
Vichu
As I read this loudly Uma joins in with the query "what is Nishkama Karma?"
ReplyDeleteHer riposte being "Kaam kiye bina Karma kaise ho sakta hai?"
"Kamah" being translated as "Desire" , Uma's question still is relevant as to whether it is possible to act without a germ of desire?
Added to this is Vichu athan's googly (whoever said the word google comes from googol, me thinks a googly is a better and more humorous etymology)about ashraddha rearing itself from time to time, which prompts these thoughts.
1. The standard "your right is to work only ...as a ready made Maggi noodles type of answer.
2. "Kamah Karoti Na aham karomi" comes to mind readily as a counter to ashraddha for it acknowledges that action without a germ of(and sometimes copius quantities of) Kama (desire) is impossible.
3. Lastly, this line of thought stresses the importance of "sankalpa" before action dedicating the fruits of kama to a certain end and absolving the Self of any ersatz.
Nishkama Karma without sankalpa is Bhakti as then there would be no place for ashraddha - Such could be the bhasyam for ALV's googly.
Naresh
One way I parse "Nishkaam Karma", it could translate to something simple-minded like: "Do what you enjoy doing, just because you enjoy doing it, not because you want something from it". Practically speaking, the more you try to control the outcome of some effort, the more frustrating it will be to fail, and the more fleetingly pleasurable it will be to succeed at that outcome. If instead you enjoyed the effort itself, things might be generally more pleasant.
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