Friday, March 20, 2009

When Work Is Play then it is Karma Yoga


Have you ever played football or any other game just for the joy of playing it? When you play it with full vigor, then you derive special joy while playing it. If you play that game, for say two hours, then complete two hours give you joy of that game. In such a game it hardly matters for you whether you win or lose. After the game is over, a sense of satisfaction comes to you, as you had a good time playing it & you enjoyed it. But the only thing that is must in such a game to derive pleasure out of it is that you need to play it with full vigor & involvement. You need to be 100% in it while playing that game, as then only real joy of playing it comes to you.

Same is the case with any WORK that you do. If you get fully involved in it & give your 100% to it, then you too get a deep satisfaction doing that work & really enjoy while doing it. If there is a sense of complete involvement in any work, then you will love doing it, as it shall give a deep soul satisfaction that you have done your work with full devotion. In such an involvement, you just forget about the end result that this work shall derive. In any way, if you work with full dedication & devotion, then end result shall be good only & shall give success ultimately. But in such an involvement in work, it is the work only that matters & hardly mind thinks of the end result.

If you derive joy in work, then it becomes just like a play, in which joy of play is more important than the end result. So when WORK becomes PLAY then you are really doing it properly. Doing work in this way is what the Philosophy of Bhagwat Gita teaches us. In doing work in such a way, it becomes "Nishkama Karma" as explained in the Bhagwat Gita. "Nishkama Karma" just means, no egoism in our action, no expectation of any gain or reward but doing your work effectively. It is also that : “You have a right to action but never to the fruits of action.” Below verses of Bhagwat Gita Explains that only.

"Karmanye vadhikaraste
ma phalesu kadachana
ma karma-phala-hetur bhur
ma te sango ’stv akarmani" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Two verse 47)"

"Sri Krishna said to Arjuna: You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty."

"Yoga-sthah kuru karmani
sangam tyaktva dhananjaya
siddhy-asiddhyoh samo bhutva
samatvam yoga ucyate" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Two verse 48)"

"Sri Krishna said to Arjuna: Perform your duty with an equipoise mind, abandoning all attachment to success or failure. Such equanimity is called Yoga."

So just do your work with your 100% involvement & dedication & derive pleasure out of doing such work. You yourself shall then see that when you care for the work only & not it's final outcome, you work most effectively. Doing work in such a way is only called "Karma Yoga".

Read also...............It's Journey not the Outcome that matters
Read also...............What is Karmayoga?



Jai Sri Krishna.

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