MONDAY MUSINGS SEASON 2 - EPISODE 349
19th January 2026
Call for action
Contended on the past and ambitious for the future
Abandoning prescribed duties under the guise of renunciation is ignorance, as per the last episode. This is meant for people who abandon their responsibilities to themselves, their families, and society under the guise of contentment. This is a wrong interpretation of the scriptures.
Scriptures suggest contentment for the past and ambition for the future and the present should understand and apply both.
The next sloka chides another set of people who also ignore responsibilities not for renunciation but for another reason.
दु:खमित्येव यत्कर्म कायक्लेशभयात्यजेत् | स कृत्वा राजसं त्यागं नैव त्यागफलं लभेत् || Bhagavad Gita 18.8||
To give up prescribed duties because they are troublesome or cause bodily discomfort is renunciation in the mode of passion. Such renunciation is never beneficial or elevating.
Spiritual for escapism?
Some make spiritual aspirations mainly to avoid hard work and as an escape route. There is no use in their spiritual journey. GOD is not going to be happy with them. Life is never meant to be without burdens. Shree Krishna declares in this verse that giving up duties because they are troublesome and risky is renunciation in the mode of passion.
The Bhagavad Gita gives a clarion call to action throughout. Arjun finds his duty unpleasant and bothersome and, as a result, wishes to run away from the battlefield. Shree Krishna calls this attitude ignorance and weakness. He encourages Arjun to continue doing his duty, even though it may be unpleasant, while simultaneously fostering an internal transformation.
Many live aimlessly, without goals, because they don’t want to take on trouble, risk, or discomfort. Two reasons Lord Krishna quotes for abandoning responsibilities are kaya klesha and bhayat. Kaya klesha means bodily discomfort and bhayat means fear. By using the words ‘Bodily discomfort’, Krishna chides people who are afraid of hard work, and the fear here indicates ‘fear of results’.
Lord Krishna, through this sloka, advises people not to mind putting in hard work and also to avoid ‘fear of success’. Lord Krishna indicates that avoiding hard work and being afraid of results are rajasa, i.e., the mode of passion, and they cannot succeed with this attitude.
It is easy to advise but difficult to follow. Is it not? Hard work is difficult but easy to understand. But how to avoid ‘fear of result’? It is quite common to judge actions by their results and to worry about them. Lord Krishna says getting worried about the results impedes the work. He gives the solution for avoiding ‘fear of results’ in the very next sloka.
Commitment to duties without attachment
कार्यमित्येव यत्कर्म नियतं क्रियतेऽर्जुन | सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा फलं चैव स त्याग: सात्त्विको मत: ||Bhagavad Gita 18.9||
When actions are undertaken in response to duty, and one relinquishes attachment to any reward, O Arjun, it is considered renunciation in the nature of goodness.
Sattva gunam, i.e., the nature of goodness, is in giving 100% commitment to the responsibilities, but by relinquishing attachment to rewards. This has already been covered in an earlier sloka 2.47. Lord Krishna is repeating the same here as a strategy to be adopted for avoiding ‘fear of result’. Once a task is taken on as a responsibility rather than for a result, 100% focus and commitment can be given to it. Results would be positive for sure.
Renunciation is necessary for spiritual attainment. But the problem is that people’s understanding of renunciation is very shallow, and they consider it to be only the external abandonment of works. Such renunciation leads to hypocrisy.
Abandoning responsibilities for the sake of renunciation is tamasha ie ignorance
Abandoning responsibilities for avoiding hard work and fear of success is rajasha ie mode of passion
100% commitment to work without getting attached to the results in sattva ie goodness.
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#PositiveNewsPage
Adapted from BBC NEWS, bbc.co.uk
Positive news happens everywhere. For a change, I shall cover some positive news from the UK.
Sebbie Hall, from Lichfield in Staffordshire, was born with a rare chromosome anomaly that affects his mobility, communication, and learning.
Despite these challenges, he has spent the past five years carrying out daily acts of kindness and raising funds for community causes.
The 22-year-old was given World Humanitarian Award after being selected to represent the UK at the One World One Family World Cultural Festival in India. He said he believes kindness is his superpower.
The One World One Family Cultural Festival was organised as a celebration of culture, art, service, and shared humanity, and was attended by 100 nations.
"Every day he is living with a rare condition and can't read or write but look how far his message of kindness has travelled. He believes that everyone has the ability to make a difference; they just have to take the first step," his mother said.
Through the Sebbie Hall Kindness Foundation, he has raised more than £100,000 for grassroots and national organisations.
His acts of kindness include donating more than 5,000 meals to food banks, delivering laptops to children without online access, and providing communication devices to disabled young people.
He has now set his sights on raising £1m to fund an assisted living village for young people with disabilities.
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Conceived, compiled and posted as a positive newsletter #MondayMusings every Monday by Jaganathan T (www.authorjaganathan.com)
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PROMOTIONS
