Harmonising thoughts and actions

18th December 2023

न कर्मणामनारम्भान्नैष्कर्म्य पुरुषोऽश्न‍ुते ।

न च सन्न्यसनादेव सिद्धिं समधिगच्छति ॥ Bhagavad Gita 3.4 ॥

#Naishkarmya – नैष्कर्म्य

Naishkarmya is an important concept in Bhagavad Gita. naishkarmya literally means without action or effect. Lord Krishna explains that one does not get released from the responsibilities of action or the bondage of its effects just by shunning the action.

Sannyasa (the way of renunciation) has come to enjoy a great prestige among religious-minded people. But Sannyasa is not just giving up actions.

Giving up actions outwardly while entertaining cravings in one’s mind is called hypocrisy (mithyachara) as beautifully explained in Bhagavad Gita sloka 3.6. If you have to quit smoking, you have to first remove the cravings for smoking from your thoughts. Assume you decide to sacrifice a night party with your friends for the sake of taking care of your ailing mother as a responsibility, you will not be able to do proper justice to your duty and the desired focus and attention on the responsibility taken unless you completely remove the thoughts of the night party from your mind.

The most important fact about naishkarmya is the control of the senses by the mind and undergoing all actions in life with a detached mind (asaktah). Such a person is called a karmayogin, and he is said to succeed in life.

कर्मेन्द्रियाणि संयम्य य आस्ते मनसा स्मरन् |

इन्द्रियार्थान्विमूढात्मा मिथ्याचार: स उच्यते || Bhagavad Gita 3.6||

Translation - Those who restrain the external organs of action, while continuing to dwell on sense objects in the mind, certainly delude themselves and are to be called hypocrites.

Which is more important – thoughts or actions?

If you have to free yourself from shackles, it is not sufficient to stop the actions that bind you but resist or remove the thoughts leading to the actions. That brings up an interesting debate. Which is more important, thoughts or actions?

Our thoughts guide our actions and thus certainly thoughts are important. They create vision, gather inspiration and cultivate imagination. Barring a few serendipitous moments, thoughts are the springboards for almost all the achievements of humankind, be it the famous ‘I have a dream’ speech by Martin Luther King or John F kennedy’s address to the congress about the project to send human to the moon in 1961 when such a thought looked outlandish. 

Actions strengthened by positive thoughts

New Year is fast approaching. It is always a good beginning to note down and shortlist ambitious new year resolutions in December. These thoughts fructify into resolutions and actions with determinations results in achievements.  However, we see that some of the new year resolutions go awry after clear thoughts.  Because thoughts alone seldom sustain motivation.

Actions, on the contrary, multiply over time. One small act leads to another and another. Over time, actions become independent from motivation because unlike thoughts actions give us immediate feedback. And with that feedback we are able to gather information, learn and try again.

Seeding and Weeding

Positive thoughts act as catalysts for actions but thoughts without actions is thinking like a good fertile seed will germinate on its own in the shelf. Stopping the action without cleaning the thoughts is like deweeding without clearing the roots.

Develop positive thoughts, fortify your thoughts into determined actions and remove thoughts that lead to the action and the outcome when desisting from an action. #SpreadPositivity.

These thoughts could form as the basis for your 2024 NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS.

WISHING YOU A VERY THOUGHTFUL, ACTION FILLED AND EVENTFUL NEW YEAR 2024

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GOOD NEWS COLUMN

Do you know that a popular youtube channel ‘English with Dehati Madam’ (Dehaati in Hindi means rural or rustic), that has more than 2.85 lakh subscribers, is the brainchild of a rural woman from remote Uttar Pradesh. 

Yashoda Lodhi, a resident of Sirathu Nagar panchayat in Kaushambi district, runs the popular YouTube channel. Dressed in a saree and wearing a bindi, Lodhi teaches spoken English and correct grammar usage to her target audience of village women like herself. Can you believe that such popular English lessons are tutored by a woman whose academic qualification is ‘12th pass’.

In the description of her YouTube channel, she mentioned how she came from a low-income family and started her channel to help women like her and students who want to learn English easily. Since May 2022, she has uploaded 368 videos. She often shares snippets from her life, showing her thatched house, filming her family members, her buffalo and rabbits and other light-hearted content.

Yashoda was raised in a modest home. She was raised in her maternal uncle's house, where she also attended school till the 12th grade in Hindi. After finishing the 12th grade at a school with a Hindi medium, Yashoda started tutoring children. 

Yashoda's spouse, who is eighth pass, used to be a daily-wage labourer. After two years of marriage, he suffered an accident in 2019, and his leg was caught under a tractor. He was now unable to go to work. She learned the value of money at that point.

Yashoda purchased the first smartphone in November 2021 and started creating videos on it after seeing inspirational videos for motivation. She was motivated by a video of motivational speaker Sandeep Maheshwari discussing how women may work from home and make money.

Yashoda had to learn how to utilise technology for her own benefit because she was not familiar with it and was motivated to help the family, pay off the debt, and encourage the ladies of the village. Yashoda started her own YouTube channel and started instructing others on how to learn and speak English.

Yashoda became known as "Dehati Madam" and her lessons became viral on social media as she filmed more videos. She described her struggles, including how her family of 7 or 8 people had to get by on only Rs 300 when her husband was a labourer.

Anyone at any position can dream. Ambition knows no bar. 

________________________________________________________________________________________ Conceived, compiled and posted by Jaganathan (www.authorjaganathan.com) as a weekly newsletter in LinkedIn and as video lessons in MONDAY MUSINGS YouTube channel