| Discourses On Gita By Acharya Vinoba Bhave |
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| Discourses On Gita |
| THE TWO ASPECTS OF AKARMA - YOGA AND SANNYASA |
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4. As a means of growth, external action, the performance of svadharma, and the inward attitude of the mind, vikarma, both are needed. The external action is, of course, necessary. If you do not act, you cannot test your mind. In the stillness of early morning, our minds seem perfectly calm - but the moment a child cries, we see what our peace of mind is really worth. So we achieve little by rejecting action. External actions reveal the real quality of our minds. The surface of the water is clear; but throw a stone into it, and at once the mud rises up. Our minds are just like that. At the bottom of the still lake, there is knee-deep mud. It is only when an object from without touches it that one can see it. We say in our languages, "Anger has come to a man." Did that anger come from without? No, it was within - else it could never have shown itself. People say that they prefer colored Khadi to white, because "colored Khadi doesn't get dirty."But that too gets dirty; only, dirt does not show on colored Khadi, while it shows up on white. It cries out, "I am dirty; wash me, please." People do not like Khadi that tells tales. Our karma (action) too, talks. It proclaims that we are given to anger, or selfishness, or something else. Karma is the mirror which shows us our true form. We should, therefore, be grateful to karma. Would we smash a mirror because it shows us a dirty, ugly, face? On the contrary, we should thank it and go and wash our face, and come back and look at ourselves in the mirror. Similarly, if through karma defects and weaknesses of our mind come out, should we then wish to avoid karma? Will our minds become pure by our turning away from karma? So let us continue to act, and make progressive efforts to make the mind pure. |
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