| Discourses On Gita By Acharya Vinoba Bhave |
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| Discourses On Gita |
| THE YOGA OF ACTION |
| Obstacles in the course of karma-yoga 11. The karma-yogi does his work much better than others, because work to him is prayer, worship, ritual, work itself is a mode of worship (puja). I performed puja. After the puja I received the food offered during the worship, as prasada (a token of grace). But is this the reward, the payment for my puja? If a man performs puja for the sake of food, he will, of course, get immediately this part of prasada. But through the act of puja, the karma-yogi seeks to get the reward of the vision of God. He does not estimate his action so cheap that it can merely fetch him a portion of the food offering. He is not prepared to mark such a low price on his action. He does not apply such gross measure to his actions. When a man's outlook is gross, the fruit he receives will also be gross. There is a proverb among farmers - "Sow deep, but sow moist." It is not enough to sow deep, there must be moisture in the soil too. With both depth and moisture in the soil, the yield will be enormous. So, the action should be "deep", i.e., well cultivated. And, it should also be moist with the love of God, with a sense of dedication. The karma-yogi's actions are sown deep and surrendered to God. We have developed some absurd ideas about the spirit. People imagine that once a man has become spiritual, there is no more need for him to move hand or foot, or do any work. They say, "What sort of religious man is this, who ploughs the field and weaves khadi?" But nobody asks how a spiritual man can eat food. The God of the karma-yogi brushes down horses. |
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