| Discourses On Gita By Acharya Vinoba Bhave |
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| Discourses On Gita |
| THE YOGA OF ACTION |
| A brahmin called Jajali goes to him to find true
knowledge. Tuladhar saves him, "Brother, it is necessary to keep the beam of this balance
always even." By constantly doing this external action, Tuladhar's mind
too had become straight and sensitive. Whether a child comes into the shop, or a grown up
person, his beam remains level for all, leaning neither this way nor that.
One's action transforms one's mind.
The karma-yogi's work is a form of prayer (japa). His mind is purified by it, and the clear mind receives the image of jnana, true knowledge. From the arm of the balance Tuladhar got mental poise. As Sena, the barber, cleaned other people's heads, wisdom came to him. "Look, I remove the dirt from other's heads, but have I ever removed the dirt from my own head, from my own mind?" The language of the spirit came to him through his work. As we weed this field, the karma-yogi gets the idea of removing the weeds of habit and passion from his heart. Gora the potter kneads and moulds the raw clay and gives baked pots to the people; from this he learns the lesson that his own life too is a pot that needs to be baked. He can test with his fingers if a pot is baked or raw; he thus becomes a judge of saintliness. From this it is evident that karma-yogi, through the terms of his own trade or occupation, gains knowledge of perfection. What was their trade but a school of the spirit? These actions of theirs were nothing but worship, nothing but service. Viewed from without, these actions looked worldly, but inwardly, in reality, they were spiritual. |
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