Different Types of Doer of
Actions
Sri Krishna said, “There are fives
causes (of actions) which are narrated in Sankhya and Vedanta, the twin modes of
accomplishment of all endeavors. The body, the agent, the various instruments,
the different endeavors, and last but not the least the presiding deity - these
together comprise of the five (causes).”
It is quite cryptic but with a little knowledge of Sankhya and Vedanta one is able to surmise what the
Lord has proclaimed here. Sankhya
speaks of innumerable Purusha or
individual souls and Prakrti, the
universe. Sankhya lays emphasis on
individual soul’s karma being the decider of its fate or progress in
various lives, while the karma itself is driven by its Prakrti. There are various needs of the
body for which action needs to be performed – like eating, sleeping, sexual
drives, drives to evacuate etc. These are present in all living beings and more
prominent among the lower animals. Such activities are performed through the
senses including the mind, which are the instruments. The true agent is the
nature which propels one to perform such actions. If one has a tamasik nature one would not hesitate to
commit a foul act like murder for self interest. If one has a sattvik nature one would try to do good,
out of compassion for others and would lead a moral life. A rajasik person would indulge in actions
out of passion, like sense pleasure, enjoyments, thrill, sports, ventures and
even warfare. The different endeavors are the next cause. Every endeavor has its
root in the desire. A desire for name, fame and fortune will propel one to chart
out certain course of actions. The next causes are the presiding deities. Every
sense organ has a presiding deity, which symbolically represents that particular
action, for e.g, Soma for the mind,
Aditya for the eyes, Indra for the hand, Vishnu for the feet etc. However the
real sense of this presiding deity concept is that somebody drives these senses.
These senses do not act on their own. Behind them is somebody or something that
interprets the different sensory input, analyze them and act on the basis of the
analysis. Since it is the intelligence that ultimately takes a decision to act,
the divinity or deity (daiva) is the
intelligence.
Whatever actions are initiated by body, speech or mind, be they
good or evil, these five are the primal causes.
However that deluded, unwise individual, who does not realize (the
truth), thinks or sees himself to be the doer.
An egoistic individual identifies himself with the body-mind
and sees that he performs every action, little knowing that he is neither body,
nor mind and therefore is not the true doer. One who is thus deluded will have
to enjoy the fruits of all actions, be they good or bad. A person who has not
realized the Atman, the witness, the Supreme Being, sees himself as the
performer and therefore becomes responsible for all the actions performed (which
are performed by these five primal causes in reality).
One who does not have any sense of being the doer, i.e. who is
devoid of ego consciousness, whose intelligence or intellect does not get
involved with the action, such a person, even by destroying the entire world,
does not kill, nor is entangled.
A non doer cannot be responsible for his
actions. A child is not responsible for his acts. Similarly a realized soul is
not responsible and does not get any merit or demerit. Therefore such a person
is never entangled to the world. He is liberated from all actions and their
consequences. It is a different story that such a person will never kill an
insect, let alone the whole world as he will realize his unity with the entire
universe. But the Lord is taking up this extreme example to emphasize His point
on the renunciation of the action and fruits of action. Siva, the
eternal principle of universal dissolution, for instance is a representation of
this extreme example. Though He destroys the universe, He is not accountable,
being the Atman.
The knowledge, the object of knowledge and the knower, these are
the impetuses for action. The instruments, the action, the doer, these are the
composition of actions.
Every being in this world have to
perform some action to live, even to survive. The objective of all such actions
is development of knowledge, over many ages and life, till the knowledge becomes
perfect and till one is liberated. When there is knowledge, there has to be an
object. Every living being searches for this object and after many trials and
errors over many lives arrives at the Supreme Truth, that which is the ultimate
object of knowledge. This quest is driven by the nature and therefore the
potential knower or his nature is one of the triggers for all such actions over
myriads of lives. However all these actions result in consequences for him and
therefore act as further trigger for other actions and this cycle continues ad inifinitum, till one is able to
realize the Supreme Knowledge.
The action is performed through instruments of action, by
the doer to achieve certain end results. The senses are the major instruments,
and nature is the actual doer. Work performed or the end result is the objective
of the action.
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