Gita for Youth - Yoga of Selfless Action (Karma Yoga) - qualities of nature

What compels Actions

It is the qualities of our nature that impels us to perform various actions. Everybody acts according to his/her nature. There are three qualities, viz. Sattva, Rajas and Tamas, which constitute knowledge, activity and ignorance resp. These three, in various quantities are present in every human being and it is these three qualities that make up the nature of every individual and determine his/her inherent traits and characters. These three qualities and their traits are explained at length in Chapter 14 of Gita.

Therefore even though we act under the hypnotic spell of these three qualities, we, being deluded by our ego, consider “ourselves” as the doer.
However the wise, who realizes the effects of qualities of nature on action, truly knows that the three qualities and their traits drive an individual and are the real doers. Therefore it is nature which acts, not the Self. A realized soul, who is verily established in the Self or Atman, is passive as Atman is a passive and mute witness as he knows himself to be distinct from his nature. Therefore he is never attached to any work or its fruits. Can anybody be ever attached to a work that he does not do? It is the ignorant who, deluded by the nature thinks that it is he who is performing all activities and is therefore attached to the results. Such ignorance cannot be dispelled unless there is a realization from within, and therefore wise should not try to merely “educate” the ignorant and unsettle his disposition. Better let them work and gain knowledge and wisdom from within.

Lord Krishna now arrives at a profound conclusion. Actions are necessary but they should be performed in a detached manner, renouncing the fruits or personal gains. Actions should be selfless. Selfish action is sin. However to link them all together in the context of the impending battle, He advises Arjuna to fight, but first by surrendering all actions unto Him, seeking no hope or selfish gain, concentrating all the while on the Self, freed from passion. This is the state of meditation and therefore what Sri Krishna says here is that even fighting can be a meditation and worship of the Lord. Every work can be worship or meditation if performed with the right spirit. That would free the worker from bondages of dissatisfaction, dismay and despondence. As Swami Vivekananda had said, we move from a state of "work as worship" to "work is worship". That is the essence of Karma Yoga.

Sri Krishna proclaims that whoever will follow these principles of selfless action without attachment, sacrifice and renunciation of fruits regularly and with Sraddha or sincerity, will be freed from fetters of Karma. However those who, out of contempt, will not follow these principles, they will be devoid of all knowledge and hence will have a bleak prospect. This is not a threat, but rather a universal rule which the Lord mandates. Selfless action leads to salvation or moksha from bondages, while mere action binds. Those who try to follow the path of selfless action sincerely, are able to achieve it by God’s grace. Their sincerity counts. Those who are ignorant and hence do not follow, still have some hope as when true knowledge dawns upon them they will be able to follow this path. However those who treat these contemptuously, ridiculing the ideas of ‘selfless work’ and surrendering of fruits, they cannot gain knowledge because of their own nature. They are therefore destined to suffer time and again being unable to come out of the state of ignorance.