A common space for harmonic peacemakers

II: 51

Chapter 2, Verse 51

"The wise ones whose insight is firm,

Relinquishing the fruits of action,

Are freed from the bondage of rebirth.

Their abode is that place beyond sorrow."

Mahatma Gandhi:

"Even in 1888, when I first became acquainted with the Gita, there was the feeling that it is not a historical work, but that, under the guise of physical warfare, it describes the duel that perpetually goes on in the hearts of humanity and that physical warfare is brought in merely to make the description of the internal duel more alluring.

Let it be granted that, according to the letter of the Gita, it is possible to say that warfare is consistent with the renunciation of the fruit of action. But after forty years' unremitting endeavor fully to enforce the teaching of the Gita in my own life, I have in all humility felt that perfect renunciation is impossible without perfect observance of nonviolence in every way, shape and form.

The deeper you dive into the Gita, the richer the meanings you find. Since it is meant for the people at large, there is pleasing repetition. With every age, the important words will carry new and expanded meanings. What is lawful for one may be unlawful for another. What may be permissible at one time, or in one place, may not be so at another time and in another place. Seekers are at liberty to extract from this treasure any meaning they like so as to enable them to enforce in their lives the central teaching. But the central teaching will never vary. Desire for the fruit of action is the only universal prohibition."