IV: 15

[Krishna Jaya]

Chapter 4, Verse 15

"This is how actions were done

By liberated souls

In ancient times.

Follow their example:

Do your actions,

Surrendering the outcomes."

Swami Shivananda:

"Knowing that the Self can have no desire for the fruits of actions and cannot be tainted by them, and knowing that none can be tainted if they work without egoism, attachment and the expectation of fruits, perform your duty.  If your heart is impure, perform actions for its purification.  If you have made knowledge of the Self steady, work for the well-being of the world."

Sri Aurobindo:

“The Avatar comes as the divine personality which shall fill your consciousness so that you may be liberated from ego into infinity and universality.  He comes as the divine power and love which calls you to itself so that you may take refuge in that and no longer in the insufficiency of your human will.”

Paramahansa Yogananda:

"Never cease performing worthwhile actions!  Krishna and Christ, among many others, all worked, and still work, to administer to souls.  Follow that example, that pattern of right action, set by the great ones throughout the ages.  Feel the divine presence."

 

[First, we need to discern which of our activities are approved by our own personal Example of examples, Ishta Deva (chosen form of God), Guru, etc., and which are deemed undesirable for spiritual growth.  Second, we need to follow through on that discernment.  When there is discernment and yet we fail to follow through, the sages say that the Karmic knot is tighter than it is when we act undesirably without discernment.  As one of my teachers used to say, “If you ask for my advice, heed my words.”]