“You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities and never be attached to not doing your duty.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-Gita 2.47)
Does the above mean that we can plant an apple tree, but we are not entitled to the apples that grow on the tree? No.
Does the above mean, we go to work, but we are not entitled to the pay? No.
Does the above mean we play in sports, but we are not entitled to win? No.
Does the above mean God will assign the results based on His own intent? No.
The above means the following:
- God is not the doer.
- God does not assign a result based on His own intent. He is merely the witness to all our actions in this and previous lives and based on our actions. He will give judgement. This is similar to a high court judge. The judge will see the evidence on the crimes committed. Then based on the crimes committed, he will give punishment. The judge is not responsible for the judgement or punishment.
- Praying does not bribe God. He will assign a result exactly based on what we deserve and not what we want. Praying will not make God change His mind. In cricket matches, millions of followers of their teams pray to God for victory. But they fail to realize that God does not fix matches. A team will win or lose based on the skills developed and performance on the day by the team players. God is not a match fixer. In November 2023, millions of people were praying to Lord Krishna for India to win against Australia, but they lost. During Pakistan matches, millions of Muslims pray to Allah for Pakistan to win, but they lose most of the times against India. God does not interfere with our games. It’s skills that win matches and not God selecting the winner.
- In the Mahabharat war. Lord Krishna wanted Arjuna’s side to win, because the other side was led by a bad guy, Durodhan. So, in warfare, God does interfere in some cases to some extent. But skills, past actions, and inaction also play a part in warfare. If barbarians are allowed to enter a country, then the Barbarians will rape and kill people. God is not the doer or to blame for our foolishness. If the soldiers in a country do not fight when attacked (inaction) then their country will be ruled by others, and the citizens will suffer. People are born in particular countries based on their past life actions.
- Whether a student will get Grade A or fail is not due to the teacher doing the grading. The teacher merely gives a grade based on the performance of the student in the exam. In a similar way, God does not assign a result based on His own will. He assigns based on what we deserve.
- We mut perform our prescribed duties.
- Wife duties
- Husband duties
- Children duties
- Soldier duties
- Occupational duties
- Business duties
- Community duties
2. To minimize suffering to ourselves. We must not be attached to the results of our actions:
- We should not have any expectations for the actions we take.
- We should not have a result orientated motive.
– Play in sports, prepare well and do your best, but don’t expect to win or lose. In this way you will not get upset when you lose. With this mindset, your overall performance will increase. Having an upset mind, has a domino effect. Thus, one loss results in many losses and on the field and off the field.
– A student cannot pass a hard exam by reading the night before. A student has to study for many years and then he is able to pass the exam. In a similar way, our actions in the past lives do matter and not just our current life actions.
– Daily we face the reactions to our past actions (past karma) and also the actions (new karma) of others. So, we cannot always say one is suffering due to his past actions. One also suffers due to the actions of others.
– Apply for jobs, but don’t get attached to getting a particular job, because if you get rejected then you will become upset, and this will lead to more rejections.
– Feed those who are genuinely poor, but don’t expect them to feed you, because they are poor and thus cannot. You can feed the unworthy people, but don’t expect them to feed you because they have a bad mindset and thus, they are unworthy of helping. Once you know a person is ungrateful, feeding them is a waste. Feed those who you know are grateful. Helping good people benefits them and you. Knowingly helping bad people is foolishness and a waste, because bad people will only cause pain to you and others by eating from you and vomiting or passing stool on you or others.
– Bad or unworthy people are those who are self-centered with no considerations for the wellbeing of others. The Bhagavad-Gita teaches us to not become self-centered. That’s why Lord Krishna asked to fight in the war, for the benefit of others.
– The Bhagavad-Gita teaches us to discriminate between the good and bad people among us. Lord Krishna told Arjuna to fight and destroy the soldiers on the other side, because they gave support to the bad guy, Durodhan. The brother of Ajuna, Yudhiṣṭhira, announced before the start of the war that those who believe the truth was on the other side should go there and those who believe the truth was on Arjuna’s side, should come on Arjuna’s side.