Śrī Bhāgavata Naiṣkarmya (Selfless Action in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam)

“Selfless Action in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam” (Śrī Bhāgavata Naiṣkarmya) was first published in Śrī Gauḍīya Darśana magazine (Vol.2, Issue 9 and Vol.3, Issue 3) in 1957. Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja describes how humans are constantly forced to work in order to survive, and how the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam presents a positive alternative.

It is said that when Adam and Eve fell from their state of surrender, Śrī Bhagavān arranged, as a form of punishment, that they should eat only by their labour. Be that as it may, life is subject to constant decline – to replenish that decline, eating is required, and in order to eat, one must again work and become further diminished. This unavoidable arrangement of material existence – a life of constant dependence – is a mockery of fate. Age after age, jīvas have sought a solution to this condition, yet their attempts have merely produced situations that are even more miserable.

Unsuccessful in their desires, some people endeavour to preserve the energy of labourers through advice which is full of encouragement, such as, ‘Work itself is dignity!’ Some have attempted to make work seem lighter by associating labour with profit. But being unsatisfied with that, the nature of the jīva is proving the futility of all these considerations at every moment, through competitive efforts to reduce work by enlisting the assistance of created substances lower than himself.

Whether in order to preserve one’s own labour or replenish one’s losses, all human efforts – such as dominion over trees or animals, the establishment of a system of slavery, the founding of colonies, the introduction of policies of one race’s exploitation over another, the use of scientific intellect to create various socially advantageous and extraordinary inventions from inanimate nature, and through their aid, the attempt to assert dominion over other jīvas – this entire sequence of competitive human endeavours is merely an attempt to find ways to achieve relief from labour, or karma.

The farcical statement of Cārvaka, ṛṇaṃ ktvā ghṛtaṃ pibe (‘Take a loan, but drink ghee!), Jaiminī’s *bho! karmaṇ tubhyaṃ namaḥ *(‘O karma! My obeisances unto you.’) and similar precepts of the path of the pravṛtti-mārga (the way of material enjoyment) have become the object of ridicule by ācāryas of the nivṛtti-mārga (the path of renunciation) such as Śrī Buddha, Śrī Śaṅkara, or their followers. Having shown the path of eternal release from the realm of labour and living, they have demonstrated the impermanence of the jīva’s existence and endeavours in life, the road to peace found within eternal cessation, and with a loud voice, prepared and announced the laws governing samādhi for all manifestations in the entire universe. By removing the curse from the śrauta-siddhānta (conclusions of the scriptures) in the Vedas and the Vedānta, that had been poisoned by Ācārya Śaṅkara’s biased, fictitious interpretations, Śrīmad Rāmānujācārya held aloft in his hand the torch of proper guidance of an ideal life beyond impermanence. Śrī Rāmānuja’s philosophy emerged by revealing the most scientific meaning of the progressive analysis of Adam and Eve.

However, the philosophy of the Śrīmad Bhāgavata, which was composed by Śrīmad Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana Veda-Vyāsadeva himself, the author of the Vedānta-darśana, and which has revealed the proper understanding of the perfection of naiṣkarmya (selfless action) is our only well-deliberated proposition.

*śrīmad-bhāgavataṁ purāṇam amalaṁ yad vaiṣṇavānāṁ priyaṁ

**yasmin pāramahaṁsyam ekam amalaṁ jñānaṁ paraṁ gīyate

tatra jñāna-virāga-bhakti-sahitaṁ naiṣkarmyam āviṣkṛtaṁ

*tac chṛṇvan su-paṭhan vicāraṇa paro bhaktyā vimucyen naraḥ

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is the spotless *Purāṇa *and is dear to the Vaiṣṇavas. It sings of that pure, supreme knowledge which is exclusive to the paramahaṁsas. It reveals the process of becoming free from action along with knowledge, renunciation and devotion. A person who properly hears and chants this with devotion becomes fully liberated. (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 12.13.18)

*Naiṣkarma-anapācāta bhāvavad-jitaṁ na śobhate jñānam alaṁ nirañjanam *(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.5.12) – in this statement, condemning the naiṣkarmya spoken of by Śrī Śaṅkara, Devarṣi Nārada gave directions to Śrī Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana Mahārṣi towards śrī-bhāgavata-naiṣkarmya, and thus, Śrī Vyāsadeva, by composing the Śrīmad Bhāgavata, enchanted the intelligentsia of the world by presenting his discovery of the unparalleled conclusions on naiṣkarmya.

Śrī Śukadeva, the crest-jewel amongst the knowers of Brahman, first proclaimed that wonderful message on the banks of the Gaṅgā in North India, about five thousand years ago, in the solemn open assembly of learned men that formed the setting of Mahārāja Parīkṣit’s fast unto death. Again, only about five-hundred years ago, the most auspicious appearance of Śrī Caitanya-candra occurred on the banks of the Gaṅgā in Gauḍa-deśa, in the land of Śrī Navadvīpa, through the unprecedented revelation of bhāgavata–naiṣkarmya, in its most complete and captivating form, filled with the wonder of defeating the entire brilliance of the scholarship of Nyāya etc. At that time, the assembled intellectual geniuses of India offered obeisance, and with one voice, sang songs of praise of that naturally supremely beautiful divine embodiment of the perfection of naiṣkarmya.

*strī-putrādi-kathāṁ jahur viṣayiṇaḥ śāstra-pravādaṁ budhā

**yogīndrā vijahur marun-niyama-ja-kleśaṁ tapas tāpasāḥ

**jñānābhyāsa-vidhiṁ jahuś ca yatayaś caitanya-candre parām

*āviṣkurvati bhakti-yoga-padavīṁ naivānya āsīd rasaḥ

The worldly-minded renounced talk of women, children, and other mundane subjects; the scholars gave up their deliberations on śāstra; masters of yoga abandoned their attachment to prāṇāyāma; the ascetics set aside austerities, and the sannyāsīs rejected the practice of jñāna – all to devote themselves in service to the charming nature of śrī-bhāgavata-naiṣkarmya as revealed by Śrī Caitanya-candra. (Caitanya-candrāmṛta 113)

The day that our ever-increasing, misguided pride, inflated by intellectual, demonic realisations and inflicted by deficiencies, takes darśana of the beautiful deliberations of Śrī Caitanya’s associates, and achieves self-success in body, mind and words – that very day we will truly be able to become established in śrī-bhāgavata-naiṣkarmya.

At the time of the child Nimāi’s annaprāśana (first grains ceremony), during the customary social practice of testing a child’s inclination, when various foods, money, and books were displayed, young Nimāi embraced the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. The men and women who were present expressed the opinion that the boy’s future life would be filled with prema-bhakti, and in later years, people witnessed this themselves.

In his early youth, the young Nimāi, who at six months of age had embraced the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, personally tasted it’s ambrosial teachings in a most extraordinary way, and distributed that same nectar of prema to others as the highest substance for the welfare of the world. According to our opinion, those nectarean teachings of the divine* Bhāgavata* are themselves the only solution to all problems in the world in the form of śrī-bhāgavata-naiṣkarmya. How that is, is the subject matter of the present article. This alone is my prayer – that the readers may, with an attentive mind, carefully reflect upon this serious topic. I shall attempt, as much as possible, to present a very concise overview of this subject matter.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa Dāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī Prabhu, the author of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, has written the teachings that Caitanyadeva imparted to Sanātana as follows:

*kṛṣṇa-bhakta-niṣkāma ataeva śānta

bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kāma sakali aśānta*

A devotee of Krsna is devoid of desire and is therefore peaceful. Those who seek pleasure, liberation or mystical powers are all agitated. (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 19.149).

Although its definition has been discussed widely and it is hankered by the learned, the principle of mukti, or liberation, has been described in various ways by scholars in their respective works. In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, Śrī Vyāsadeva has given the definition of mukti as follows:

muktir hitvānyathā rūpaṁ sva-rūpeṇa vyavasthitiḥ

Mukti is the establishment of one’s inherent nature, after abandoning that which it is not. (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.10.6)

Now, if we become inclined to examine the characteristics of mukti as spoken of in the Bhāgavata and the definition of the section quoted from the Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, we shall see that presently, we are situated in a abnormal condition, and in this state we are living a life affected by unrest. In mukti we will attain a natural state of peace. However, while the ācāryas of the path of jñāna etc. reveal the message that in the final stage of mukti the existence of personal identity is annihilated, the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam does not support that. It presents the definition of mukti as svarūpa-avasthana (abiding in one’s inherent nature). Therefore, liberated life is not merely a theoretical escape from the world of material enjoyment, but rather a natural state free from abnormality. The Bhāgavata states:

*muktānām api siddhānāṁ nārāyaṇa-parāyaṇa

sudurlabhaḥ praśāntātmā koṭiṣv api mahā-mune*

O great sage, greater than those who are liberated and those who have achieved yogika perfection are those who are dedicated to Nārāyaṇa. Such persons, who are most tranquil, are most rare, even amongst millions and millions. (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.14.5)

And we find in Śrī Gītā:

brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati*

samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām*

When such a self-satisfied person realises the Absolute Truth, he neither rejoices nor laments. Seeing all beings equally, he attains transcendental devotion unto Me. *(*Bhagavad-gītā 18.54)

Such statements support our opinion – this should be taken very seriously.

The desire for mukti by renouncing enjoyment is common knowledge. But the discovery of the third stage – that is, renunciation of enjoyment, and even renunciation of renunciation is what the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam calls mukti or naiṣkarmya. Renunciation of enjoyment can easily be ascertained, but the manner in which one can renounce renunciation requires special consideration. Once one understands renunciation of renunciation, the essence of pure bhakti will be grasped within the heart. Then the essence of the statement in the Śrī Caritāmṛta, spoken by Śrīman Mahāprabhu – bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kāma sakali aśānta – will be realised. This is not merely a sectarian or dogmatic instruction.

By understanding this, it is possible to ascertain the principle of śrī-bhāgavata-prema, the fifth goal of life – a substance which is inherently supreme nectar – and true realisation of the stage of turīya (the transcendental state beyond the modes of nature) can be discovered. O Reader! You should seriously contemplate the potential nature of the third stage of renouncing renunciation. Thus, we end our discussion here.

In relation to the next section – yatra jñāna-virāga-bhakti sahitaṁ naiṣkarmyaṁ āviṣkṛtam – we wish to discuss further this Bhāgavata philosophy of naiṣkarmya which reveals bhakti as the pinnacle of knowledge and dispassion, and in what way it has propounded naiṣkarmya.

(Translated by Swami Bhaktivijñāna Giri)