Shri Krishna

This is not inconsistent with having times dedicated to meditation, but the ideal condition will be reached when in the midst of all circumstances he is able to have the wisdom and insight reached at the times of deepest meditation. Then he will perform actions in union with the divine, and not disturbed by success or failure, fully attentive to the work of the moment and not worrying about whether he will succeed or fail. He is not working for results, but to do his best. And his wisdom will not be confused if he practices samadhi, that is, meditation and deep contemplation.

In practice, this means that he will be free from anxiety, fear, anger, pride, and attachment to things, and will quite naturally acquire a great deal of control of his body and his mind.

Shri Krishna states that from ancient times he taught two paths - yoga by knowledge (jnana-yoga) and yoga by action (karma-yoga). The former, he says, is the method of the followers of the sankhya; the latter that of the yogis. Whenever he says yogis he means buddhi-yogis, unless otherwise stated. We may say with respect to the former, which gives a study and classification of all things, that its two greatest classes are (I) the real man (purusha) and (2) everything else, all included in the material (prakriti) in the widest sense of the term, including even the human mind. One may say, in this regard, that if one saw with absolute clearness the distinction between purusha and prakriti one would know the purusha properly, which is the goal of yoga

The Teacher now expounds right action. Actions done with desire for bodily pleasure or self-satisfaction bind a man to circumstances, but actions done as sacrifice (yajna) do not attach one to things and thus make one dependent upon them. Sacrifice, he says, means nourishing one another. All things are related in a great system of mutual support, so one should recognize this principle and always act accordingly. But suppose a man has a perception of the real Self (purusha or alma) and that is his real interest, he can withdraw from action. He has finished, and has no desire for reincarnation or for heaven. As he is still alive, he has what is called action less action (naishkarmya karma). His actions are now pure duty, and are done with body and mind, while he is conscious of being the real man. He performs actions purely for the welfare of the world, knowing how people follow examples, and knowing that people in general are acting with desire. In this he is only in line with the example of the Incarnate Lord, without which, coming into the world from time to time, people would not have a leading in the path of duty. This is where religious devotion comes in.

The yogi at this stage realizes that in the world each thing acts - action, not only substance, is part of its being. Each acts according to its own nature, and some of them are mainly tamasic (inert), some are mainly rajasic (energetic and even restless), and some are (sattwic) orderly and methodical. They are all just the forces of Nature, but the Self or real man has no bodily action and no mental action nothing in fact to which we could apply any conception of action, without bringing in a presumption (adhyasa) which would block our further vision or realization. One may say that these three qualities of Nature's appear to agree with the constituents of Nature with which the modern scientist is always concerned, namely, matter, energy, and law.