Srimad BhagavadGita

In the previous śloka, Kṛṣṇa discussed the specific characteristics of karma yoga buddhi in comparison with kāmya karma buddhi. In the following 3 ślokas, Kṛṣṇa criticises those who authoritatively promote kāmya karmas and practise them for the attainment of their rewards. Kṛṣṇa does this for us to develop an inclination at the earliest towards the practice of karma yoga which leads to mokṣa. Sri Śrutaprakāśikācārya in his commentary on Vedārtha Sangrahaṃ says, 'svakīyatvabuddhirhi adhikāraḥ (to have the buddhi that, 'This is for me' is the only eligibility needed to take that up) and pūrvamīṃāmsakas in their pañcikā state, niyōjyaḥ sa ca kāryaṃ yaḥ svakīyatvena buddhyate (One who feels that an activity is his, that activity gets assigned to him i.e he becomes eligible to execute it). These statements give us the criteria for eligibility to perform an action. Therefore, anyone desirous of a specific reward becomes eligible to practise the means to achieve it and is called a kāmya karmi. In these three ślokas Kṛṣṇa is criticising the kāmya karmis i.e the men who are attached to performing kāmya karmas that deliver their desired rewards like material opulences or enjoyment in heaven. In 2.42 and 2.43, Kṛṣṇa discusses the mental state of staunch kāmya karmis. In 2.44, HE declares that they lack true knowledge. Kṛṣṇa says to Arjuna, "O Arjuna, Those interested in heaven and such other rewards promised in the Karma-kāṇḍa section of the Vedas, having intense attachment towards them and considering them as the highest achievable rewards, they declare that there is no greater reward to be achieved. Such unwise men, due to their strong desire for material enjoyment and opulences often speak words which are full of such fruitive actions due to their lack of knowledge. These words appear impressive but in reality they are like flowers which can bear no fruit, which push a man back into the cycle of birth, death and karma after the experience of heaven. Unwise men who crave only for the material enjoyment and opulences of heaven, upon hearing these words lose their good sense and are unable to develop the resolute intelligence in the mind like the karma yoga buddhi which has firm conviction about the reality of the soul"

yām imāṃ puṣpitāṃ vācaṃ pravadanti (Those who speak words that are like flowers which cannot bear fruit) Some trees bloom into flowers but none of the flowers turn into fruit. Similarly these words are attractive to the ears but do not serve any useful purpose. The result of these talks about the kāmya karmas is the attainment of rewards like heaven and material opulences which only lead to misery as they obstruct the attainment of mokṣa. Kṛṣṇa says that though their reality is such, these words appear very attractive and comforting just like those flowers which look very attractive but cannot bear fruit. 

  vācaṃ (words) These are the words of the karma kāṇḍa section of the Vedas. These can also be considered

as the words of dedicated kāmya karmis.

  pravadanti (Those who talk a lot).

vācaṃ pravadanti These are the ones who talk a lot about the vedic statements but lack complete

understanding about them. The reason why they speak so is stated next.

avipaścitaḥ (men having less knowledge) The reason for them to talk as described above is 'avipaścitaḥ' - their limited knowledge. These are men who repeat the statements as is without knowing their meaning. vividhaṃ paśyaccitvam- vipaścitvaṃ, By this definition, one who has the wisdom and knowledge to understand all the conveyed meanings is called a vipaścita. Based on the Sanskṛt vyākarana rule pṛṣodarādīni yathopadiṣtam Ashtādhyāyi 6.3.109, 'yat' which is a part of the word pāśyat is not visible in the samāsa vipaścit. In this way, the composite word vipaścit refers to highly wise men. Its opposite 'avipaścit' refers to men of less wisdom. These men are said to be of less wisdom as they lack the wisdom about the permanence and impermanence of things obtained by the study and proper understanding of the upaniṣads which are the latter part of the vedas. What are these (avipaścita) men of less wisdom speaking about? The answer follows.

Note: Samāsa is the coming together of two or more words to form one word)

bhogaiśvarya gatiṃ prati Appending the word vartamānaṃ qualifying the word vācaṃ will bring out the meaning clearly. 'bhogaiśvarya gatiṃ prati' are the words that these (avipaścitaḥ) men of less wisdom are speaking about. The meaning is, 'The words about material opulences related to the pleasurable experiences in heavenly planets'. What is the disposition of these men who speak such words? The answer follows.

veda-vāda-ratāḥ The words veda-vāda-ratāḥ describe the disposition of these men who speak such words. The meaning is, 'Those who show great interest in heaven, opulent life, power and such other trivial and impermanent rewards mentioned in the Karma kāṇḍa section of the vedas and speak about them with great enthusiasm'. Since Kṛṣṇa always glorifies the vedas, HE cannot be criticising them here. It is to be understood that the term 'veda' used here refers specifically to the rewards like heaven and material opulences talked about in the karma kāṇḍa section of the vedas. A statement from the śāstras to support this understanding is as follows, viṣṇunāmā sa vedeṣu vedānteṣu ca gīyate Viṣṇu Purāṇa 6.4.40 (That paramātma is being sung about and glorified in the vedas and vedāntas by the name Viṣṇu alone.) Here too we see that the earlier karma kāṇḍa part of the vedas is referred using the word 'vedas'.

Q: A doubt might arise that if the words 'puṣpitāṃ vācaṃ' and 'veda-vāda' both refer to the earlier part of the vedas, would it not lead to the flaw of repetition?

A: The answer is that, 'puṣpitāṃ vācaṃ' refers to the words of the dedicated practitioners of kāmya karmas and 'veda-vāda' refers to the statements of the vedas.

nānyad astīti vādinaḥ These are the people who are by nature enthralled by opulences and heavenly enjoyments. To establish the superiority of these rewards, they make statements like, 'There is no reward greater than heaven'. Due to their inability to hide the straightforward declarations in the vedas about mokṣa as the highest object of human pursuit, they even go on to say, 'That mokṣa too isn't greater than the reward of heaven'.

kāmātmānaḥ The derivation for the word 'kāmātmānaḥ' is kāmeṣu ātmā- manaḥ, yeṣāṃ te kāmātmānaḥ. Therefore the meaning is 'one whose mind is attached only to desired rewards'. The word ātma in this derivation refers to the mind. 

svarga-parāḥ The derivation for 'svargaḥ paraḥ' is parāyaṇaṃ - paramaprāpyaṃ yeṣāṃ te swargaparāḥ. Therefore the meaning is 'one for whom svarga or heaven is the greatest goal and the ultimate objective'. These are the men who do not care about mokṣa. 

Q: A doubt might arise that when the words kāmātmānaḥ and svarga-parāḥ mean the same, would it not lead to the flaw of repetition in the scripture?

A: The difference in their meanings can be considered as one of the below,

1) The word kāma refers to desires in general and the word swarga refers to the specific desire namely heaven.

2) One refers to the rewards of this lifetime and the other refers to the rewards of the next lifetime.

3) The first one refers to the interest in the execution of the means for attaining heaven like jyotiṣṭoma yajña, etc, and the latter refers to the interest in the reward of heaven, etc, obtained as a result of the execution of such yagñas.

4) The first one refers to the desire for obtaining heaven or material opulences and the latter refers to the aversion to mokṣa.

The above interpretations show that there is no flaw of repetition. What reward do these words lead to? The answer follows.

janma-karma-phala-pradām The reward of these words is that they are janma-karma-phala-pradām. This means that soon after the experience of heaven is over, we are pushed back again into the cycle of birth and karma.

yāvatsaṃpātamuṣitvā atha etamevādhvānaṃ punarnivartante Chāndogya Up 5.10.5 (Until the karma bearing the fruit of heaven lasts, they reside in heaven and then return by the dhūmādi mārgam (same route by which they ascended to heaven), prāpyāntaṃ karmaṇastasya yatkinceha karotyayam. tasmāllokātpunaretyasmai lokāya karmaṇe Bṛhadāraṇyaka Up 6.4.6 (The worldly man who performs karma in this world for the attainment of heaven, after completing that karma by experiencing its reward in heaven, he returns to this world to perform karma again). ābṛahmabhuvanā lokāḥ punarāvartinorjuna B.G 8.16 (Arjuna, all the lokas up to Caturmukha Brahma's loka are destructible). svargepi pātabhītasya kṣayiṣnornāsti nirvṛttiḥ Viṣṇu Purāṇa 6.5.50 (even while in heaven, there will be constant fear and uncertainty about the completion of the karma and the fall from heaven as a result.

From the above statements we see that śrutis and śmṛtis too declare that neither are heaven, etc, permanent nor is our stay in them.

plavāhyete adrudhā yajñarūpā aṣtādasoktamavaram yeṣu karma. etacchreyo yēbhinandanti mūdhā jarāṃ mrutyuṃ ye punarevāpi yanti Munḍaka Up 1.2.7 (The ones who perform trivial yajñas which are like a rocking boat for trivial rewards executed by 18 kartas (16 ṝithviks, yajamāna and his wife) are incapable of crossing the ocean of saṃsāra. The fools who are attached to such karmas considering them of great value, are bound to come back to this world consisting of old age and death. tadya iha ramaṇīyacaraṇā abhyāśo ha yatte ramaṇīyāṃ yonimāpadyeran brāhmaṇayoniṃvā kṣatriya yoniṃ vā vaiśya yoniṃ vā atha ya iha kapūyacaraṇāḥ abhyāśo ha yatte kapūyāṃ yonimāpadyeran śvayoniṃ vā sūkarayonimvā candālayoṇiṃ vā Chāndogya Up 5.10.7 (Among them, those returning with a balance of puṇya karmas are awarded one of the higher brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya or vaiśya births while those returning with a balance of pāpa karmas get one of the inferior births like that of a dog, pig or chāṇḍāla (a disposer of corpses).

tataḥ parivruttau karmaphalaśeṣena jātiṃ rūpaṃ varṇaṃ balaṃ medhāṃ prajñāṃ dravyāṇi dharmānuṣtānamiti pratibadhyate. taccakravadubhayorlokayoḥ sukha eva vardhate Āpasthambadharmam 2.1.2,3 (Thereafter, on return, depending upon the balance of karma phala (reward balance) the social group, form, class like brāhmaṇa, etc, strength, the intelligence to understand true meaning of things, dharmas and the disposition towards performing good deeds are decided. In this way in a cyclic manner he gains stay in this world and the other world.

varṇā āśramāśca svakarmaniṣṭāḥ pretya svakarmaphalamanubhūya tataśśeṣeṇ viśiṣṭadeśajātikularūpāyuḥ śrutavṛutta vitta sukhamedhaso janma prapadyante. viṣvanco viparītā naśyanti Gautama Dharmasūtra 2.11.10,11 (Those established in their respective varṇāśrama duties, after death move to the designated realms for experiencing their earned rewards, upon their return to this world they receive birth in a good country, social group, good family, form, lifespan, evolved intellect to question and get answers, good knowledge, behaviour, resources, comforts and get uplifted based on the balance of their karma rewards. Those who falter in the execution of their respective varṇāśrama duties receive the opposites of all these and experience a downfall.) 

The above statements from the śrutis and smṛtis also confirm that these men receive birth and karma as a reward of their remaining karma balance after the experience of heaven. Therefore janma-karma-phala-pradām means, 'givers of janma and karma as rewards'. Renowned Srivaiṣnava ācārya Sri Vedānta Desikā in his Tātparya Chandrikā commentary of the Bhagawad Gītā mentions about a variation in this explanation in a bhaṣyapātham as jamnakarmākhyaphalapradām meaning 'the giver of the reward of birth as karma phala'.

kriyā-viśeṣa bahulāṃ The nature of these words is that they are kriyā-viśeṣa bahulāṃ (they are full of specific actions for the fulfilment of different goals. Due to the lack of true knowledge, the words of kāmya karmis are full of a variety of such actions).

Q: Is it fair to pick only the kāmya karmis desirous of rewards like heaven and other material opulences, to say that they have a lot of specific goal oriented actions to perform when in reality even the ones with true knowledge who are desirous of mokṣa have a lot of activities to perform? 

A: For the truly knowledgeable, every activity that they are supposed to perform is a means to the attainment of mokṣa alone. Hence, though the activities appear varied on the surface, for them they are all one in essence, leading to the sole objective called mokṣa. Moreover, they do not perform many activities which are not useful for the attainment of mokṣa. Hence, it is justified to call the activities performed by the men of less wisdom which are very elaborate, which yield different temporary rewards and involve more bodily efforts as kriyā-viśeṣa bahulāṃ

Thus the mental state of staunch kāmya karmis is described in the above two ślokas. In the third śloka, it is said that they do not have true knowledge.

bhogaiśvarya prasaktānāṃ The meaning of this phrase is best understood by bringing together the words 'ye pravadanti' from śloka 2.42 with 'bhogaiśvarya prasaktānāṃ' and adding the terms 'ye' and 'teṣām' to it as 'ye pravadanti bhogaiśvarya prasaktānāṃ teṣām' (Those who often speak these words which are like flowers that cannot bear fruit, such ignorant ones interested only in the enjoyable experiences and material opulences of heavenly planets)  

tayāpahṛta cetasām The prose order is as follows 'yām pravadanti tayā apahṛta cetasām' and the meaning is 'Those who often speak these words, such people with minds which have been fully captivated by interest in material enjoyments and opulences'. In addition to having captivated minds, their knowledge about the soul is lost too due to which they have no aptitude towards attainment of mokṣa.

vyavasāyātmikā buddhiḥ As discussed earlier, this is the buddhi of a karma yogi which has firm conviction in the true knowledge about the real nature of the soul.

samādhau (in the mind) By the definition samādhīyate asminniti samādhirmanaḥ, the mind established in the knowledge about the soul is referred to as samādhi here. It does not refer to the samādhi talked about in aṣṭānga yoga.

na vidhīyate (unable to develop) They do not develop the buddhi of a karma yogi which has firm conviction in the true knowledge about the real nature of the soul. Since 'na vidhīyate' is in the present tense, it indicates that these people can never develop such a buddhi 

Summary: 

A mumukṣu practising karma yoga should not have any attachment towards the results of kāmya karmas (goal oriented or fruitive activities). The śāstras permit him to execute kāmya karmas without any attachment in their reward which implies that he must have no desire for rewards like heaven and other material enjoyments. As a mumukṣu who desires mokṣa, he should not entertain the desire of heaven, etc, which are opposed to mokṣa.