Bhagavad Gita emphasizes ‘Karma Yoga’ or the performance of one’s duties and not blind acceptance of fate or destiny.
- Why do you worry without cause? Whom do you fear without reason? Who can kill you? The soul is neither born, nor does it die.
- Whatever happened, happened for the good; whatever is happening, is happening for the good; whatever will happen, will also happen for the good only. You need not have any regrets for the past. You need not worry for the future. The present is happening…
What did you lose that you cry about? What did you bring with you, which you think you have lost? What did you produce, which you think got destroyed? You did not bring anything – whatever you have, you received from here. Whatever you have given, you have given only here. Whatever you took, you took from God. Whatever you gave, you gave to him. You came empty handed, you will leave
- Why do you worry without cause? Whom do you fear without reason? Who can kill you? The soul is neither born, nor does it die.
- Whatever happened, happened for the good; whatever is happening, is happening for the good; whatever will happen, will also happen for the good only. You need not have any regrets for the past. You need not worry for the future. The present is happening…
- What did you lose that you cry about? What did you bring with you, which you think you have lost? What did you produce, which you think got destroyed? You did not bring anything – whatever you have, you received from here. Whatever you have given, you have given only here. Whatever you took, you took from God. Whatever you gave, you gave to him. You came empty handed, you will leave empty handed. What is yours today, belonged to someone else yesterday, and will belong to someone else the day after tomorrow. You are mistakenly enjoying the thought that this is yours. It is this false happiness that is the cause of your sorrows.
- Change is the law of the universe. What you think of as death, is indeed life. In one instance you can be a millionaire, and in the other instance you can be steeped in poverty. Yours and mine, big and small – erase these ideas from your mind. Then everything is yours and you belong to everyone.
- This body is not yours, neither are you of the body. The body is made of fire, water, air, earth and ether, and will disappear into these elements. But the soul is permanent – so who are you?
- Dedicate your being to God. He is the one to be ultimately relied upon. Those who know of his support are forever free from fear, worry and sorrow.
- Whatever you do, do it as a dedication to God. This will bring you the tremendous experience of joy and life-freedom forever.
- Now basic meaning of these lines is that a supreme power is controlling all this universe on a macro scale & is also controlling the lives of every person on this earth on a micro scale. Whatever good we are doing, Almighty is rewarding us for that & whatever wrong we are doing Almighty is punishing us for that so that we can come back to the right path. In this way Almighty is maintaining the world order in which goodness prevails over evil always & it moves in a positive direction always. Now when something bad happens to us then we think that God is doing something bad for us but in fact He is only doing so in our life for our betterment only. Below story also illustrates that, whatever, happens in our life, always happens for the Good only.
- “Once upon the time there was an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. “Such bad luck,” they said sympathetically.
“All happens for the Good only,” the farmer replied. On hearing this neighbors were surprised.
The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. “How wonderful,” the neighbors exclaimed.
“All happens for the Good only,” replied the old man.
The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune.
“All happens for the Good only,” answered the farmer. On hearing this neighbors were again surprised.
The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son’s leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out.
“All happens for the Good only,” said the farmer. “- Sri Krishna says to Arjun in Chapter 16 :
- Fearlessness, purity of heart, constant and regular practice of ‘Yoga meditation’ for Self-realization, charity, control of body, mind, and senses, sacrifice (Yajna), study of sacred Scriptures (svadhyayah), austerity and simplicity:—
- Non-violence (in thoughts, words and deeds), truthfulness, absence of anger, sense of non-doer ship and giving up the fruits of action, peacefulness of mind, absence of malicious gossip, compassion towards all beings, absence of greed, non-covetousness, gentleness, modesty and absence of fickleness:-)
- Vigor, forgiveness, firmness, purity, absence of hatred and pride; O Bharat Arjun! All these qualities belong to a person with a divine disposition. (16:3)