Tenet 2: U-I Centric Action – Spirit of “Yajña”

 This tenet shifts the spotlight onto what-to-focus-on, and in the process, introduces the crucial concept of “Yajña”. Yogis’ message is simple: include karmic residue considerations while selecting and executing actions. When karma considerations are included, the emphasis shifts away from I onto U-I (Universal person or brahman), from win-lose to win-win strategies. Continuing on with the dialog from previous post:

Q: If it’s not the results/outcomes, then what should be the focus?
A: Action selection and execution.

Q: What should guide these actions?
A: Karmic residue minimization. Because it is only a fully disentangled person that can live a full and free life.

Q: How to minimize karmic residue?
A: Distribute the benefits of your actions to a large number; U-I or the Universal Person is that which includes everyone and everything. So, make U-I the beneficiary of all actions to minimize your karma-share.

For an example, consider a course of action that results in $10 worth of benefit. If I enjoy it all by myself, I will get to spend $10, but also add $10-karmic residue to my account, and maybe more. Instead, if 10 people benefit from it, then all ten will get $1 added to each account. How do we make it zero? Spread the benefit among infinite number of people and beings, as any amount divided by infinity is zero: individual-good through common-good is the theme. This is the Yajñic spirit they preached and practiced.

Here’s the summary verse from Karma Yoga chapter of Bhagavad Gita (3-09):

यज्ञार्थात्कर्मणोऽन्यत्र लोकोऽयं कर्मबन्धनः।
तदर्थं कर्म कौन्तेय मुक्तसङ्गः समाचर॥

Yajñārthātkarmaṇo’nyatra loko’yaṁ karmabandhanaḥ|
Tadarthaṁ karma kaunteya muktasaṅgaḥ samācara (3-09)

Translation:
1. In this world all actions become causes of entanglement,
2. Except those actions that are performed for the sake of Tat (or That as in “Thou Art That”).
3. Therefore plan and execute actions that are detached from “I”.

Q: If zero karmic residue is the real goal, is inaction, i.e., not doing anything at all, a viable option?
A: Per yogis, inaction is impossible – thinking is action, breathing is action….. Unless one has already achieved Moksha or Nirvana, inaction is impossible. Although, Nirvana is an option, it takes a meditator of Buddha’s ilk to get there. A difficult task!

Q: How does karma arithmetic work?
A: Through allegories, yogis communicated some critical functional aspects of this complex subject. Here are the most salient:

1. Karma is not automatically additive (i.e., positive and negative karmas don’t cancel each other out; all karmic fruits must be “enjoyed” by the actor). Plan each act independently.
2. Karma is divisible (i.e., shared between entities), through benefit-sharing.
3. Karma is transferable, through transfer of undiluted benefit.
4. Self-defense oriented actions have slightly different rules: self-preservation takes precedence. Less important for us.

The third one is interesting …. In all day-to-day transactions, there is corresponding (invisible) karma transfer taking place.

Q: How about alms, charities, gifts, and things of such nature?

A: Yogis were extremely selective – they did not accept alms from anyone and everyone. They did not accept “free lunches” – because karma is transferred. In some traditions, even today, the charity-receptor is thanked profusely by the charity-giver, by even prostrating at the receptor’s feet…. Because, the receptor is taking on the unknown future karma associated with the charity. In that sense, every $1 has a story to tell, and not all $s are made the same – they carry different karmic residues!

There’s a famous allegory in Indian mythology: there were two cousins (Ravana and Kubera) who were both Šiva-worshipers. Both were kings of their respective kingdoms. But Ravana used to attack Kubera once in a while and usurp all the accumulated wealth and redistribute it (a little like Robinhood). Kubera used to restart his wealth accumulation from scratch. One day, Šiva’s consort, Shakti asked him which one of these two cousins was his favorite. Šiva tells her that both are the same. Kubera taxed his subjects and accumulated his wealth and karmic residue, while Ravana was doing Kubera a great favor by usurping it, and redistributing it, and thus getting rid of the karmic residue for Kubera…. As we can see, karma transfer makes a lot of seemingly obvious things very knotty.

On a similar note, according to some accounts, even on his last day, Buddha taught the donor family before he accepted food from them. Apparently, the food accepted was a little spoilt. But following his code-of-conduct, he did not reject the alms and ate it. It was the resulting stomach poisoning that became the nominal cause of this death! Apparently, his last words (paraphrased) were – “everything composite (that is born) will have to disintegrate; strive for liberation without delay”.