Patanjali Yoga Sutra — 2.34॥

वितर्का हिंसादयः कृतकारितानुमोदिता लोभक्रोधमोहपूर्वका मृदुमध्याधिमात्रा दुःखाज्ञानानन्तफला इति प्रतिपक्षभावनम् ॥2.34॥

vitarkā hiṁsādayaḥ kr̥takāritānumoditā lobhakrodhamohapūrvakā mr̥dumadhyādhimātrā duḥkhājñānānantaphalā iti pratipakṣabhāvanam ॥

Even when the afflictions to yoga such as himsa (violence), asatya (untruthfulness), etc are caused to be done either directly or indirectly, under the influence of covetousness, fury or illusion, of the intensity of soft, medium or powerful, none the less, they invariably bring misery and ignorance to the doer. The counter thought wave (pratipakṣa) to be raised in that case is: ‘These afflictions could breed unending melancholy and ignorance.’

This is the well-established karmasiddhānta brought out by all our scriptures — as you sow, so you reap. Every action or thought will invariably leave impressions in us and no one can escape from vāsanas and karmaphalas. Hence, the author says here, ‘Hiṃsa and asatya do invariably bring misery to the doer, irrespective of the reason behind them’.

What about self-defense? Is it a sin? A story would clarify better:

There was a cruel snake troubling the people in a particular locality. It had stung and killed many people; and the people were scared of going to that particular area. One day, a monk was going through that particular area, where this cruel snake was in hiding. Immediately, the snake came out of its hide and stood in front of our monk. But the monk remained very calm and showed no signs of any panic. The snake was astonished at this and surrenders to the monk, ‘Oh great monk, you must be a great person. I have done lots of sin by stinging and killing many people in this region. What good can you suggest to me? Please give me some tips for my good’. Monk said, ‘stop this violence, that is the best thing I can suggest to you’. The snake agreed to abandon the violence.

After a few days, the monk returned and was passing through this region and met the snake. To his amazement, he saw that the snake’s body was full of wounds and the condition was very pathetic. On his inquiry, the snake said, ‘according to your advice, I stopped being violent. But look at my condition. People understood that I have stopped killing them and they did all this to me.’ Monk said, ‘I said that you should stop being violent, but I did not say that you should not hiss at the people who were troubling you. You could have defended yourself just by hissing at them to scare them away.’ Snake got a good message, ‘Self defense without harming others is not a sin’.

Bhagavān Śrīkr̥ṣṇa’s karmayoga philosophy is very revolutionary in this regard. Patañjali’s words are a little frightening to the readers. However, Śrīkr̥ṣṇa’s words are very soothing and confidence building. Śrī śaṅkarāchārya says,

मन्द मध्यम रूपाऽपि वैराग्येण शमादिना ।

प्रसादेन गुरोस्सेयं प्रवृद्धा सूयते फलम् ॥विवेक चूडामणि २८॥

manda madhyama rūpā’pi vairāgyeṇa śamādinā ।

prasādena gurosseyaṁ pravṛddhā sūyate phalam ॥Viveka Cūḍāmani 28॥

Even if the mumukṣutva is either ordinary or below average, through renunciation, śama damādi śat sampattis, and Guru’s sanctions, it could lead to very powerful end results.

According to Śrīkr̥ṣṇa, Karmayoga has different subtler dimensions as follows:

1. Kriya: The action itself.
2. Kartṛ: Doer or the one who does the karma.
3. Kartṛtvabhāva: The sense that: ‘I am doing.’
4. Adhikāra: One’s eligibility to do a particular karma. Without Adhikāra, if an uneducated gullible says, ‘I abstain from discharging Prime Minister’s duties as I want a purely contemplative life accompanied by total abandonment of action’, it is just nonsense!
5. Saṅkalpa: Objective, aim, ambition, goal, purpose, target decided at the commencement of a karma. Having an eye on some final outcome, at the time of launching an action.
6. Karma: Actual execution of kriya.
7. Kāla: Time. In old age, not being able to attract customers, if an aged or very old prostitute says, ‘I abstain from prostitution because I want to abandon my sinful profession’, it is just rubbish because it is not out of detachment; it is abhāva vairagya.
8. Karmaphala: Post execution of karma, actual end result obtained or fruits attained — could be success or failure or a mixture.
9. Bhoktṛtvabhāva: Desire to enjoy the successful end result — ‘I should get the enjoyment out of triumphant results of my karmas.’
10. Sanyāsa: In the common parlance, sanyāsa means, detachment, disowning and abandoning everything, relinquishment, disinterest, indifference. But the true sanyāsa is not this at all, says Śaṅkarācārya . Read below:

Śaṅkarācārya was a small boy, but a great jñāni. He decides to take up sanyāsa and conveys the same to his mother. Mother was bewildered with the words of the small boy and asks, ‘You want to relinquish the samsāra!? You want to disown and relinquish everything!?’ The boy replied — ‘No mother I want to own the entire universe. A samsāri owns only certain things. He says, these are my people, there are not mine. This belongs to me, this belongs to others. But a sanyāsi owns everything in this universe. Everything belongs to him. When Brahman is all-pervading, how can I disown anything in this universe? There is nothing in the universe that doesn’t belong to me. That is sanyāsa.’ That is the ‘Viśvamānava sandeśa’ given by Swāmi Vivekananda.

Perhaps, Bhagavān’s revolutionary Bhagavad Gita is the only Karmayoga philosophy that says, karma itself will not bind Jīva but, ‘Kartṛtvabhāva’ and ‘desire for Karmaphala’ are the two main aspects that bind him. To elaborate, Kartṛ remains untouched by vāsanas in any of the following ways of sanyāsa.

1. Karma sanyāsa: Abstaining from doing itself like a jīvanmukta yogi, that is, pure contemplative life accompanied by the total abandonment of action like a renunciate.
2. Saṅkalpa sanyāsa: Launching one’s Karma without an ambition (without an eye on the karmaphala).
3. Kartṛtva bhāva sanyāsa: The sense that ‘I am not the doer. Ordained by nature, the indriyas are doing their duties, the mind is doing its duty, I am just a passive observer of all this execution.’
4. Karmaphala sanyāsa: The postmortem sense that ‘whether it is success or failure, I am indifferent. I have just done my duty to the best of my ability and knowledge. The karmaphala belongs to Bhagavān.’
5. Bhoktṛtvabhāva sanyāsa: ‘Even if the end result is victory or success, I am indifferent, whether or not I enjoy the fruits.’ Normally, victory or defeat is understood to mean gaining or loosening something tangible. But, in the true sense, it is related to one’s state of mind — confidence level.

Aphorisms from 2.35 to 2.39 very interestingly explain the benefits a sādhaka derives, owing to his resolute commitment to five yamas.