18-11

न हि देहभृता शक्यम् त्यक्तुम् कर्माणि अशेषतः ।
यस्तु कर्म फल त्यागी स त्यागी इत्यभिधीयते ॥ ११ ॥

na hi dehabhRtA zakyam tyaktum karmANi azeSataH |
yastu karma phala tyAgI sa tyAgI ityabhidhIyate || 11 ||

हि [hi] Indeed, न शक्यम् [na zakyam] it’s not possible देहभृता [dehabhRtA] for a person having a body त्यक्तुम् [tyaktum] to give up कर्माणि अशेषतः [karmANi azeSataH] all actions without exception. तु [tu] On the other hand, यः [yaH] a person who त्यागि [tyAgi] leaves कर्म फल [karma phala] the outcome of his action अभिधीयते इति [abhidhIyate iti] is known as स त्यागी [sa tyAgI] the one who has let-go.

A person having a body is held and sustained in that body. Indeed, it’s impossible for this person to give up all actions and do nothing. Actions such as eating and drinking are unavoidable in sustaining the body - along with other actions associated with them.

Great activities such as worship are inevitable for sustenance. In the midst of all this, a person who leaves the outcome of these actions is known as the one who has let-go. As stated in the scriptures such as महानारायण [mahAnArAyaNa] , 10-5: ‘Only by letting go, a person gains freedom from the cycle of death’.

In this way, the word त्यागी [tyAgI] in the scriptures refers to the person who has let-go of outcomes. This ‘letting go’ is about letting outcomes go, along with the attachment towards the action itself and the misconception of making things happen. Those are the three ways mentioned in 18-4, which started with: ‘Letting-go is mentioned in three ways…’

Isn’t activity designed to give outcomes, which we are bound to?

However, the scriptures also mention outcomes for routine and prescribed actions. For example, many forms of worship are said to yield a superior life. In the महानारायण [mahAnArAyaNa] 1-6-39, it is said - ‘A family man will enter the abode of Brahma, the prime engineer of the universe’.

Such actions are described in terms of their links to specific outcomes. These statements seem to indicate that actions are conceived to achieve certain outcomes by their very nature. Just as a seed causes a tree to come into being, these actions bring desired and undesired outcomes, inevitably causing attachments.

Attachments go against the achievement of liberty . Hence, shouldn’t a person who desires only Moksha desist from these prescribed actions? The Lord answers that question next -