4-12

काङ्क्षन्तः कर्मणाम् सिद्धिम् यजन्त इह देवताः ।
क्षिप्रम् हि मानुषे लोके सिद्धिर्भवति कर्मजा ॥ १२ ॥

kAGkSantaH karmaNAm siddhim yajanta iha devatAH |
kSipram hi mAnuSe loke siddhirbhavati karmajA || 12 ||

इह [iha] Here, यजन्ते [yajante] people worship and adore देवताः [devatAH] various gods or other powers, काङ्क्षन्तः [kAGkSantaH] desiring कर्मणाम् सिद्धिम् [karmaNAm siddhim] accomplishment in their actions. हि [hi] That’s because मानुषे लोके [mAnuSe loke] in this world of humans, कर्मजा सिद्धिः [karmajA siddhiH] the accomplishment arising out of actions क्षिप्रम् भवति [kSipram bhavati] happens very quickly.

The phrases ‘gods’ and ‘other powers’ are used to refer to people or forces of nature that seem to have the power to grant us what we desire. They could be parents, teachers, natural phenomena, social structures or influential people. Often, we try to please them to achieve what we want.

All people desire to achieve the outcome of their actions. For this, they worship and adore gods and various powers. In reality, I am the one who resides in all gods and all powers, the basis for their existence. I am the one who ultimately enjoys all worship. Yet, nobody comes to Me by instinct. Why is it so?

Though the Lord is so easy to grasp, we remain focused on other short-term accomplishments.

That’s because in this world of humans, the accomplishment of action happens very quickly – accomplishments such as gaining wealth, the birth of a child, or having food.

The phrase ‘world of humans’ indicates the material world. People in the material world lack knowledge, since the influence of their infinite deeds committed over infinite time has not worn out yet. This lack of knowledge makes them go after results that can be obtained quickly – results such as comfort, wealth, children and food. For these, they work to please the various powers. They don’t work as prescribed before – they cannot stay without attachment to outcomes and cannot work to worship Me. They cannot be indifferent to the material world and focused on achieving moksha .

Next, He describes the way in which the obstacles to start working without attachments can be removed.

Since the link between the Shlokas at the beginning of this chapter is a bit difficult to follow, let’s draw an outline over here: In Shloka #4, Arjuna asks Krishna about the nature of his incarnation. Then Krishna replies: ‘I retain all My qualities in My incarnations. My actions are unaffected by the material world. Those who know Me in this way will attain My qualities. They will surrender to Me and experience Me as per their expectations. On the other hand, people try to please the various powers that they perceive, in order to get worldly outcomes. That’s because these outcomes satisfy their desires quickly. In reality, I am the enjoyer of all worship. People who work without being driven by desire, purely as worship towards Me are rare.

What does it mean to perform such actions? Take My work of creation, for instance-