Thus what is required is, to expand the notion of self-interest, to make it holistic. Because benefit of an organisation is inversely proportionate to the personal desires. The more personal desires of the individuals that make an organisation,the less will be the benefits to the organisation. If we get oriented to watch self-interest only, the organisation is bound to ruin. And if the organisation is ruined, how can its employees flourish? It is just like we cannot enjoy good food eating with right hand when the left hand is injured and bleeding.
As opposed to this, if we can learn to perform desire-less action, the organisation will benefit more. And the benefits of an organisation in turn benefit the individuals. This desire- less action is what is termed as Nishkam Karma- the Principle of Detached involvement i.e. involved in work and detached from personal rewards or gains. In Mahabharata, Arjuna was given this lesson in the battlefield at the time of his psychological crisis. How to fight his own loved ones? Srikrishna advised him to do the right full action in Lok-hit. Thus Nishkama Karma is the act done as a duty without expecting the fruit for self. As against this, Sakam Karma is involvement in work with an expectation of a quick return. This is the Art and Science of work given in Geeta:
“Thou hest a right to action but only action, never to its fruits; let not the fruits of thy works be thy motive; neither let there be in thee any attachment to inactivity”.
The modern mind is prone to immediately dismiss this sloka as a hopelessly impractical guideline for the people at work. We may think that it is just impossible to work without the motive of result for self. It is important, therefore to describe the importance of the above sloka. The following explanation will help the readers:
1. In Sakam Karma we are constantly conscious of the desired results and the benefits to the self. Our concentration thus moves to the end result which is not present but the future. This takes our attention and energies away, from the present, i.e. the work, thus resulting in dissipation of energy. As the involvement is more with the result than the work, the best performance may not be ensured thereby giving a chance to failure in achievement. As the future expectation on the result was too high the failure to achieve leads to much more agony and dissatisfaction.
2. As against this, in case of Nishkam Karma, the emphasis is on the Karma and not the desired result. This reduction of concern for result psychologically leads to conservation of energy. How? Once the decision to act has been taken after due deliberation about the ends and the means, from that moment our entire energies are focussed on execution. If the result is not according to expectation; it will not make us feel completely beaten and hopeless. Neither will its fulfillment puff us up with euphoria and pride.
3. The strength of Nishkam Karma are the 'Satwic Guna' which give mental equilibrium i.e. 'Samatwa'- the state in which one accepts the positive results gracefully and does not get derailed in case of failure. One can take success and failure both as the two sides of the same coin, thus can handle both. The 'Sakam Karma' is driven by Rajasic forces of ego, greed and anger, which lead to inequilibrium and can prompt the doer to twist the meanness to ensure the desired result. As Mahatma Gandhi said:
He who is ever brooding over result often loses nerve in the performance of his duty. He becomes impatient and then gives vent to anger and begins to do unworthy things; he jumps from action to action, never remaining faithful to any. He who broods over results is like a man given to objects of sense; he is ever distracted, he says good-bye to all scruples, everything is right in his estimation and he therefore resorts to means fair and foul to attain his end.
4. In the former case of Niskam Karma, work is worship of divine, whereas in the later case, work is worship of ego. Thus the former agrees with the cosmic order. In Sakam Karma the goals are ego- centric whereas in Niskam Karma they go beyond to socio-centric and Cosmo-centric causes. Here the work is performed in a natural way like the flower that gives fragrance, the sun that gives sunlight without asking for the rewards. Management of ego helps in becoming wholesome worker.
5. In Sakam Karma, success is the aim whereas in Nishkam Karma, perfection is the aim. The former is normally short-lived and temporary. When perfection is the aim the failures are accepted as stepping-stones and journey to perfection continues. Such performance only can lead to Sustenance of the World- 'Loksangraha'.
6. The modern concepts of success treat man as a rational animal. Work is performed in competitive spirit quoting the law of jungle - survival of the fittest. One tries to excel through competitive rivalries. As against this in Nishkama karma excellence is achieved through the principle of 'work is worship'. And when one is striving for perfection, who is the competitor? None else, but you yourself.
As Dr. Radhakrishnan says:
Work is man's homage to the Supreme.
7. One following Nishkam Karma is internally autonomous and self motivated. The Sakam karma worker is externally dependent and can attain job- enrichment only. As against this Nishkam Karma brings mind enrichment, which bring beauty to all jobs.
Such desire less action can have no decisiveness, no effectiveness, no efficient motive, no large vigorous creative power? Not so. Action done in this spirit is not only the highest but the wisest, the most potent and efficient, even for the affairs of the world.
---- Sri Aurobindo
Example/Exercise about the Nishkama Karma:-
You are given 9 dots in the space below. All you are required to do is draw four straight lines without lifting your pencil once you start, so as to join these 9 points.
ο ο ο
ο ο ο
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There is no trickery and it is possible to join all the nine points with 4 straight lines, without lifting pen/pencil.
Use pencil so that you can try again and again.
Make sure that all the points are joined.
Make sure that you draw only 4 straight lines.
Make sure that you do not lift your pencil, once you
Make sure that all the points are joined.
Make sure that you draw only 4 straight lines.
Make sure that you do not lift your pencil, once you
start, until you complete
drawing 4 straight lines.
You may see the result below.
You may see the result below.
What message does this exercise convey?
If you had confined yourself to the space within the 9 points, you would not have succeeded in joining the points as desired.
The same is true with our involvements in life. If we get attached to them, we are not able to solve the problems with which we are confronted, because we are involved.
If we become detached and view the problem from outside, without involvement, we are able to get the solutions.
In the above suggestion we are following the philosophy of Lord Krishna
‘Be detached; Let things work; let brain-centres work. Work incessantly but let not a ripple conquer the mind. Do not bind yourself. Bondage is terrible’.
In this philosophy of detachment, we are not to run away from our battlefield.
Thus we are not supposed to cling to our situations. At the same time, there is no escape also. We are required to be involved to the extent necessary for smooth performance of our duties. But should also know how far this involvement should be.
Bernard Shaw has also said that the reasonable man looks at the world as it is and adjusts himself to the limitations.
Here the adjustment to limitations does not mean to confine oneself within the limits but to be capable of working out alternatives to overcome the given constraints. This needs creativity which can work in an open-mind, not the one which is over-involved (stuck) in the situation. we can work in constraints by accepting them, not by rejecting them.
Michelangelo was once asked how he made beautiful status from pieces of marble, which had no shape. He said that the statue was in his mind and he went on removing from the marble whatever was not part of the statue and soon the statue emerged.
Thus he did not get involved in the shapeless stone. The shapeless stone did not disturb the statue in his mind. This detachment from the stone and involvement in the Job (the statue) alone was his strength. Thus the beauty of the inner world can manifest in the outer world through detached involvement only. Without detachment we get derailed and lost in the chaotic world. This inner beauty should be given a chance to manifest within the Zone of our Discretion. Let the other things around not disturb us.
PRACTICING NISHKAM KARMA
A few doubts may arise in our minds, when it comes to practicing Nishkam Karma. One such doubt is: if I begin to follow this approach then I may soon confine myself to oblivion in the present day environment’. This very anxiety seems natural in today’s work environment. Indian thinkers have always stressed that such efforts cannot and should not be contingent upon whether others reciprocate the same attitude or not. Such a contingency approach will tend to act as an obstacle to the initiation of change because each one is waiting and guessing what the other(s) might or might not do. Let us initiate it even though all alone. Because we know if the cause, the intention, the motivation is right and pure, the effect, the result must also be wholesome. In the cosmic scheme, this law is just immutable. Men like Vivekananda, Tagore, Tilak, Gandhi, and Ramana have also proved this fundamental truth in contemporary times. And they were workers and achievers par excellence!
But the real obstacle lies in our own mechanical mental assumptions and constructions. We have become conditioned to keep over-planning our actions for the desired outcomes. Most of us are concerned about success at each and every step of our life. The goals have become so short- lived that even the failure to get expected result in trivial matters is enough to upset us, when we are not even sure if the expected result only is really beneficial to us. The following story on Akbar and Birbal can help us understand why we need to come out of such conditionings.
STORY
Akbar the emperor is known for his generosity and Birbal, his minister, for his wisdom. That is why Akbar always consulted him on all issued and loved his company. Once they went to jungle for hunting. Following a deer, both of them went far into the jungle and lost their way.
Their accompanies were left behind. The deer could not be caught and in turn Akbar got his thumb injured. With the result they could not continue hunting anymore. Leaving their horses, both started walking slowly. Akbar asked Birbal, ‘ Now you keep saying that God is great and he brings all the benevolence to us. Do you think so even now when my thumb is injured and I am not able to hunt anymore?’ Birbal answered humbly, ‘ Yes my Lord! I still feel so.’ The emperor got annoyed and pushed Birbal, who fell into a nearby pit. Birbal tried to come out but in vain. Akbar asked him again, ‘ Do you still hold the same opinion?’ To this again Birbal replied in affirmative. “O.K. then enjoy His grace.’ Saying so, the emperor walked ahead alone.
Hardly had he gone half a furlong, a group of tribal soldiers came around him. They took him along to their tribe, gave him a bath and presented him before their leader, who was busy performing yagna with his people. The leader directed his soldiers to inspect the captive’s body. It was found that his thumb was injured. Realising that he was not fit for the ritual sacrifice, the soldiers were ordered to leave the captive.
Akbar felt relieved and rushed back to Birbal. The whole situation was now clear to him. He pulled out Birbal from the pit and told him the tale. Then he said, ‘ Oh Birbal, now I understand how great He is! I am saved just because of this injury on my thumb.’ ‘Yes my Lord!’ said Birbal, ‘ that is why I am always grateful to him. Had you not thrown me in this pit, I could have lost my life in the sacrifice.’
The moral of this story is that even if the things do not move the way we desire them to, and for which we have made the required effort, we should not get frustrated. Here we have to understand that this whole universe is infinite and there are infinite cause and effect factors going around. We with our limited power of sense organs cannot know all of them. Also with our limited intellect, we cannot comprehend all of them. So if we have taken a particular action with reference to the limited factors known to us, we cannot be sure of the desired result. Because we do not know what is going to be the impact of all the factors not known to us. Further, even if we are able to achieve the desired result we cannot be sure that the desired outcome only is for my benevolence in the long run. The fact that the working of the all pervading Cosmic or Divine power is for the benevolence of all may not be so directly visible to us in our day to day life as in the above case of Akbar and Birbal. But definitely this endless act of well-being is going on and on.
Thus while working with selfless pure desire, we have to cultivate an inner certitude that the effects of such work are bound to be wholesome in a total sense. And a sincere beginning does indeed produce evidence soon enough for the practitioner to prove its truth. For, our mind by then gets tuned to observe and interpret facts and events in an altogether new and integral light. We start perceiving meaningful cause and effect linkages in all the apparently random happenings around us.
Is the work equal to Worship? and what is the difference between two?
'Work is worship': we have heard this phrase as much in western thought as in India. Its common usage in the West limits itself to emphasis disciplined dedication to the task at hand. This is highly desirable. But it stops there. The word worship is not taken to its full spiritual meaning. In the Indian thought we can understand the deep spiritual meaning of the phrase by practicing it in these sequential stages:
. a) Work and worship
. b) Work as worship, and
. c) Work is worship
For those of us who go to churches only on Sundays, or to temples or gurudwaras or mosques on festive days alone, there is a complete demarcation between work and worship. Even for those who sit twice daily for prayers before their deities or god, as is still the practice in a dwindling number
of Indian homes, such worship is often conceived in opposition to work. Of course during prayers, the mind is somewhat more pure and calm. But the effect is short-lived. This state of affairs is mentioned as work and worship.
The next advanced stage is when we are able, in a conscious way, to offer our work also as a prayer to the Supreme Power, Universal Energy, conceived and understood either intellectually, or through a chosen deity (bhakti marga). This brings a touch of purity in the means employed, and some extra dedication and humility while doing, work. This is the stage of work as worship.
The final stage is when all distinction vanishes between sitting down for prayers and formally worshipping on the one hand, and standing up to a machine, or sitting at a desk scanning through papers and files, or lecturing on a topic. Man's entire living and conduct then become an unending worship. In this state, no work remains higher or lower for us. Nature of work is not important, but the manner in which it is performed is important. The importance of work is the dedication with which it is done. A man like Gandhi, Tagore, Vivekananda, Ramana and Vinoba are some such examples of Work is worship. This is the climax, the crowning achievement of the ancient Indian method of work, which needs to be our work ethics. We can attain this method and art of work through Purification of Mind, which helps us keep aside ego-driven self-interests. This method and art of work can help us reach the culmination of Work is worship - the true basis of work ethics.
This attitude towards work, if adopted, can nurture and give strength to the worker through all ups and downs, success and failures, and gradually stimulate him towards perfection and progress, even when the work being performed is apparently the meanest. This theory thus gives dignity to all jobs- the big and small.
STORY
A teacher had learnt about a wise-man who lived uphill. One day he decided to visit this man with his two students. On their way they had to pass through a meadow, where they found a shepherd with a flock of sheep. The shepherd seemed very angry and was seen time and again beating a sheep, which was limping slowly because of a wounded foreleg and was often left behind. At the same time there appeared an old man who was walking with a stick and was passing by the same flock. After some time the old man picked up the limping sheep, put it on his shoulders and kept walking. On the way he dropped the sheep at shepherds house and walked away calmly. Throughout the way this old man was seen to be walking patiently. The two students kept watching all this and started talking to each other.
Student I: Why should this old man carry the sheep? It is difficult for him to walk.
Student II: May be the sheep belong to him.
Student I: But he is not talking to anyone. I don't think he knows the shepherd or the sheep.
Student II: But even the shepherd could carry the sheep. He is quite young.
Student I: He must be making fool of this old man. He is not bothered.
Student II: (when the sheep was dropped) But the sheep seems to be thankful.
Student I: What about the old-man, he does not look tired, even he does not seems to be expecting any thanks from the shepherd.
Student II: Oh! The shepherd is a thankless person.
Student I: But why could not you or I pick up the sheep.
Student II: Come on, at least I am not interested in all this charity
Soon the teacher and the student were climbing the hill and they reached the place where, they were to see the wise man. To their astonishment, this wise man was none else but the same old man. The old man welcomed them and offered them seats. They asked him: ' Sir we saw you on our way. You were carrying a sheep. But we wondered why were you carrying the sheep all the way when we could see, it is difficult for you to walk? Even the shepherd could pick it. He even did not have any feeling of thankfulness.’ The old man did not reply and was quite and calm.
The teacher took the students back. On their way he told them that the wise man was above all these small things to expect gratitude or something else in return. He showed you what is Nishkam Karma. It is the Sattwa Gunas like compassion and care which prompted him to pick-up the poor sheep. Even you or I could do that. We did feel concern for the sheep but did not have courage to carry it. This shows the wise man's ego-less state. He was not bothered what others might be feeling about him. Whatever job came his way he did it with full enrichment and thereafter just forget. Great men do not remember the good done by them. They just enjoy it. This state can be reached only when one performs his job as an offering to the divine. Thus Whatever work we do, we should offer it to the supreme.
This is a real mind enrichment formula in Nishkam Karma. Because when I do Niskam Karma, my heart will be pure, if I do Sakama Karma, my emotions will be involved. Thus the true skill in work, as given in our ancient Indian thoughts is the capacity to do work while being consciously in union of the supreme. The attention put outside on work is balanced by the inner anchor in the supreme intelligence or power. Such action done in yoga is not only the highest but the wisest also; the most potent and efficient even for the affairs of the world.
Thusbefore you start the day's work, at your desk or work-place, silently invoke the Supreme Power and offer your effort to Him; sometime half-way through the day, repeat this, and close the working day too by a similar inner process. In fact, this also is what yoga in practice really boils down to. Practicising this with ardent faith does produce good results pretty soon. And, of course, by this means, the goal of the improvement of the quality of working life in organizations becomes attainable.
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