Karma vs Dopamine: What’s your mantra?

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This is probably the most popular shloka (or verse) of the Bhagavad Gita (literally the Song of God) that we have come across, oft cited and variously interpreted. The Bhagavad Gita is the Holy Book of the Hindus that enlightens us with the timeless wisdom provided by God Himself to the great warrior Arjun before the onset of the Mahabharata war. The literal meaning of this shloka is:

You have the right to work only but never to its fruits. Let not the fruits of action be your motive, nor let your attachment be to inaction.

It is of course noteworthy that while the Bhagavad Gita is considered a religious book, but it’s central message is anything but religious. Instead, it is really a book about you and me – about humanity and how you should live life. God talks here to Arjuna, but anyone who reads the Bhagavad Gita with an open mind will have a very distinctive and personalised experience. Think of yourself as Arjun and let Lord Krishna be your life coach. But that’s a topic for another day.

Coming back to this shloka, I see it as the answer to the very core of the human experience. At every stage in life, we feel a strong attraction to ‘fruits’, be it money, respect, love, luxury, material possessions, power, or even the resolution of negative emotions like envy or vengeance – the list is endless. It can disturb you to no end when your desires are unfulfilled, or the best of efforts cannot win you the ‘fruit’ you pursue.

This shloka, on the other hand, brings out a beautiful thought – Selfless action is its own reward. The shloka neither tells you to give up your action – in fact Indian traditions see Karma as duty, not just as a right – nor tells you to be obsessed with the reward.

There are some who associate this with the Christian concept of, “As you sow, so shall you reap.” Keep doing good deeds and leave the rest to God. I will come back to the implications of this, when I compare it with the term ‘Dopamine’, and why the two seem antithetical to each other.

Dopamine, or what is life without reward?

Selfless action is a fantastic concept in theory, and it is true liberation from human misery. But practically, we know that reward is an undeniable component of human behaviour. We do a lot of what we do to either win the ‘carrot’ or save ourselves from the ‘stick’. Scientists have done extensive research on the reasons why humans work in this manner, and have come up with interesting experiments and outcomes.

Meet ‘Dopamine’ a neuromodulatory molecule that plays several important roles in cells. It’s definition according to WebMD is as follows:

Dopamine is a type of neurotransmitter. Your body makes it, and your nervous system uses it to send messages between nerve cells. That's why it's sometimes called a chemical messenger. Dopamine plays a role in how we feel pleasure. It's a big part of our unique human ability to think and plan. It helps us strive, focus, and find things interesting.

Without getting too much into the science of it, I will discuss the impact of dopamine through a rather extreme example of an experiment undertaken by in 1954 by scientists James Olds and Peter Milner (sourced from the best seller Atomic Habits by James Clear). These scientists implanted electrodes in the brains of rats that blocked the release of dopamine.

Quite shockingly, these rats lost the will to even live. Think of all the possible essential pleasures of their life – they had no interest whatsoever left, and even stopped eating and drinking. They could experience pleasure, but desire had died; and in a few days, so did the rats.

In other experiments, though, when scientists accelerated the flow of dopamine, they have found animals to perform tasks with breakneck speed. Dopamine is not just accelerated when you receive an award, but also when you anticipate it. Think of drugs, cigarettes, gambling, alcohol, junk food, video games – not just why you love them the first time, but also when repeated exposure gets you habituated.

On the positive side, a passion for the ‘fruits’ discussed earlier certainly drives us to ‘push the envelope’ and attain grand heights of achievement. Some would argue that the desire for fruits is the very essence of human progress. The higher you aim, the higher the arrow goes.

Think for example how an entrepreneur would work as opposed to a sales executive in his company. Taking the comparison further, how would the sales executive work compared to a person in an administrative role, given that the potential monetary rewards of the former are obviously much higher? One cannot ignore that the pursuit of reward plays a role.

And the winner is…

Normally in such discussions there is no winner :), and I am not presenting one either. Human beings are way smarter than the best of mice, and work in more complex ways. There are those who seem to succeed quite well by continuously aspiring for and achieving more. And there are those who also seem to do great work without any attachment to reward. For those of us who are neither, a strategy that marries both extremes is key to a balanced life.

I will conclude my blog by giving a few points to ponder in this regard:

-?Obsession with fruit and the constant worry of fruit is a distraction and saps away your energy from doing your genuine efforts. Distraction is definitely not a good thing. Consider the story of the same disciple Arjun in his childhood, when he told his Guru Dronacharya, “I see only the eye of the bird!”

-?We vary greatly in our motivations for action and our concept of reward. Humans should really reconsider a blind pursuit of material possessions and linking them to self-fulfilment. Clearly, every such material reward can only give a temporary feeling of completeness, no matter how expensive. You can relate this to any such possession you have acquired in the past.

-?By implication, such an obsession can be a recipe for a life time of dissatisfaction. We have seen enough examples in our societies throughout history that having more does not necessarily equate to wanting less. It is good to aspire for wanting more, but what you do not have should not be a source of unhappiness.

-?As we already know, mindless greed has created problems for the planet in two areas in particular – environmental degradation and grave economic inequality. Until we have a ready supply of planets to shift people to, mankind as a whole needs to reassess its priorities, the objects of its ‘desires’ and the consequences of its actions.

-?The bloody Mahabharata war witnessed even the Pandavas (the heroes in the epic) deploying unethical methods to win the war vs the Kauravas (the villains). The crux of the argument was that the ends justify the means. The issue in this argument is how people can twist it to justify their individual ends as well as means. Truth is a highly subjective matter. Therefore, I strongly believe that both are important.

-?For that matter, it is wise to seek reward in noble, selfless actions (a point that marketing guru Seth Godin explains most prolifically). It could be connecting with people, serving society, contributing through art and music or creating value for your organisation in ways that inspire you.

-?Money defines what you ‘presently’ have. Do not let it define who you are. You may not be getting the results you pursue immediately. But that should not prevent you from continuing to learn, excel and acquire new skills and qualities. As the gurus say – Focus on the practice. Trust the process.

Apple founder Steve Jobs’ (God bless his soul) highly inspiring Stanford speech was all about how life initially seems unfair, but the dots connect in retrospect later on. If you have not seen it, you definitely must!

-?Organisations and leaders need to carefully assess individual team members and what drives their motivations. It is not at all advisable to paint everyone with the same brush. Though it is a tough thing to do, it is absolutely critical to synergise individual and organisational objectives.

-?Finally, it is very important to consider the Karma vs Dopamine argument in your career decisions. While you may be attracted to career choices that seem to offer more material returns, your life will be far more fulfilling when your chosen profession and work avenue is what excites you.

Then your work and journey become rewards in themselves, and success is way more assured (the theme of the popular Bollywood movie 3 Idiots starring Aamir Khan). Karma and dopamine will have then found a perfect match!