The Unseen Path of Karma: Understanding Action, Inaction, and Liberation in the Bhagavad Gita

In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna advises, “You must understand right action, wrong action, and inaction, for the ways of Karma are swift and intense.”

This profound lesson on Karma, also elaborated by Shankaracharya, humbles even the most learned minds and offers hope to those enduring hardship.

Once, a group of sages wandering through the forest found a well and stopped to drink its water. As they did, a local woman from a nearby village approached the well to fill her pitcher. As she prepared to leave, she recited a verse from the Bhagavad Gita:

Karmano hy api bodhavyam, bodhavyam cha vikarmanah; Akarmanash cha bodhavyam, gahanaa karmano gatih. ("One must understand right action, wrong action, and inaction, for the nature of Karma is unfathomable.")

The sages, familiar with the concept of intensity, asked her, "What deeper truth was Krishna conveying in this verse?"

The woman, pregnant at the time, replied, "Though I carry life within me now, soon I may leave this body. Twelve years from now, a deer couple will appear, and they will explain the meaning of this verse."

The sages followed her for a short distance. Soon after, a lion's roar echoed through the forest. Startled, the woman went into premature labor, and both she and her newborn passed away.

Honoring her words, the sages waited in the forest for twelve years. As foretold, a pair of deer appeared at the same spot. The sages asked the deer, "Why does Krishna say that Karma’s speed is intense? What does it truly mean?"

One of the deer answered, "To understand this fully, you must wait another sixteen years. A princess, the daughter of the king, will reveal the meaning to you."

Sixteen years passed, and the sages were invited to the princess’s wedding. Seizing the opportunity, they asked her, "Why does Krishna say Karma’s speed is intense? What is its true meaning?"

The princess explained, “In my previous life, when I was pregnant, my baby died. That very baby was reborn as the deer you met earlier. Today, that same soul has returned as my husband-to-be. The ways of Karma are beyond our understanding, for what begins in one lifetime often finds its resolution in another.”

Karma moves at a speed that is impossible to grasp. The fruits of our actions are governed by divine law, and they unfold according to Dharma. This is why Krishna instructs us to understand right action, wrong action, and inaction.

“My own child from a previous life is now to be my husband,” she concluded.

This story shows how elusive the results of Karma can be. We cannot foresee where Karma will lead, for its intricacies are beyond human intellect. Krishna’s message is clear: do not waste your life dwelling on the nature of good and bad karma, for you cannot fathom what lies ahead.

We deceive ourselves with the notion that we can control tomorrow based on our limited understanding of today. But this is why Krishna tells Arjuna to rise above the duality of right and wrong actions and embrace inaction—Akarma.

Akarma means to perform one's duties with full confidence, knowing that the results of these actions will not bind you. This detachment, Krishna teaches, will come only when you realize that the ultimate goal is liberation, moksha.

Liberation is not about accumulating good karma or avoiding bad karma—read that a hundred times if needed. Karma Yoga, the idea that you can attain the ultimate goal through actions alone, is a fallacy born of ignorance. Without understanding what liberation truly means, the mind becomes entangled in the day-to-day activities of life, fooling itself into believing in progress.

Swami Vivekananda captures this truth: "Too late, knowledge comes; scarcely does the wheel turn before it's gone."

With countless lifetimes behind us, burdened by immense ignorance, we have the audacity to believe that we are advancing spiritually. Shankaracharya remarks on the profound level of delusion (Avidya) that keeps us trapped in this cycle.

P.S.: Great men and women have passed away. The weak have passed away. Even gods have passed away. Death surrounds us at every turn, yet we cling to the body as if we are immune. We know the body must perish, and yet we hold on to it. Why? Because, in truth, we do not die. The mistake lies in clinging to the body, when it is the spirit that is eternal and immortal.