2:46: Just as the benefit of a full well is negligible when the land is flooded all around, in the same way, the Vedic literature is not required by a qualified brahmana who knows the truth.One whose intellect is bathed in this wisdom and who acts without attachment to results -- whose only goal is service to the Lord -- such a person is qualified to understand the Vedas (the Truth). Such a person is a true brahmana. Such brahmanas have attained the goal of all sacred literature and all holy rites even without study. Conversely those who tirelessly study the scriptures and perform the sacred rites out of selfish motives, being controlled by the three gunas of material nature as discussed in verse 42 above, fails to grasp the true meaning of the texts even though they commit unlimited time to study.
2:47: You certainly have every right to perform [worthy] actions, but not to the fruit thereof. Never consider the results of your actions to be your own. If you are not attached they will be as inaction.
In other words, by renouncing the results of your actions you will receive no karmic reactions at all.
2:48: Firmly established in yoga [right intention] perform your actions, giving up attachment to success and failure, O Dhananjaya [O Conqueror of Wealth]. This equanimity is called yoga.
Yoga has a great many meanings. The Sanskrit root yuj means "to yoke", "to control" or "to unite". The meaning must be ascertained from the context. In this case the Lord is telling Arjuna to maintain mental stability by controlling his mind. Such controlled equilibrium is conducive to spiritual unification.
2:49: Keep all inferior action far away, O Dhananjaya. Surrender to [or take refuge in] the yoga of intelligence [buddhi-yoga]. Only misers desire fruitive results.
Sri Krsna has previously encouraged Arjuna to renounce the results of his actions, now He points out that not all actions are equal. He says buddhi-yoga or intellectual communion with the supreme is essential. Arjuna is encouraged to use his intelligence to only engage in sattvic or high quality activities that connect him with the divine.
As the conversation continues Sri Krsna will reveal the nature of the supreme. He is leading his student step by step toward spiritual realization.
2:50: One whose intelligence is thus yoked is freed from both positive and negative reactions even in this life. Therefore in order to achieve the union of karmic balance undertake all activities as yoga for your well being.
2:51: With the intelligence yoked and abandoning the fruits born of action, the wise ones are liberated from the bondage of repeated births. They attain that platform that is free from all sinful reactions.
Actions cause reactions. Positive actions result in positive reactions just as surely as negative actions produce negative reactions. Neither is desirable for those seeking spiritual release (moksha). Saguna Brahman (the material manifestation) operates under the laws of this karmic duality. Once the living entities enter the material realms they become subject to dualism and moment by moment, lifetime by lifetime, they accumulate ever more karmic reactions and thus become progressively bound to matter and material consciousness. Eventually these radiant sparks of the infinite -- who are eternally unfettered spirit beings -- become bound and imprisoned by material consciousness and forget their spiritual nature all together.
While in Saguna Brahman the living entities seek pleasure, happiness and meaning in so many ways. There is joy here, there is happiness, but in time all material pleasures end. As discussed previously this material world is real as are the experiences we have here, but it and they are fleeting. There is no permanence anywhere in the material world.
Eventually all our joys turn to sadness and death as we, like the grasses in the field, fade and die. Then once again, driven by karma, dharma and marga, the soul is reborn in accordance with the dictates of Samsara.
After untold numbers of births and deaths the soul finally realizes that the way to freedom is to escape the prison of the material existence and begins seeking some means to achieve this. The embodied soul joins religious fellowships, reads holy books, meditates, prays prayers and chants mantras, practices various rites and yet continues the process of samsara (rebirth). Now however the soul gradually progressing into lifetimes that are more conducive to spiritual advancement.
Now Sri Krsna advises that through buddhi-yoga the spiritually desirous living entities can at last find release from present and past karmic indebtedness and attain freedom.
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