Karma Yoga
A book by Swami Vivekananda
Based on lectures the Swami delivered in his
rented rooms at 228 W 39th Street in
December, 1895 and January, 1896. The classes were free of charge. Generally the Swami held two classes daily- morning and evening.
Although the Swami
delivered many lectures and held numerous classes in the two years and five months he had been in America, these lectures
constituted a departure in the way they were recorded. Just prior to the commencement of his Winter -95-96 season in NYC, his friends and
supporters aided him by advertising for and ultimately hiring a professional
stenographer: The man selected, Joseph Josiah Goodwin, later
became a disciple of the Swami and followed him to England and India.
CHAPTER 1
Karma in its effect on character
The word Karma is derived from
the Sanskrit Kri, to do; all action is Karma. Technically, this word also means
the effects of actions. In connection with
metaphysics, it sometimes means the effects, of which our past actions were the causes. But in Karma-Yoga we have simply to do with the word Karma as meaning work. The goal of mankind is knowledge. That is the one ideal placed before us by Eastern philosophy. Pleasure is not the goal of man, but knowledge. Pleasure and happiness come to an end. It is a mistake to suppose that pleasure is the goal. The cause of all the miseries we have in the world is that men foolishly think pleasure to be the ideal to strive for. After a time man finds that it is not happiness,
but knowledge, towards which he is going, and that both pleasure and pain are
great teachers, and that he learns as much from evil as from good. As pleasure and pain pass before his soul they have upon it different pictures, and the result of these combined impressions
is what is called man's "character". If you take the character of any
man, it really is but the aggregate of tendencies, the sum total of the bent of his mind; you will find that misery and happiness are equal factors in the formation of that character. Good and
evil have an equal share in moulding character, and in some instances misery is
a greater teacher than happiness. In studying the
great characters the world has produced, I dare say, in the vast majority of cases, it would be found that it was misery that
taught more than happiness, it was poverty that taught more than wealth, it was
blows that brought out their inner fire more than praise.
Now this knowledge, again, is
inherent in man. No knowledge comes from outside; it is all inside. What we say
a man "knows", should, in strict
psychological language, be what he "discovers" or "unveils"; what a man "learns" is
really what he "discovers", by taking the cover off his own soul, which is a mine of infinite
knowledge.
We say Newton discovered
gravitation. Was it sitting anywhere in a
corner waiting for him? It was in his own mind; the time came and he found it
out. All knowledge that the world has ever received
comes from the mind; the infinite library of the universe is in your own mind.
The external world is simply the suggestion, the
occasion, which sets you to study your own mind, but the object of your study
is always your own mind. The falling of an apple gave the suggestion to Newton,
and he studied his own mind. He rearranged all the previous links of thought in
his mind and discovered a new link among them, which we call the law of gravitation. It was not in the apple nor in anything in the centre of the earth.
All knowledge, therefore, secular or spiritual,
is in the human mind. In many cases it is
not discovered, but remains covered, and when
the covering is being slowly taken off, we say, "We are learning,"
and the advance of knowledge is made by the advance of this process of
uncovering. The man from whom this veil is being lifted is the more knowing
man, the man upon whom it lies thick is ignorant, and the man from whom it has
entirely gone is all-knowing, omniscient. There have been omniscient men, and,
I believe, there will be yet; and that there will
be myriads of them in the
cycles to come. Like fire in a piece of flint, knowledge exists in the mind; suggestion is the friction which
brings it out. So with all our feelings and
actions—-our tears and our smiles,
our joys and our griefs, our weeping and our
laughter, our curses and our blessings,
our praises and our blames—-every one of these we may find, if we calmly study our own selves, to have
been brought out from within ourselves by so many blows. The result is what we are. All these blows taken together are called
Karma—-work, action. Every mental and
physical blow that is given to the soul, by which, as it were, fire is struck from it, and by which its own power and knowledge are
discovered, is Karma, this word being used in its
widest sense. Thus we are all doing Karma all the time. I am talking to you: that is Karma. You are listening: that is Karma. We breathe: that is Karma. We walk: Karma.
Everything we do, physical or mental, is
Karma, and it leaves its marks on us.
There are certain works which
are, as it were, the aggregate, the sum total, of
a large number of smaller works. If we stand near the seashore and hear the
waves dashing against the shingle, we think it is such a great noise, and yet we know that one wave is really
composed of millions and millions of minute waves. Each one of these is making a noise, and yet we do not catch it; it is only when they become the big aggregate that we hear. Similarly, every pulsation
of the heart is work. Certain kinds of work we feel and they become tangible to
us; they are, at the same time, the aggregate of a
number of small works. If you really want to judge of the character of a man, look not at his great performances. Every
fool may become a hero at one time or another. Watch a man do his most common
actions; those are indeed the things which will tell you the real character of
a great man. Great occasions rouse even the lowest
of human beings to some kind of greatness, but he
alone is the really great man whose character is great always, the same wherever he be.
Karma in its effect on character
is the most tremendous power than man has to deal with. Man is, as it were, a
centre, and is attracting all the powers of the universe towards himself, and
in this centre is fusing them all and again sending them off in a big current. Such a centre is the real man—-the almighty, the
omniscient—-and he draws the whole universe towards him. Good and bad, misery and
happiness, all are running towards him and clinging round him; and out of
them he fashions the mighty stream of tendency called character and throws it
outwards. As he has the power of drawing in anything, so has he the power of
throwing it out.
All the actions that we see in
the world, all the movements in human society, all the works that we have
around us, are simply the display of thought, the manifestation of the will of
man. Machines or instruments, cities, ships, or
men-of-war, all these are simply the manifestation of the will of man; and this
will is caused by character, and character is
manufactured by Karma. As is Karma, so is the
manifestation of the will. The men of mighty will the world has
produced have all been tremendous workers-gigantic
souls, with wills powerful enough to overturn worlds, wills they got by
persistent work, through ages, and ages. Such a gigantic will as that of a
Buddha or a Jesus could not be obtained in one life, for we know who their
fathers were. It is not known that their fathers ever spoke a word for the good
of mankind. Millions and millions of
carpenters like Joseph had gone; millions are still living. Millions and millions of petty kings like Buddha's
father had been in the world. If it was only a case of hereditary transmission,
how do you account for this petty prince, who was not, perhaps, obeyed by his
own servants, producing this son, whom half a world worships? How do you
explain the gulf between the carpenter and his son, whom millions of human
beings worship as God? It cannot be solved by the theory of heredity. The gigantic will which Buddha and Jesus
threw over the world, whence did it
come? Whence came this accumulation of power?
It must have been there through ages and ages, continually growing bigger and
bigger, until it burst on society
in a Buddha or a Jesus, even rolling down to the
present day.
All this is determined by Karma,
work. No one can get anything unless he earns it. This
is an eternal law. We may sometimes think it is not so, but in the long run we become convinced of it. A man may struggle all his life for
riches; he may cheat thousands, but he finds at last that he did not deserve to become rich, and his life
becomes a trouble and a nuisance to him. We may go on accumulating things for our physical enjoyment, but only what we earn is
really ours. A fool may buy all the books in the world, and they will be in his library; but he will be able to read only those that he deserves to; and this deserving is produced by Karma. Our Karma determines what we deserve and what we can
assimilate. We are responsible for what we
are; and whatever we wish ourselves to be, we
have the power to make ourselves. If what we are now has been the result of our own past actions, it certainly follows that whatever we wish to be in future can be produced by our
present actions; so we have to know how to act. You will say, "What is the use of learning how to work?
Everyone works in some way or other in this
world." But there is such a thing as frittering away our energies. With regard to Karma-Yoga, the Gita says that it is doing work with cleverness and as a science; by knowing
how to work, one can obtain the greatest results. You must remember that all
work is simply to bring out the power of the mind which is already there, to wake up the soul. The power is inside every man, so is knowing; the different works are like blows to
bring them out, to cause these giants to wake up.
Man works with various motives. There cannot be
work without motive. Some people want to get fame, and they work for fame. Others want money, and they work for money.
Others want to have power, and they work
for power. Others want to get to heaven, and they work for the same. Others
want to leave a name when
they die, as they do in China, where no man gets a title until he is dead; and
that is a better way, after all, than with us. When a man does something very good there, they give a title of nobility to his father, who is dead, or to his
grandfather. Some people work for
that. Some of the followers of certain Mohammedan sects work all their lives to
have a big tomb built for them when theydie. I know sects among whom, as
soon as a child is born, a tomb is prepared for it; that is among them the most
important work a man has to do, and the bigger and
the finer the tomb, the better off the man is
supposed to be. Others work as a penance; do all sorts of wicked things, then
erect a temple, or give something to the priests to buy them off and obtain from them a passport to heaven. They think that this kind of beneficence will clear them and they will
go scot-free in spite of their sinfulness. Such are some of the various motives for work.
Work for work's sake. There are some who are
really the salt of the earth in every country and who work for work's sake, who
do not care for name, or fame, or even to go to heaven. They work just because good will come of it. There are
others who do good to the poor and help mankind from still higher motives,
because they believe in doing good and love good. The motive
for name and fame seldom brings immediate results, as a rule; they come to us
when we are old and have almost done with life. If a man works without any
selfish motive in view, does he not gain anything? Yes, he gains the highest.
Unselfishness is more paying, only people have not the patience to practise it.
It is more paying from the point of view of health also. Love, truth and
unselfishness are not merely moral figures of speech, but they form our highest
ideal, because in them lies such a manifestation of power. In the first place,
a man who can work for five days, or even for five minutes, without any selfish motive whatever, without thinking of future, of heaven, of punishment, or anything of
the kind, has in him the capacity to become
a powerful moral giant. It is hard to do it, but in the heart of our hearts we
know its value, and the good it brings.
It is the greatest manifestation of power—-this tremendous restraint;
self-restraint is a manifestation of greater power than all outgoing
action. A carriage with four horses may rush down a hill unrestrained,
or the coachman may curb the horses. Which is the greater manifestation of
power, to let them go or to hold them? A cannon-ball flying through the
air goes a long distance and falls. Another is cut
short in its flight by striking against a wall, and the impact generates intense heat. All outgoing energy following a selfish motive is frittered away; it will not cause power to return to you; but if restrained, it will result in development of power. This
self-control will tend to produce a mighty will, a character which makes a Christ or a Buddha. Foolish men do not know this secret; they nevertheless want to rule mankind. Even a fool may rule the whole
world if he works and waits. Let him wait a few years, restrain that foolish
idea of governing; and when that idea is wholly gone, he will be a power in the
world. The majority of us cannot see beyond a few years, just as some animals
cannot see beyond a few steps. Just a little
narrow circle—-that
is our world. We
have not the patience to look beyond, and thus become immoral and wicked. This
is our weakness, our powerlessness.
Even the lowest forms of work are
not to be despised. Let the man, who knows no better, work for selfish ends,
for name and fame; but everyone should always try to get towards higher and
higher motives and to understand them. "To work we have the right, but not
to the fruits thereof." Leave the fruits alone. Why care for results? If you wish to help a man, never think what that man's attitude should be towards you. If you want to
do a great or a good work, do not trouble to
think what the result will be.
There arises a difficult question
in this ideal of work. Intense activity is necessary; we must always work. We
cannot live a minute without work. What then
becomes of rest? Here is one side of the
life-struggle—-work,
in which we are whirled rapidly round. And here is the other—-that of
calm, retiring renunciation: everything is peaceful around, there is very little of
noise and show,
only nature with her animals and flowers and mountains. Neither of them is a
perfect picture. A man used to solitude, if brought in contact with the
surging whirlpool of the world, will be crushed by it; just as the fish
that lives in the deep sea water, as soon as it is
brought to the surface, breaks into pieces, deprived of the weight of water on
it that had kept it together. Can a man who has been used to the turmoil and the rush of life live at ease if he
comes to a quiet place? He suffers and perchance may lose his mind. The ideal man is he who, in the midst of the greatest silence and solitude, finds the intensest activity, and in the midst of the
intensest activity finds the silence and solitude of the desert. He has learnt
the secret of restraint, he has controlled himself. He goes through the streets
of a big city with all its traffic, and his mind is as calm as if he were in a
cave, where not a sound could reach him; and he is intensely working all the
time. That is the ideal of Karma- Yoga, and if you have attained to that you
have really learnt the secret of work.
But we have to begin from the beginning, to take
up the works as they come to us and slowly
make ourselves more unselfish every day. We must do the work and find out the
motive power that prompts us; and, almost without exception, in the first
years, we shall find that our motives are always selfish; but gradually this
selfishness will melt by persistence, till at last will come the time when we
shall be able to do really unselfish work. We may all hope that some day or
other, as we struggle through the paths of life, there will come a time when we
shall become perfectly unselfish;
and the moment we attain to that, all our powers will be concentrated, and the knowledge which is ours
will be manifest.
Sri Ramakrishna
Sri Ramakrishna was born on 18 February 1836 in the village of Kamarpukur about sixty miles northwest of Kolkata. His parents,Kshudiram Chattopadhyaya andChandramani Devi, were poor but very pious and virtuous. As a child, Ramakrishna (his childhood name was Gadadhar) was dearly loved by the villagers. From early days, he was disinclined towards formal education and worldly affairs. He was, however, a talented boy, and could sing and paint well. He was fond of serving holy men and listening to their discourses. He was also very often found to be absorbed in spiritual moods. At the age of six, he experienced the first ecstasy while watching a flight of white cranes moving against the background of black clouds. This tendency to enter into ecstasy intensified with age. His father’s death when he was seven years old served only to deepen his introspection and increase his detachment from the world.
Rabindranath Tagore
Main article: Life of Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1901)
The youngest of thirteen surviving children, Tagore was born in the Jorasanko mansion in Calcutta (nowKolkata) of parents Debendranath Tagore (1817–1905) and Sarada Devi (1830–1875). Tagore familypatriarchs were the Brahmo founding fathers of the Adi Dharm faith. He was mostly raised by servants, as his mother had died in his early childhood; his father travelled extensively. Tagore largely declined classroom schooling, preferring to roam the mansion or nearby idylls: Bolpur, Panihati, and others.Upon his upanayan initiation at age eleven, Tagore left Calcutta on 14 February 1873 to tour India with his father for several months. They visited his father's Santiniketan estate and stopped in Amritsar before reaching the Himalayan hill station of Dalhousie. There, young "Rabi" read biographies and was home-educated in history, astronomy, modern science, and Sanskrit, and examined the poetry of He completed major works in 1877, one a long poem of the Maithili style pioneered by Vidyapati. Published pseudonymously, experts accepted them as the lost works of Bhānusiṃha, a newly discovered 17th-century poet. He wrote "Bhikharini" (1877; "The Beggar Woman"—the Bengali language's first short story) and Sandhya Sangit (1882)—including the famous poem "Nirjharer Swapnabhanga" ("The Rousing of the Waterfall").
A prospective barrister, Tagore enrolled at a public school in Brighton, East Sussex, England in 1878. He read law at University College London, but left school to explore Shakespeare and more: Religio Medici, Coriolanus, and Antony and Cleopatra;he returned degreeless to Bengal in 1880. On 9 December 1883 he married Mrinalini Devi (born Bhabatarini, 1873–1902); they had five children, two of whom died before reaching adulthood. In 1890, Tagore began managing his family's vast estates in Shilaidaha, a region now in Bangladesh; he was joined by his wife and children in 1898. In 1890, Tagore released his Manasi poems, among his best-known work.As "Zamindar Babu", Tagore criss-crossed the holdings while living out of the family's luxurious barge, the Padma, to collect (mostly token) rents and bless villagers, who held feasts in his honour. These years—1891–1895: Tagore's Sadhana period, after one of Tagore’s magazines—were his most fecund. During this period, more than half the stories of the three-volume and eighty-four-story Galpaguchchha were written. With irony and gravity, they depicted a wide range of Bengali lifestyles, particularly village life.
Kazi Nazrul Islam
For details about his philosophical works, see the Infobox.
Kazi Nazrul Islam (Bengali: কাজী নজরুল ইসলাম Kazi Nozrul Islam) (25 May 1899–27 August 1976) was a Bengali poet, musician and revolutionary who pioneered poetic works espousing intense spiritual rebellion against fascism Bidrohi Kobi (Rebel Poet). Accomplishing a through his life, Nazrul is officially recognised as the national poet of Bangladesh and commemorated in India.
Born into a poor Muslim family, Nazrul received religious education and worked as a muezzin at a local mosque British Indian Army, Nazrul established himself as a journalist in Kolkata (then Calcutta). He assailed the British Raj in India and preached revolution through his poetic works, such as "Bidrohi" ("The Rebel") and "Bhangar Gaan" ("The Song of Destruction"), as well as his publication "Dhumketu" ("The Comet"). His impassioned activism in the Indian independence movement often led to his imprisonment by British authorities. While in prison, Nazrul wrote the "Rajbandir Jabanbandi" ("Deposition of a Political Prisoner"). Exploring the life and conditions of the downtrodden masses of India, Nazrul worked for their emancipation.
Nazrul's writings explore themes such as love, freedom, and revolution; he opposed all bigotry, including religious and gender. Throughout his career, Nazrul wrote short stories, novels, and essays but is best-known for his poems, in which he pioneered new forms such as Bengalighazals. Nazrul wrote and composed music for his nearly 4,000 songs (including gramophone records) [1], collectively known as Nazrul geeti(Nazrul songs), which are widely popular today. At the age of 43 (in 1942) he began suffering from an unknown disease, losing his voice and memory. It is often said, the reason was slow poisoning by British Government. It caused Nazrul's health to decline steadily and forced him to live in isolation for many years. Invited by the Government of Bangladesh, Nazrul and his family moved to Dhaka in 1972, where he died four years later.
Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay
Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay (27 June 1838 – 8 April 1894 Bengali: বঙ্কিম চন্দ্র চট্টোপাধ্যায় Bôngkim Chôndro Chôţţopaddhae) ('Chattopadhyay' in the original Bengali; 'Chatterjee' as spelt by the British) was an Indian Bengali poet, novelist, essayist and journalist, most famous as the author of Vande Mataram or Bande Mataram, that inspired the freedom fighters of India, and was later declared the National Song of India.
Chatterjee is widely regarded as a key figure in literary renaissance of Bengal as well as India. Some of his writings, including novels, essays and commentaries, were a breakaway from traditional verse-oriented Indian writings, and provided an inspiration for authors across India.
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
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Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay
Sharatchandra Chatterjee is the best among the WORLD CLASS NOVELISTS. He was admired by many of his contemporaries like Tagore, Premchand etc.
Sarat Chandra was born into poverty in Debanandapur, Hooghly, India. His family was occasionally supported by other family members and Saratchandra's lack of financial stability would influence his writing in years to come. Although he began as a fine arts student, Chatterji left his studies due to his persistent state of poverty. He received his early education while residing at his paternal uncle's house in Bhagalpur and it was there that he wrote his famous novel Devdas. He spent 20 years of his life in Bhagalpur and a significant portion of his novels were either written in Bhagalpur or based on his experience in Bhagalpur.
His work represented rural Bengali society and he often wrote against social superstitions and oppression. For a short period he was a sannyasi, a Hindu ascetic who abandons the material and social worlds. His first published story was 'Mandir'. He was particularly sensitive to the cause of women.
After the death of his parents Sarat Chandra left his college education midway and went to Burma in 1903. There he found employment with a Government Office as Clerk. He did not remain at his job in Burma for long and decided to return to his homeland but before his departure he submitted a short story for a prize competition under his uncle's name, Surendranath Ganguli. It won first prize in 1904.
Sarat Chandra was also a fond disciple of Swami Vivekananda. There is a biography of Sharat Babu written by Vishnu Prabhakar, a Hindi writer also known as Awara Masiha. Prabhakar traveled for fourteen years continuously to collect material for this book.
Though he was always known to be an intrepid champion of the marginalised when it comes to novels, personally he was always a shy and private person. There was an occasion when his name was already announced and he was supposed to meet his readers but he left and the curtain was raised on an empty stage.
He died in Kolkata of liver cancer in 1938.
Bhattacharya, Sukanta (1926-1947) Marxist poet, was born on 15 August 1926 at his maternal uncle's home in Kolkata. His paternal home was in Kotalipara in faridpur district...His father, Nibaranchandra Bhattacharya, was a book trader in Kolkata...
Sukanta studied at Kamala Vidyamandir in Kolkata, and then at Beleghata Deshbandhu High School...He became involved in students' movements and leftist political activities while still a student...In 1944 he became a member of the Communist Party. He appeared at the Entrance examination in 1945, but failed to pass and dropped out...
He edited the 'Kishore Sabha' section of the Dainik Swadhinata (1945), published by the Communist Party as well as a poetry anthology, Akal (1944), on behalf of the Society of Anti-Fascist Writers and Artists...As a poet as well he was committed to Marxism and wielded his pen against the Second World War, the famine of 1943, fascist aggression, communal riots etc. Among his outstanding poetical works are Chhadpatra (1947), Purbabhas (1950), Mithekada (1951), Abhiyan (1953), Ghum Nei (1954),Hartal (1962), Gitiguchchha (1965). His complete writings were anthologised in Sukanta Samagra and published posthumously from both West and East Bengal...His poems, which describe the sufferings of the common people and their struggle for existence, look forward to an exploitation-free society...Sukanta died of tuberculosis in Kolkata on 13 May 1947...http://mina9339.blogspot.com/p/indian-heroes-god.html
Sukanta Bhattacharya
Bhattacharya, Sukanta (1926-1947) Marxist poet, was born on 15 August 1926 at his maternal uncle's home in Kolkata. His paternal home was in Kotalipara in faridpur district...His father, Nibaranchandra Bhattacharya, was a book trader in Kolkata...
Sukanta studied at Kamala Vidyamandir in Kolkata, and then at Beleghata Deshbandhu High School...He became involved in students' movements and leftist political activities while still a student...In 1944 he became a member of the Communist Party. He appeared at the Entrance examination in 1945, but failed to pass and dropped out...
He edited the 'Kishore Sabha' section of the Dainik Swadhinata (1945), published by the Communist Party as well as a poetry anthology, Akal (1944), on behalf of the Society of Anti-Fascist Writers and Artists...As a poet as well he was committed to Marxism and wielded his pen against the Second World War, the famine of 1943, fascist aggression, communal riots etc. Among his outstanding poetical works are Chhadpatra (1947), Purbabhas (1950), Mithekada (1951), Abhiyan (1953), Ghum Nei (1954),Hartal (1962), Gitiguchchha (1965). His complete writings were anthologised in Sukanta Samagra and published posthumously from both West and East Bengal...His poems, which describe the sufferings of the common people and their struggle for existence, look forward to an exploitation-free society...Sukanta died of tuberculosis in Kolkata on 13 May 1947...http://mina9339.blogspot.com/p/indian-heroes-god.html
