Baghavad gita...... ACTION, INACTION AND KNOWLEDGE

In this teachings, Krishna talks to Arjuna about discipline of action. This teaching focuses on two major ideas which are action and inaction. Action is for example when someone hits you and you hit them back, while in inaction instead of hitting them you say something back. According to Lord Krishna action is better but when done with detachment, discipline, and sacrifice. If you do this the Gods will be pleased and you will be enriched.

“Perform necessary action;
it is more powerful than inaction;
without action you even fail
to sustain your own body."



Action imprisons the world
unless it is done as sacrifice;
freed from attachment, Arjuna,
perform action as sacrifice!” pg 44

Then, Krishna also talks about actions as a source of leadership.

“Whatever a leader does,
the ordinary people also do.
He sets the standard
for the world to follow.” Pg 46

I thought this was very interesting since it makes a lot of sense. If nobody takes action and does something, other people wouldn’t have anyone to follow as a leader and everything would collapse and nothing would function. This is what gives a certain stability to the rest of the community. Krishna then says that this is good but that the actions have to be taken with discipline and that you can not be ignorant when taking decisions.

After this, Lord Krishna also talks about knowledge and ignorance. Krishna tells him that knowledge is fundamental for everything and that it makes you better. According to her, men with knowledge have more wisdom since they are able to see reality and take good decisions based in all of their knowledge.

“Know it by humble submission,
by asking questions, and by service;
wise men who see reality
will give you knowledge.” Pg 56

Krishna also says that knowledge is everything and by gaining it you will have more peace and says that ignorant people will end up just lost.

“An ignorant man is lost, faithless,
and filled with self-doubt;
a soul that harbors doubt has no joy,
not in this world or the next.”I totally agree with this since i believe that being an ignorant person is one of the worst things you can be since you really don´t care or know about anything and without knowledge it is hard to live or to contribute something to society.

Finally, In teaching five Krishna gives a lesson about renunciation of actions and says something to Arjuna that I thought was very wise.

“Detached from external contacts,
he discovers joy in himself;
joined by discipline to the infinite spirit,
the self attains inexhaustible joy.

Delights from external objects
are wombs of suffering;
in their beginning is their end,
and no wise man delights in them. “pg 62

I really liked this part of the teaching since I think it is true that you should find happiness in yourself and your actions rather than in external objects since most external things end or get destroyed and nothing will be left, but if you have inner happiness those things can´t affect you.