Bhagavad Gita, chapter 2, verse 48

And yet he does not cease from work and action. There is the originality and power of the Gita, that having affirmed this static condition, this superiority to nature, this emptiness even of all that constitutes ordinarily the action of Nature for the liberated soul, it is still able to vindicate for it, to enjoin on it even the continuance of works and thus avoid the great defect of the merely quietistic and ascetic philosophies,—the defect from which we find them today attempting to escape.2.47 "Thou hast a right to action, but only to action, never to its fruits; let not the fruits of thy works be thy motive, neither let there be in thee any attachment to inactivity." Therefore it is not the works practised with desire by the Vedavadins, it is not the claim for the satisfaction of the restless and energetic mind by a constant activity, the claim made by the practical or the kinetic man, which is here2.48 enjoined. "Fixed in Yoga do thy actions, having abandoned attachment, having become equal in failure and success; for it is equality that is meant by Yoga." Action is distressed by the choice between a relative good and evil, the fear of sin and the difficult endeavour towards virtue? But the liberated who has united his reason and will with the Divine, casts away from him even here in this world of dualities both good doing and evil doing; for he rises to a higher law beyond good and evil, founded in the liberty of self-knowledge. Such desireless action can have no decisiveness, no effectiveness, no efficient motive, no large or vigorous creative power? Not so; action done in Yoga is not only the highest but the wisest, the most potent and efficient even for the affairs of the world; for it is informed by the knowledge2.50-51 and will of the Master of works: "Yoga is skill in works." But all action directed towards life leads away from the universal aim of the Yogin which is by common consent to escape from bondage to this distressed and sorrowful human birth? Not so, either; the sages who do works without desire for fruits and in Yoga with the Divine are liberated from the bondage of birth and reach that other perfect status in which there are none of the maladies which afflict the mind and life of a suffering humanity.

The pure philosopher, the thinker, the born sage not only relies upon the sattwic principle in him as his ultimate justification, but uses it from the beginning as his instrument of self-mastery. He starts from the sattwic equality. He too observes the transitoriness of the material and external world and its failure to satisfy the desires or to give the true delight, but this causes in him no grief, fear or disappointment. He observes all with an eye of tranquil discernment and makes his choice without repulsion or perplexity. “The enjoyments born of the touches5.22 of things are causes of sorrow, they have a beginning and an end; therefore the sage, the man of awakened understanding, budhaḥ, does not place his delight in these.” “The self in him is5.21 unattached to the touches of external things; he finds his happiness in himself.” He sees, as the Gita puts it, that he is himself his own enemy and his own friend, and therefore he takes care not to dethrone himself by casting his being into the hands of6.5 desire and passion, nātmānam avasādayet, but delivers himself out of that imprisonment by his own inner power, uddhared ātmanātmānam; for whoever has conquered his lower self, finds in his higher self his best friend and ally. He becomes satisfied with knowledge, master of his senses, a Yogin by sattwic equality, — for equality is Yoga, samatvaṁ yoga ucyate, — regarding alike2.48 clod and stone and gold, tranquil and self-poised in heat and cold, suffering and happiness, honour and disgrace. He is equal in soul to friend and enemy and to neutral and indifferent, because he sees that these are transitory relations born of the changing conditions of life. Even by the pretensions of learning and purity and virtue and the claims to superiority which men base upon these things, he is not led away. He is equal-souled to all men, to the sinner and the saint, to the virtuous, learned and cultured Brahmin and the fallen outcaste. All these are the Gita’s descriptions of the sattwic equality, and they sum up well enough what is familiar to the world as the calm philosophic equality of the sage.

"The result will be an absolute equality and the power of unshakable calm that the universal spirit maintains in front of its creations, facing ever the manifold action of Nature. Look with equal eyes; receive with an equal heart and mind all that comes to you, success and failure, honour and dishonour, the esteem and love of men and their scorn and persecution and hatred, every happening that would be to others a cause of joy and every happening that would be to others a cause of sorrow. Look with equal eyes on all persons, on the good and the wicked, on the wise and the foolish, on the Brahmin and the outcaste, on man at his highest and every pettiest creature. Meet equally all men whatever their relations to you, friend and ally, neutral and indifferent, opponent and enemy, lover and hater. These things touch the ego and you are called to be free from ego. These are personal relations and you have to observe all with the deep regard of the impersonal spirit. These are temporal and personal differences which you have to see but not be influenced by them; for you must fix not on these differences but on that which is the same in all, on the one self which all are, on the Divine in every creature and on the one working of Nature which is the equal will of God in men and things and energies and happenings and in all endeavour and result and whatever outcome of the world's labour.

The first necessity is some fundamental poise of the soul both in its essential and its natural being regarding and meeting the things, impacts and workings of Nature. This poise we shall arrive at by growing into a perfect equality, samatā. The self, spirit or Brahman is one in all and therefore one to all; it is, as is said in the Gita which has developed fully this idea of equality and indicated its experience on at least one side of equality, the equal Brahman, samaṁ brahma; the Gita even goes so far in one passage as to identify equality and yoga, samatvaṁ yoga ucyate. That is to say, equality is the sign of unity with the Brahman, of becoming Brahman, of growing into an undisturbed spiritual poise of being in the Infinite. Its importance can hardly be exaggerated; for it is the sign of our having passed beyond the egoistic determinations of our nature, of our having conquered our enslaved response to the dualities, of our having transcended the shifting turmoil of the gunas, of our having entered into the calm and peace of liberation. Equality is a term of consciousness which brings into the whole of our being and nature the eternal tranquillity of the Infinite. Moreover, it is the condition of a securely and perfectly divine action; the security and largeness of the cosmic action of the Infinite is based upon and never breaks down or forfeits its eternal tranquillity. That too must be the character of the perfect spiritual action; to be equal and one to all things in spirit, understanding, mind, heart and natural consciousness,—even in the most physical consciousness,—and to make all their workings, whatever their outward adaptation to the thing to be done, always and imminuably full of the divine equality and calm must be its inmost principle. That may be said to be the passive or basic, the fundamental and receptive side of equality, but there is also an active and possessive side, an equal bliss which can only come when the peace of equality is founded and which is the beatific flower of its fullness.

Still Arjuna is not satisfied. Srikrishna goes still deeper. He says that the whole of our life is determined by maya which is of three kinds—sattwa, rajas, and tamas. Their nature is this. Sattwa leads to knowledge, rajas leads to action, and tamas leads to inaction and ignorance. These are the qualities of nature which govern the world. The swabhava which leads you to work is determined by the three gunas. Action is determined by swabhava. All action leads to bondage and is full of defects. What you call virtue or virtues, they have defects in themselves. The virtue of Brahmins is a great virtue. You shall not kill. This is what ahinsa means. If the virtue of ahinsa comes to the Kshatriya, if you say I will not kill, there is no one to protect the country. The happiness of the people will be broken down. Injustice and lawlessness will reign. The virtue becomes a source of misery, and you become instrumental in bringing misery and conflict to the people. Your duty to your family seems to conflict with your duty to society, that of society to the nation, and that of the nation to mankind. How shall we follow the path which leads to salvation? It is difficult to say what is right and what is wrong. How to decide it then? There is one way: do action in yoga, and then you rise above ignorance, and sin cannot touch you, and you rise above all that hampers you and binds you.

The Gita tells us that equality of soul and mind is Yoga and that this equality is the foundation of the Brahman-state, that high infinite consciousness to which the Yogin aspires. Now equality of mind means universality; for without universality of soul there may be a state of indifference or an impartial self-control or a well-governed equality of temperament, but these are not the thing that is meant. The equality spoken of is not indifference or impartiality or equability, but a fundamental oneness of attitude to all persons and all things and happenings because of the perception of all as the One. Such equality, it is erroneously thought, is incompatible with action. By no means; this is the error of the animal and the intellectual man who thinks that action is solely possible when dictated by his hopes, fears and passions or by the self-willed preferences of the emotion and the intellect justifying themselves by the illusions of the reason. That might be the fact if the individual were the real actor and not merely an instrument or secondary agent; but we know well enough, for Science and Philosophy assure us of the same truth, that the universal is the Force which acts through the simulacrum of our individuality. The individual mind, pretending to choose for itself with a sublime ignorance and disregard of the universal, is obviously working on the basis of a falsehood and by means of an error and not in the knowledge and the will of the Truth. It cannot have any real skill in works; for to start from a falsehood or half-truth and work by means of blunders and arrive at another falsehood or half-truth which we have immediately to change, and all the while to weep and struggle and suffer and have no sure resting-place, cannot surely be called skill in works. But the universal is equal in all and therefore its determinations are not self-willed preferences but are guided by the truth of the divine will and knowledge which is unlimited and not subject to incapacity or error.

This secret too has been possessed but not sufficiently practised by India. It is summarised in the rule of the Gita, yogasthaḥ kuru karmāṇi. Its principle is to do all actions in Yoga, in union with God, on the foundation of the highest self and through the rule of all our members by the power of the spirit. And this we believe to be not only possible for man but the true solution of all his problems and difficulties. This then is the message we shall constantly utter and this the ideal that we shall put before the young and rising India, a spiritual life that shall take up all human activities and avail to transfigure the world for the great age that is coming. India, she that has carried in herself from of old the secret, can alone lead the way in this great transformation of which the present sandhyā of the old yuga is the forerunner. This must be her mission and service to humanity,—as she discovered the inner spiritual life for the individual, so now to discover for the race its integral collective expression and found for mankind its new spiritual and communal order.

This state of imprisonment is the perennial condition of man. On the other hand, on every page of literature and history we find the irrepressible eagerness and enthusiasm on the part of the human race to gain freedom. As in the political and social spheres, so in the life of the individual in every age we find the same endeavour. Restraint, self-torture, indifference, stoicism. Epicureanism, asceticism, Vedanta Buddhism, Advaita, the doctrine of Maya. Raja Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Gita, the path of Knowledge, Devotion and Activity—the paths are many, the goal is the same. The aim is always—victory over the body, getting rid of the domination of the physical, the freedom of the inner life. Western scientists have arrived at the conclusion that there is no world other than the physical, the subtle is based on the material, the subtle experiences are but reflections of the external experiences, man's attempt to be free is in vain; the philosophy, religion and Vedanta are but unreal imaginings, and wholly limited by the physical reality as we are, the attempt to untie the knot or cross the limitations of our physical nature is an attempt doomed to fail. But the longing to be free is lodged in such a deep layer of the human heart that a thousand arguments are helpless to uproot it. Man can never remain content with the conclusions of the physical sciences. In all ages he has felt vaguely that the subtle elements capable of conquering the physical limits are definitely to be found in his own inner being, that there is an Inner Controller, a Person, for ever free and full of Delight, within him. It is the object of religion to realise this state of eternal freedom and pure Delight. This object of religious seeking is also the object of evolution of which science speaks. Reason or its absence is not the real difference between man and animals. The animals have the power to judge, but in the animal body that power does not develop. The real difference between man and animal lies elsewhere: a complete submission to the body is what constitutes the animal state, while in the conquest of the body and the effort at inner freedom lies man's manhood! This freedom is the chief goal of religion, this is what it calls mukti. It is for the sake of mukti that through knowledge we try to find out the mental guide of the body and life who lives within, or through action-devotion try to surrender to it our body, mind and life. The central ethical injunction in the Gita—yogasthaḥ kuru karmāṇi—this freedom is the yoga of the Gita. When the interior joys and sorrows, instead of depending on external good and evil, well-being and danger, become self-generated, self-propelled, self-bound, then the normal human condition is reversed, and the outer life can be modelled on the inner, the bondage of action slackens. The ideal person of the Gita renounces the desire for the fruit of action and practises active renunciation in the supreme Person, Purushottama. He is “duḥkheṣvanudvignamanāḥ sukheṣu vigataspṛhaḥ”; attaining an inner freedom he enjoys self-delight and self-control. Unlike the normal human individual he does not seek any external refuge out of fear or sorrow born of greed for pleasure, he does not accept his joys and sorrows from others and yet is free of the bondage of action. Rather in the battle between Gods and Titans, it is the man, sent by God, greatly controlled, a mightily puissant protagonist, beyond anger and fear, he the man of yogic action who helps to usher in a political or religious revolution, or by preserving the established state and religious order, fulfills in a non-attached spirit God's own work; he is the superior person of whom the Gita speaks.

The Gita says, equality is yoga, samatvam yoga uchyate. It is also said that those whose minds are firmly established in equality are the conquerors of the world in the world, because since the Supreme Brahman is equally present everywhere, the yoga-siddha wise and worker who has attained equality is firmly established in Brahman in all actions in all ways.

yogasthaḥ kuru karmāṇi saṅgaṁ tyaktvā dhanaṁjaya

হঠযোগ, গীতা, জ্ঞানমার্গ, ভক্তিমার্গ, কর্ম্মমার্গ, — নানা পন্থা একই গম্যস্থান। উদ্দেশ্য শরীর জয়, স্থূলের আধিপত্য বর্জ্জন, আন্তরিক জীবনের স্বাধীনতা। পাশ্চাত্য বিজ্ঞানবিদ্গণ এই সিদ্ধান্ত করিয়াছেন যে স্থূলজগৎ ভিন্ন অন্য জগৎ নাই, স্থূলের উপর সূক্ষ্ম প্রতিষ্ঠিত, সূক্ষ্ম অনুভব স্থূল অনুভবের প্রতিকৃতি মাত্র, মনুষ্যের স্বাধীনতা-প্রয়াস ব্যর্থ; ধর্ম্মদর্শন বেদান্ত অলীক কল্পনা, সম্পূর্ণ ভূতপ্রকৃতি-আবদ্ধ আমাদের সেই বন্ধনমোচনে বা ভূতপ্রকৃতির সীমা উলঙ্ঘনে মিথ্যা চেষ্টা। কিন্তু মানবহৃদয়ের এমন গূঢ়তর স্তরে এই আকাঙ্ক্ষা নিহিত যে সহস্র যুক্তিও তাহা উন্মূলন করিতে অসমর্থ। মনুষ্য বিজ্ঞানের সিদ্ধান্তে কখনও সন্তুষ্ট থাকিতে পারে না। চিরকাল মনুষ্য অস্পষ্ট রূপে অনুভব করিয়া আসিতেছেন যে স্থূলজয়ে সমর্থ সূক্ষ্মবস্তু তাহার অভ্যন্তরে দৃঢ়ভাবে বর্ত্তমান, সূক্ষ্মময় অধিষ্ঠাতা নিত্যমুক্ত আনন্দময় পুরুষ আছেন। সেই নিত্যমুক্তি ও নির্ম্মল আনন্দলাভ করা ধর্ম্মের উদ্দেশ্য। এই যে ধর্ম্মের উদ্দেশ্য, সেই বিজ্ঞানকল্পিত evolution-এরও উদ্দেশ্য। বিচারশক্তি ও তাহার অভাব পশু ও মনুষ্যের প্রকৃত ভেদ নহে। পশুর বিচারশক্তি আছে, কিন্তু পশুদেহে তাহার উৎকর্ষ হয় না। পশু মনুষ্যের প্রকৃত ভেদ এই যে শরীরের নিকট সম্পূর্ণ দাসত্ব স্বীকার পাশবিক অবস্থা, শরীর জয় ও আন্তরিক স্বাধীনতার চেষ্টাই মনুষ্যত্ব বিকাশ। এই স্বাধীনতাই ধর্ম্মের প্রধান উদ্দেশ্য, ইহাকেই মুক্তি বলে। এই মুক্ত্যর্থে আমরা অন্তঃকরণস্থ মনোময় প্রাণশরীরনেতাকে জ্ঞানদ্বারা চিনিতে কিম্বা কর্ম্মভক্তিদ্বারা প্রাণ মন শরীর অর্পণ করিতে সচেষ্ট হই। “যোগস্থঃ কুরু কর্ম্মাণি” বলিয়া গীতার যে প্রধান উপদেশ এই স্বাধীনতাই সেই গীতোক্ত যোগ। আন্তরিক সুখদুঃখ যখন বাহ্যিক শুভাশুভ সম্পদবিপদকে আশ্রয় না করিয়া স্বয়ংজাত, স্বয়ংপ্রেরিত, স্বসীমাবদ্ধ হয়, তখন মনুষ্যের সাধারণ অবস্থার বিপরীত অবস্থা হয়, বাহ্যিক জীবন আন্তরিক জীবনের অনুযায়ী করা যায়, কর্ম্মবন্ধন শিথিল হয়। গীতার আদর্শ পুরুষ কর্ম্মফলে আসক্তি ত্যাগ করিয়া পুরুষোত্তমে কর্ম্মসন্ন্যাস করেন। তিনি “দুঃখেষ্বনুদ্বিগ্নমনাঃ সুখেষু বিগতস্পৃহঃ” আন্তরিক স্বাতন্ত্র্য লাভ করিয়া আত্মরতি ও আত্মসন্তুষ্ট হইয়া থাকেন। তিনি প্রাকৃত লোকের ন্যায় সুখলালসায় দুঃখভয়ে কাহারও আশ্রিত হন না, পরের দত্ত সুখদুঃখ গ্রহণ করেন না, অথচ কর্ম্মভোগ করেন না। বরং মহাসংযমী মহাপ্রতাপান্বিত দেবাসুর যুদ্ধে রাগ ভয় ক্রোধাতীত মহারথী হইয়া ভগবৎপ্রেরিত যে কর্ম্মযোগী রাষ্ট্রবিপ্লব ধর্ম্মবিপ্লব অথবা প্রতিষ্ঠিত রাজ্য ধর্ম্ম সমাজ রক্ষা করিয়া নিষ্কাম ভাবে ভগবৎকর্ম্ম সুসম্পন্ন করেন, তিনি গীতার শ্রেষ্ঠ পুরুষ।

লণ্ডনে জাতীয় মহাসভার অধিবেশনের পক্ষে গীতাকে আশ্রয় করিয়া একটী অদ্ভুত ও রহস্যময় যুক্তি প্রদর্শিত হইতেছে। অধিবেশনের পরিপোষকগণ সেইরূপ অধিবেশনে প্রকৃত ফলের সম্ভাবনা দেখাইতে না পারিয়া দেশবাসীকে গীতোক্ত নিষ্কামধর্ম্ম এবং সিদ্ধি ও অসিদ্ধি সম্বন্ধে সমতা অবলম্বন করিতে বলিতেছেন। লণ্ডন অধিবেশন আমাদের কর্ত্তব্য কর্ম্ম, অতএব তাহার ফলাফল বিবেচনা না করিয়া কর্ত্তব্য কর্ম্ম সমাধান করা উচিত। রাজনীতিতে ধর্ম্মের দোহাই ও গীতার দোহাই দেখিয়া আমরা প্রীত হইলাম, এবং ‘কর্ম্মযোগী’ ও ‘ধর্ম্মের’ চেষ্টার ফল হইতেছে বুঝিয়া আশান্বিত হইলাম। তবে গীতার এইরূপ ব্যাখ্যায় গোড়ায় গলদ হইবার সম্ভাবনা দেখিয়া শঙ্কিতও হইলাম। কর্ত্তব্য পালনের উপায়-নির্ব্বাচনে অপরিণামদর্শিতা ও উদ্দেশ্যসিদ্ধির চেষ্টায় উদাসীনতা শিক্ষা দেওয়া গীতার সমতাবাদ ও নিষ্কাম-কর্ম্মবাদের উদ্দেশ্য নহে। আমাদের কর্ত্তব্য কি, তাহা অগ্রে নির্ণয় করা আবশ্যক; তৎপরে ধীরভাবে অসিদ্ধিতে অবিচলিত হইয়া কর্ত্তব্যসম্পাদন করা ধর্ম্মানুমোদিত পন্থা। লণ্ডন অধিবেশন আমাদের কর্ত্তব্য কর্ম্ম কিনা, তাহা লইয়াই বাদবিবাদ; সেই প্রশ্নের মীমাংসায় পরিণামচিন্তা বর্জ্জন করিতে পারি না। কর্ত্তব্য-নির্ণয়ে দুই স্বতন্ত্র বিষয়ের মীমাংসা আবশ্যক, প্রথম উদ্দেশ্য, দ্বিতীয় উপায়। মুখ্য উদ্দেশ্য ধর্ম্মানুমোদিত হইলে — ধর্ম্মের আবশ্যক অঙ্গ হইলে — পরিণাম চিন্তা চলে না; তাহা আমাদের স্বধর্ম্ম হয়, সেই ধর্ম্মপালনে নিধনও শ্রেয়স্কর তবে তাহা পরিত্যাগ করিয়া পরধর্ম্মপালন পাপ। যেমন, স্বাধীনতা-অর্জ্জনের চেষ্টা, স্বাধিকার-লাভের চেষ্টা, দেশহিত-সম্পাদনের চেষ্টা জাতির প্রধান ধর্ম্ম, দেশের প্রত্যেক কর্ম্মী-সন্তানের স্বধর্ম্ম, সেই স্বধর্ম্মপালনে প্রাণত্যাগও শ্রেয়স্কর, তথাপি স্বধর্ম্মত্যাগপূর্ব্বক শূদ্রোচিত পরাধীনতা এবং দাসস্বভাব-সুলভ স্বার্থপরতা আশ্রয় করা মহাপাপ। কিন্তু উপায় কেবলই ধর্ম্মানুমোদিত হইলে চলে না, উদ্দেশ্যসিদ্ধির উপযোগীও হওয়া প্রয়োজন। স্বধর্ম্মের অঙ্গস্বরূপ কর্ত্তব্য কর্ম্ম সমাধানের জন্য ধর্ম্মানুমোদিত ও উপযুক্ত উপায় প্রয়োগপূর্ব্বক উৎসাহের সহিত কর্ত্তব্য-সিদ্ধির চেষ্টা করিয়াও যদি সিদ্ধি লাভ না ঘটে, তাহা হইলে অসিদ্ধিতে অবিচলিত হইয়া প্রাণত্যাগ পর্য্যন্ত পুনঃ পুনঃ সর্ব্ববিধ উপযুক্ত ও ধর্ম্মানুমোদিত উপায়ে কর্ত্তব্য-

আমাদের আদর্শ মোক্ষ নয়, ব্রহ্মে লীন হইয়া অনির্দ্দেশ্য অনন্তে নির্ব্বাণ প্রাপ্তি নয়, আদর্শ ব্যষ্টির ও সমষ্টির ভাগবত চৈতন্য লাভ, ভাগবত চৈতন্যে ঐক্য সংসিদ্ধি আনন্দ, সেই চৈতন্যে আত্মবান হইয়া আত্মপ্রতিষ্ঠিত ভগবৎপ্রেরিত ভগবৎশক্তি চালিত জীবন ও কর্ম্ম, মুক্তবৎ কর্ম্ম। গীতায় যাহা বলা আছে, “যোগস্থঃ কুরু কর্ম্মাণি”, সে যোগস্থ কর্ম্ম কেবল এই সাধনার অঙ্গ নয়, সিদ্ধিরও এক প্রধান অঙ্গ। সমস্ত জীবনকে আন্তর ও বাহ্যকে ভাগবত সত্তায় প্রকাশ ও ভাগবত ঐক্যের অভিব্যক্তি করা এই যোগের উদ্দেশ্য ও সিদ্ধাবস্থার লক্ষণ।

গীতায় বলে, সমতাই যোগ, সমত্বং যোগ উচ্যতে। আরও বলে, যাঁহাদের মন সাম্যে দৃঢ় প্রতিষ্ঠ, তাঁহারাই জগতে রহিয়া জগজ্জয়ী, কারণ পরম ব্রহ্ম যেহেতু সর্ব্বত্র সমভাবে বিরাজমান, সমতাপ্রাপ্ত যোগসিদ্ধ জ্ঞানী ও কর্ম্মী সর্ব্বকর্ম্মে সর্ব্বভাবে ব্রহ্মেই দৃঢ়প্রতিষ্ঠ।

যোগস্থঃ কুরু কর্ম্মাণি সঙ্গং ত্যক্ত্বা ধনঞ্জয়।

The samatá-chatusthaya is established, but allowed to be disturbed superficially. All that is needed is to get rid of the shadow of mangalámangala, siddhyasiddhi.

Samata was attacked through the old inequality with regard to siddhi asiddhi. In this respect it broke down. In the evening the Ananda of battle & temporary failure were imposed, but have not entirely prevailed.

Asamata of satyasatya which hitherto gave such acute trouble has disappeared. Asamata of siddhi asiddhi has revived and is the sole asamata remaining; but it is neither absorbing, nor violent. It is being rapidly killed.

Samata is established except in regard to siddhi of result where continued asiddhi brings an occasional positive depression and vague touches not of asanti but of suffering & shadows of the old revolt against the leading. On the other hand complete samananda of siddhi asiddhi is obviously preparing & has become more normal than asamata.

Self-dedication does not depend on the particular work you do, but on the spirit in which all work, of whatever kind it may be, is done. Any work, done well and carefully as a sacrifice to the Divine, without desire or egoism, with equality of mind and calm tranquillity in good or bad fortune, for the sake of the Divine and not for the sake of any personal gain, reward or result, with the consciousness that it is the Divine Power to which all work belongs, is a means of self-dedication through Karma.

I do not know that sadness has the power to cure [dryness in the vital]. I have myself followed the Gita's path of equanimity—but for some the psychic sadness may be necessary. But I think it is more an indication of a mistake than a cure.

It may be that behind this persistence of the lower vital demand for satisfaction there was something not quite clear—in the obscurer part of the physical mind—in your mental attitude towards the Yoga. You seem to regard this demand for the replacement of the old lower vital satisfactions by other joys and pleasures as something quite legitimate; but joys and pleasures are not the object of Yoga and a bargain or demand for a replacement of this kind can be no legitimate or healthy element in the sadhana. If it is there, it will surely impede the flow of spiritual experience. Ananda, yes; but Ananda and the spiritual happiness which precedes it (adhyātma-sukham) are something quite different from joys and pleasures. And even Ananda one cannot demand or make it a condition for pursuing the sadhana—it comes as a crown, a natural outcome and its precondition is the growth of the true consciousness, peace, calm, light, strength, the equanimity which resists all shocks and persists through success and failure. It is these things which must be the first objects of the sadhana, not any hedonistic experience even of the highest kind; for that must come of itself as a result of the Divine Presence.

* * * This secret too has been possessed but not sufficiently practised by India. It is summarised in the rule of the Gita, yogasthaḥ kuru karmāṇi. Its principle is to do all actions in Yoga, in union with God, on the foundation of the highest self and through the rule of all our members by the power of the spirit. And this we believe to be not only possible for man but the true solution of all his problems and difficulties. This then is the message we shall constantly utter and this the ideal that we shall put before the young and rising India, a spiritual life that shall take up all human activities and avail to transfigure the world for the great age that is coming. India, she that has carried in herself from of old the secret, can alone lead the way in this great transformation of which the present sandhyā of the old yuga is the forerunner. This must be her mission and service to humanity,—as she discovered the inner spiritual life for the individual, so now to discover for the race its integral collective expression and found for mankind its new spiritual and communal order.