The essential nature of the creation is activity, as said by Krishna in Bhagwad Gita. There is a constant ongoing activity by human beings all the time and this activity is called ‘Karma’.
Some of the activities are essential for our survival and go on without our interference like breathing, blood circulation, heart beating, etc. These activities can be called Kriya as they are involuntary activities. On the other hand, the activities where we get involved can be termed as ‘Karma’. The activities that require interference only indicate that we have freedom in doing or non-doing them. Doing the action is called Karma and non-doing is called ‘Akarma’. This doing and non-doing are actually complementary to each other and not really opposed to each other. Sometimes we are in the phase of doing an action and other times we are in the phase of non-doing. We swing between Karma and Akarma phase. We can see that Karma is complementary to Akarma in our day-to-day life. Working during the day is Karma whereas sleeping at night is Akarma. As you know, waking state and deep sleep state are complementary to each other and they support each other. The day’s tiring activity brings about a good night's sleep, which will keep you healthy. In a broad sense, we can see that Karma and Akarma are thus complementary and we seem to be switching from Karma to Akarma on a normal basis. It happens effortlessly.
While Krishna in Bhagwad Gita explains Karma and Akarma, he also brings in another term called ‘Vikarma’. He seems to indicate that Karma and Akarma are okay because basically, they are complementary to each other. However, Krishna says that Vikarma is bad. Krishna further emphasizes that we need to understand the deeper meaning of Karma and Akarma. But then he denounces ‘Vikrama’ completely. When I was first introduced to these ideas, the question that came up in my mind is “How can there be the third thing called Vikarma”. Many of the translations of Bhagavad-Gita describe Vikrama as prohibited activities or rejected activities like stealing, robbing, molesting, cheating, etc. I found it very difficult to accept this idea because Krishna is talking to Arjuna who has maintained honesty, the right values of life, and great qualities. How can Krishna say to such a person to not do prohibited activities like stealing etc? I wondered when Krishna talks so intensely about Vikarma, it must be directly connected to the inner battle that Arjuna is facing. I also further thought that we need to connect it with our day-to-day life so that Krishna’s advice becomes practical.
In our normal day-to-day life experience, we come across Karma and Akarma — activity and non-activity, in a very simple sense. In a hypothetical example, when I am engaged in watching TV or playing some games, my wife gives me an errand to get some items from a shop nearby. I have two options: either to go and or to not go to the shop. Without any further thinking, I choose the second alternative as I am eager to watch the TV show. My wife insists that I must go. Now, I have no other alternative as I have to go to the shop, which I cannot escape. So I do this activity hesitatingly, and deep inside I have resentment towards the activity. I feel that I should not have been in a situation of doing this work but rather, I should have had time to enjoy the TV show. There is a distaste in my attitude towards this activity. I have created a negative force in my mind which is opposing the activity I am doing. Such an activity where we create two opposite poles in our own mind- one doing an activity another opposing that activity is called Vikarma.
Vikarma also percolates into our Akarma. Many times externally we may not be doing any activity. We may just be sitting quietly, but deep inside there might be turmoil with loads of thoughts like - I am wasting my time, my time could have been put to better use, I should not have accepted to be here, etc, This is also Vikarma. Doing or not doing an activity will not give you displeasure or stress because you know what you are doing (or not doing). You are in sync with what you want to do. Stress happens when you are not in tune with what you are doing and some voice within you is saying “why are you doing that activity". Similarly, Vikarma happens when you are not doing an activity which you are supposed to be doing and instead, you are thinking "I should have been doing that activity instead of wasting my time." In both these cases you are creating an inner battle of Kurukshetra in your mind and this is Vikarma.
There is nothing external around us that creates Vikarma. When we are in sync with our actions, then we perform the activities with a sense of conviction and approval; not by any force from outside. On the other hand, if we do that same action with a huge reluctance, then there is an internal conflict — Vikrama.
In the war field, Arjuna had decided very enthusiastically to be the Chief of the Army and he stood like a brave warrior, ready to fight. Then suddenly he created opposition to his own decisions by saying that he cannot fight this war and he would like to meditate in the forest. Krishna knows that Arjuna is contemplating running away to the forest because of his sentimental attachment with his relatives on the other side of the army. Once in the forest, he would be having a war within himself thinking that he should have actually been fighting the war. He would be deeply regretting running away from the battlefield and would be in absolute turmoil. So, whether Arjuna fights the war or runs away to the forest, the state of mind he carried had created an inner fight within himself. Hence, Arjun was in the state of Vikarma.
When we look at our own experience in daily life, we would see that 90% of the activities are neither Karma nor Akarma but they are mostly only Vikarma. Starting from getting up early in the morning when our alarm rings, there is an inner battle happening on whether we really need to get up from the bed and go to the office, etc. Further, to add to the frustration within us, we face a huge traffic jam on the way to the office. We are already aware that everybody gets stuck in traffic and it happens every day. Yet, we choose to go to the office with the mindset — “I have to go and I cannot help it, this traffic is a curse”….and so on. Similarly, most of the activities start with a desire to achieve something, and yet we begin to curse that activity when things are not easy. Vikarma is the cause of most of our health conditions like BP, diabetes, headache, anxiety, insomnia, anger issues, tensions, etc. In fact, we can say that this list of ailments we get are the gifts of Vikarma.
So what do I do?
Once we decide that we need to do an activity, let us put one hundred percent effort and focus behind it. Let us not create Vikarma behind it . Let us not have a split personality; May our body-mind-intellect work together as one single unit.
Sometimes Vikarma manifests when people say that they don't have job satisfaction but they still continue to work in the job and become robotic or mechanical. We human beings are not machines. We are a living entity. Therefore, whatever job we take, we must bring an element of joy in it; otherwise, it becomes a burden and causes stress.
We have a number of examples in the texts of Sanatana Dharma where the job that one undertakes may not have personal job satisfaction, but due to the commitment that was originally made, great persons have put their personal preferences behind and executed the job to their fullest capacity. In the example of Kumbha Karna in Ramayana, he knew very well that the job of attacking Rama was not to his taste, and even morally wrong, but since he has committed to it, he leaves his personal ethics aside and puts forth 100% effort in the battle against Rama. He was convinced that he is not going to win against Shri Rama but in spite of that, he supported his brother Ravan and promised that he will give up his life for him and support him with all his power and strength. He fought the war and died as a Kshatriya martyr. He did not have Vikrama in his heart while fighting the war. Therefore work itself is not superior or inferior, but the work, done with Vikarma behind it, is always inferior work.
By,
Yogashree N.V.Raghuram
FEB 2022