By Arika K Patel
Why do we do good deeds?
It may be hard to accept but, most of us do good deeds with the expectation of getting the desired fruit. In fact, we connect this psychology with the Shri Krishna's Karma Philosophy "कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन।". Many a times, this philosophy is taken with very shallow meaning - “One gets fruits of his/her actions" And that's why, the more are the desires, the more our good deeds can be.
But when perceived deeply, it can be understood that, when there is no desire left, only and only then we will be able to do something truly selflessly. And, the work we can do without desire or hope of fruit is what Shri Krishna calls Karma.
So, what can be done in this regard? Should we focus on limiting desires? This is as difficult as chewing the iron gram. Desires have great powers of their own and these powers are not lowered by reluctantly ignoring them. Rather than ignoring or controlling them, we actually need to liberate ourselves from them. For this, the greatest tool - our mind can help us. With the help of neutral and intellectual thought-process, we can be liberated from the desires; especially those which are needless or even distorted in nature.
For example, a process of deep self-conversation can help us a lot. If we notice, we all will find that most desires are result of expectations. For example, we need someone to love us, because somewhere we lack in loving ourselves. We need someone to validate us, when we do not have enough confidence on ourselves. When we can not be happy with solitude, we need a human support to live life. In fact, many more examples are there which exhibit that lacking something in self always leads to expectations which take form of desires. On the other hand, think this way – How satisfying it can be when desires do not stand, but we still keep doing deeds with good intentions.
Volunteering is a beautiful concept that helps us learn to be free from the desire for "Fruits of Deeds". The world needs support in many ways and there are many ways in which we can support this world. If some poor kid is not able to score good academic credentials, we can volunteer as their tutor. Someone is passing through rough patch of life and need someone to listen to, we can simply be with them and listen to them and it can really give a push to their healing process. There are many NGOs working for the environment or animal welfare, we can join any of them. In fact, these are very few examples for scope of volunteering, for more such opportunities, just open any of the internet search engine and search; you will find whole ocean overflowing with the opportunities to volunteer. Be assured, the joy of giving is the best tool to live a blissful life.
Concluding with saying that - Volunteering is a model practice for applying Krishna's karmic philosophy in its actual manner - Perform your duties without any entitlement/ expectations of fruit/ reward of duties – “कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन।“
By Arika K Patel
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