Chapter XXVII

As the healthy glow of the body is hidden from sight by the clothes that cover it, the individual soul obscured by Ahamkara or egoism is not able to reveal the splendour of the Brahmathathwam, which is its treasured possession. For egoism is at the root of all evil, all defects, all deficiencies. It is born in desire, or Kama. Be free from egoism too.

The state of desirelessness is really the state of egolessness. And what is Moksha or liberation except liberation from bondage to the ego? You deserve liberation when you break away from the bond of desire.

Men engage themselves, by and large, in activities prompted only by the desire to benefit from the results. They withdraw from acts that bring no benefit. But the Geetha condemns both attitudes. For whether consequences follow or not, one cannot escape the obligation to be active. Man cannot completely give up activity. How then can man avoid being caught up in the mesh of consequences? The Geetha teaches that Karma-phala thyaga (giving up all attachment to the fruit of Karma) is the greatest Sadhana designed for this purpose.

Whether desired or discarded, hoped for or not hoped for, every act ends in some consequence, if not immediately, at least after some time. It is inevitable. The consequence may be good or evil; but if the act is dedicated to the Lord, neither will affect the doer. By that sacrament of dedication, the deed is transmuted into a higher order and made divine, holy, sacred. On the other hand, acts performed under the inspiration of the ego will be fraught with bondage.

Those who are sincerely seeking to realise God, to achieve Him, have to become free from the taint of desire, Mamakaara-sunya, elimination of the feelings of "I" and "mine", you attain Moksha, salvation. That is the achievement of the goal of life. The stage knows no joy or grief; it is above and beyond them both. Krishna willed that His friend and devotee Arjuna should reach that state and so He endeavoured to save him, by teaching him the ways and means through a variety of methods. Moreover, He used him as an instrument to receive this precious gift for the good of all humanity.