30. Small Efforts, Big Gains

 



Krishna assures that even baby steps in the practice of karma yoga give good results and this dharma (discipline) protects us from great fears (2.40). The key point to note is that while sankhya yoga is characterised by pure awareness, karma yoga involves efforts.

This is a definitive assurance from Lord Krishna for seekers who have just begun their spiritual journey and find the effort daunting. Krishna understands our difficulty and assures us that even a small effort can produce wonderful results. He motivates us to follow the path of nishkaam-karma (unmotivated action) and samatva (equanimity).

One approach is to have shraddha (trust) in what Krishna said and start practising His teachings on karma yoga. Over time, as we consistently view our experiences through the lens of karma yoga, our realizations deepen gradually, leading us closer to our inner self.

An alternate approach is to understand our fears and realise how the practice of karma yoga can remove them. Fear arises from the gap between our inner expectations and the reality of the external world. Karma Yoga enables us to perform selfless actions, leading to the end of our expectations. This will enable us to overcome all our fears.

The property of water helps the moving ship to change its course when a small internal force is applied to the trim tab attached to the rudder. Similarly, a small effort in the right direction from within can bring about a large change due to the property of the universe, which conspires to pave the path of karma yoga for us.

As babies, we never gave up until we learnt to walk and run, which is not an easy feat. Similarly, repeated efforts made to master karma yoga will yield results that can be seen as a series of small but definite victories.


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