34. Karma Yoga is a Way of Life
K rishna says that we have the right to perform karma (action) but have no right over karma-phal (fruits of action) (2.47). If one of our loved ones required surgery, we would look for a competent surgeon with character. His competence would ensure the success of the surgery and his character would ensure that he wouldn’t undertake any unnecessary surgery. In short, we are scouting for a surgeon who is a karma yogi . The two takeaways from this situation help us understand the verse better. We expect all our service providers to be karma yogis and that they should give us the best results that we can hope for. If we apply the same principle of samatva (equanimity) to ourselves, we too should be karma yogis while providing service to other people in our daily life. This verse encourages us to give our best in all that we do - be it in our work or in our family life. Krishna assures us that small steps in the practice of karma yoga bring us closer to samatva by p...