Life means activity. Where activity has ended, death has entered. In active life alone can we progress or deteriorate. A stagnant pool of water decays and soon gets putrefied; while the flowing water of a river ever keeps itself fresh, pure and clean.
Life being dynamic, it cannot, even for a moment, cease to function. Complete cessation from activities is impossible so long as life exists.
Activity, therefore, is the very corner-stone of life. Since man must always actively exist all his lifetime, the entire possibilities of activities have been taken into consideration by the great Seers of old in evaluating life. The accompanying chart will vividly explain their classifications.
Life is constituted of moments of activity and moments of inactivity. Through inactivity, neither progress nor deterioration is ever possible. Deep-sleep or periods of complete cessation in existence are intervals of total holidaying from life, and they can neither make nor marthe individual’s progress in his evolution.
Periods of activity create man. This creative-period depends upon what type of activity we venture upon. According to the ancient Seers, activities can be of two types, constructive or destructive. Constructive activities which contribute towards the evolution of the individual are termed here as Karma.
Destructive activities are those that are totally condemned by the Shastras, because they tend to devolve the individual, and those are termed in our text books as Vi-karma. The constructive activities (Karma) can be of three kinds: Nitya — constant duties, Naimittika — special duties on special occasions, and Kamya — work purposeful and self-determined for winning a desirable result or reward.
Built upon the ancient Vedic doctrine, Krishna here expounds an elaborate theory of self-development. He says that life is but a name for continuous activities. These activities can fall within two distinct classifications as Karma and Vi-karma. Lord Krishna’s advice to Arjuna is to avoid the forbidden actions (Vi-karma) and to pursue the constructive and creative activities of self-development (Karma). In this scientific analysis, without any formality, or mental reservation, Krishna totally rejects “inactivity” (A-karma).
It is necessary, it is said here, that a true seeker who is trying to live a diligent life, contributing to his material progress and to his spiritual self-development, must necessarily know this triple classification of life, considered as a bundle of activities.
Even after so beautifully defining the three clear and distinct classifications, Krishna admits that, for an ordinary man it is not easy to distinguish the one from the other, and to readily and successfully classify all his activities under these three headings, because, Krishna says, “THE NATURE OF KARMA IS IMPONDERABLE. ”
In this statement lies the secret suggestion that an action is to be evaluated not merely on its face value but after a sincere consideration of the motive working behind it. If the motive, or desire, or intention of one is pure and constructive, then the action too is noble and meritorious for that particular individual. Since in this evaluation of actions the individual factor is so very predominant, one must agree with Krishna over the imponderability of the nature of Karma.
WHAT IS THERE TO LEARN ABOUT ACTION AND INACTION? THE ANSWER FOLLOWS:
