Na Karmana Na Prajaya

This shloka is part of the purna-kumbha-mantra which is typically chanted when receiving sannyasins, saints. The significance and detailed meaning of this shloka is below.Amrtatvam anaśuh, amṛtatvam anasire prăptavantah, these people have gained immortality or freedom from death, moksha. They have gained freedom from samsāra. Samsarati iti samsārah. Samsāra is a life that is subject to change, e.g., aham sukhi, I am happy or aham duhkhi, I am unhappy. Freedom from samsāra is amṛtatva. So amṛtatva means moksha, freedom from time, freedom from death.

Who are they who gain this amṛtatva? Tyaginah. Tyagena eke präptavantah, by renunciation some gain. Eke in the plural means a few people. By what means? Tyagena, by tyaga. Tyaga is renunciation for the sake of knowledge. These are sannyasins who have renounced to gain knowledge, to gain moksha. Sannyasa is praised in this mantra. The mantra will explain this further.

Na karmanā, not by karma. One can gain moksha only by knowledge. Karma will bring karmaphala, results, but karma is finite and therefore, karmaphala is also finite. The limited person plus the limited result born of limited karma will continue to be limited. A finite number when added to a finite number will still be a finite number. Therefore, na karmanā, there is no way of getting moksha through karma.

Can karma-yoga lead to moksha?
Yes, you can gain knowledge by karma-yoga, in that it prepares you for knowledge. It is not just another form of yoga. We mistakenly think that we will perform karma-yoga. Nobody can ‘do’ karma-yoga. There is no particular action called karma-yoga. Some people believe that in giving as charity or in doing some sevā, they are doing karma- yoga. Karma-yoga is only possible when your goal is moksha, and the entire life is one of proper attitude. For instance, your conduct and duties in marriage or parenting are also part of karma-yoga. You can thus convert your activities in life into a means for your own growth; that is karma-yoga.

Na prajaya, not by progeny. Na dhanena, not by wealth. There are predominant desires such as the desire for wealth, fame, and power in this world, and the desire for the heavens, etc. Punya-karma is dharma, dhana is artha, and praja is käma. Dharmartha-kama is not moksha. You have to deliberately choose mokşa. Dharma is useful in that it becomes a basis for conducting your life, and then the whole life becomes yoga.

Paramānanda is attained by renunciation
Tyagenaike amṛtatvamanaśuh. Only by tyaga, renunciation of karma, can you gain mokşa. Not doing karma is not renunciation. Even while performing karma, you should discover that you are actionless. That is akarma. You can gain moksha only by knowing that the atman is akartr and that it is Brahman.

Parena nākam. Kam means happiness, su-kham. Even without the prefix ‘su,’ kham means happiness. Akam is na sukham, that is duhkham. Na akam is the absence of duhkha. Akam na vidyate yasmin tad nākam, that in which there is no duhkha is nākam. Nakam is the sukha of heaven, which is mentioned in the Vedas. It is anitya, lasting only for a finite period. Parena nākam means more than the heavenly sukha. It is ananda, limitless. It transcends svarga; it transcends the absence of duhkha and is in the form of ananda, untouched or uninhibited by duhkha. It is paramananda.

Ignorance veils the Lord’s presence in the intellect
Guhayām nihitam-that which obtains as yourself, the atman in your buddhi-guha. Guha means cave. By definition, guha is dark; it stands for darkness. The Lord obtains in the buddhi in the form of ananda, limitlessness or fullness, as the svarüpa or very nature of the atman. However, you do not recognise it due to ignorance. Its presence is hidden for want of light. Therefore, the faculty of knowledge, the buddhi, is called guha.

Brahman is not hidden because everything is Brahman. The knower is Brahman, the knowledge is Brahman, and the known is Brahman. Every thought isBrahman; nothing is outside Brahman. Therefore, Brahman cannot be hidden by anything. One of the Upanişad says that if a person could cover space with a cloth, he would cover Brahman! This means all that is here is Brahman. Even while you say, “I don’t know Brahman,” it is Brahman that is talking to me. It is as self-contradictory as saying, “I have no tongue,” or “I am dead.” This is denial of Brahman. You cannot deny Brahman because you are Brahman. If everything is Brahman, how is it that you do not appreciate this fact? This is because it is a question of knowing it, and not a question of believing so. This knowledge is not hidden, but veiled due to ignorance and therefore, the buddhi is called guha.

The buddhi is dark with respect to Brahman, the most obvious. If you have not seen an object, it is out of sight and, therefore, out of mind, but Brahman, being oneself, is never out of sight; it never goes out of mind. Therefore, it is our ignorance that conceals its presence.

Yad vibhrājate, that which shines. It is that which shines in the form of ananda, the atman, consciousness. Vividham bhrājate, or viseşena bhrājate. In the form of this entire jagat, that ananda alone is shining all the time on the platform of one’s buddhi as jñātr-jñāna-jñeya, the knower, knowledge and the known. Otherwise, how does one recognise any thing? Everything is in the buddhi. All these galaxies ‘out there’ are ‘in here’ within our buddhi.

The sannyasins committed to knowledge ‘gain’ paramananda
Yatayah visanti. Yatayah is the plural form of yatih. A yati is yatna-śīlah, one who puts in the right effort. This can mean anybody. Even a karma-yogin is a yati. Yati also means seeker, a mumukṣu. The rūdi, conventional meaning of yati, however, is sannyäsin. This meaning is more popular. The effort of these yatayah, sannyasins or mumuksus, is made for the sake of moksha, mokṣārtham yatnam..

Visanti, labhante, they gain. Yad vibhrājate tat yatayah visanti, the sannyäsins attain this shining, pure ananda.

Excerpt from the book ‘Prayer Guide’ by Swami Dayananda Saraswati