KARMA-YOGA Skt.; one of the four chief types of yoga, or path to union with God. Karmayoga consists of selfless conduct, whereby the spiritual aspirant offers every action together with its results as a sacrifice to God. In the third chapter of the Bhagavad-Gītā, Krishna says to Arjuna: “For those of clear mind there is the path of knowledge, for those who work there is the path of selfless action. No one will attain perfection by refusing to work. No one can refuse to act; everyone if forced to act by the gunas. Therefore you must perform every action as a sacrifice to God, free from all attachment to the results thereof. In this way man attains the supreme truth through work, without care for its fruits. The ignorant act for the fruits of action. The wise act equally, but without desire for reward.”
The aspirant who ultimately knows himself to be the ātman and not bound by the gunas, which produce all actions, regards himself as the observer rather than as the one who acts. An introduction to Karma-Yoga is in Vivekānanda 1955.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion: Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Zen. Shambhala Publications, Inc.
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External Links: Yoga / Karma yoga / Bhagavad Gita / Swami Vivekananda