89. Liberating Oneself

In the Gita, some words like anaasakti and veet-raag represent the crux of the Gita. While aasakthi (attachment) and virakti (detachment) are two polarities, anaasakti transcends these polarities. Similarly, veet-raag is neither raag (fondness) nor viraag (aversion) but transcends both. These polarities are nothing but the radiance of ahankaar (I the doer) and once dropped, one transcends all polarities. This stage is nothing but liberation. In this context, Krishna says (4.23), "One who is liberated, devoid of attachment, with mind established in knowledge and acting for yagna; his whole action is dissolved." 'I' is identification with our possessions; friends and enemies; likes and dislikes; and thoughts and feelings. Dropping them brings temporary emptiness leading to pain, fear, anger and resentment, therefore, dropping the 'I' is no easy task. Interestingly, the need is to drop the sense of ownership, identification and doership but not relationships, things or people. Liberation arrives once we are aware of this fine difference. All selfless actions flowing from a person who has dropped the ‘I” is nothing but yagna. The literal meaning of yagna is a fire ritual where offerings are made to the fire. Here it is used as a metaphor for sacrifice or give and take. We make offerings to the fire, that in turn returns warmth, which is essential to life for purposes ranging from cooking, keeping water in liquid form and maintaining the body temperature. The working of the human body is like a yagna where one organ gives and another takes and they are all interdependent. Krishna, hence says (4.24), "The act of offering, the oblation, the fire, the executor are all Brahman (Supreme God) and even the destination or results attained are also Brahman." This is the oneness which one attains on dropping ahankaar.