To act in life “WITHOUT ANY EXPECTATION OF RESULTS” would seem to be an almost impossible method.
This fundamental truth, very well known and easily com¬prehended by all, is, in the language of the Geeta, a simple statement: “If success you seek, then never strive with a mind dissipated with anxieties and fears for the fruits.” In this connection it is very interesting to dissect carefully and discover exactly what the Shastra means when it says: “Fruits-of-action.”
In fact, the reward of an action, when we understand it properly, is not anything different from the action itself. An action in the PRESENT, when conditioned by a FUTURE-time, itself, appears as the fruit-of-the-action. In fact, the action ends, or fulfils itself, only in its reaction, and the reaction is not anything different from the action; an action in the present, defined in terms of a future moment, is its reaction. Therefore, to worry over and get ourselves pre-occupied with the anxieties for the rewards-of-actions is to escape from the dynamic PRESENT and to live in a FUTURE that is not yet born! Wrong imaginations are the banes of life, and all failures in life can be directly traced to have risen from an impoverished mental equanimity, generally created by unintelligent entertainment of fears regarding possible failures. Almost all of us refuse to undertake great activities, being afraid of failures, and even those who dare to undertake noble endeavors, invariably become nervous ere they finish them, again, due to their inward dissipation. To avoid such wasteful expenditure of mental energy and work with the best that is in us, dedicated to the noble cause of the work undertaken, is the secret prescription for the noblest creative inspi¬ration; and, such work must always end in brilliant success. This is the eternal law of activity in the world. The future is always carved out in the present. To¬morrow’s harvest depends upon today’s ploughing and sowing. If one becomes unhealthy and inefficient in the present certainly he has no reason to hope for a greater future.
In short, the Lord’s advice here is a call to man not to waste his present moment in fruitless dreams and fears, but to bring his best—all the best in him—to the PRESENT and vitally live every moment, the promise being, that the future shall take care of itself, and shall provide the Karma-Yogin with the achievements divine and accomplishments supreme.