Verse 18.12

Verse 18.12: “Undesired, desired, and mixed: thus threefold the fruit of action to which hereafter those that do not practise relinquishment are liable; but nowhere (neither here nor hereafter) is this so in the case of those that have relinquished (the fruit altogether). (233)

Commentary called Jnaneshwari by Jnaneshwar:

Otherwise, Oh Dhananjaya, the fruit of action is threefold and it is required to be experienced only by such as have not relinquished it (fruit-action). A father gives birth to a daughter and gives her away to another saying, “She is no more mine” and thus gets absolved from all responsibilities in regard to her: but only the son-in-law who accepts her gets entangled. Growers of poisonous plants and roots sell them and live happily in luxury (on the sale-proceeds); yet those that purchase the product paying heavily and swallow them, lose their lives. In that way one (doer) may perform actions, thinking proudly he is the doer, another may do action with perfect detachment (without egotism), not entertaining any desire for action-fruit, yet none of the two can altogether refrain from performing actions. The fruit (getting ripe) of a road-side tree, can be had by anyone passing by if he wishes for it: in that way action-fruit can be had by anyone desiring for it. Yet one who performs actions but abstains from (having) the action-fruit, does not get entangled in the wheel of the mundane existence, since the three-fold-world is all (by itself) a fruit of action.

Gods, the human beings and the immovables, all constitute what is named as the Universe, while all these are but the three kinds of action-fruit. It (action-fruit) is (also) threefold viz. i) undesired, ii) desired, and iii) mixed. But when the discerning power gets under the sway of the sense-objects and the beings prone to evil, do prohibited actions, then they (the beings) get their bodyform in a very low order such as vermin, insects, and earth, and this is called the undesired fruit. Now respect their own religion, keep in view their own qualifications and perform good actions as laid down in the Vedas,—beings Oh Savyasachi, get born in the bodyform of Indra and other Gods, and such kind of action-fruit is the “desired” one.

By mixing together sweet and sour juices, an altogether different and (more) tasty juice is created: or exhalation (recaka) effected while practising Yoga-discipline, becomes useful in suspending the breath (kumbhaka): in that way truth and untruth mixed together create quite a queer thing altogether different from those two. Consequently the mixing together in equal proportion of the actionfruit of both the auspicious as also the inauspicious, creates different action-fruit which gives birth to the human body-form and this sort of action-fruit is the mixed one. Such is the three-fold action-fruit spread out all over the universe. Beings that are after (it in) expectation have no escape from experiencing it. While the tongue (mouth) waters, one feels great pleasure in swallowing (unwholesome) articles of food, but its ultimate effect is certain death. The company of a thief might be felt agreeable so long as the forest limits are not reached: or a prostitute is charming to look at, so long as no actual contact takes place with her person. In that way the body feels a thrill of greatness while actions are being performed; but with the approach of death all the action-fruit comes swarming.

When a powerful creditor arrives (at the door of a debtor) to demand repayment of his debts at the stipulated time, he cannot be evaded; in that way the being (cannot escape and) has to experience the action-fruit. A grain (seed) drops down on the soil from the ear of the corn, germinates, and grows into an ear of com from which the grain (seed) again drops down and grows into another ear of corn and this cyclic process goes on ad infinitum. In that way while experiencing the fruit of (past) actions a being creates various other fruits of actions, in the way one goes on taking one step after another while wending his way. To a raft (boat) running to and fro between two banks, the bank it touches becomes the near one—on this side) while the other bank (opposite) becomes the distant orfe. In that way the pulling force (oḍha[?]) of experiencing the fruit of the action is ever on the increase in the form of ‘end and the means to secure it,’ with the result that one not relinquishing the fruit of the action, gets entangled more and more in the net in the form of the mundane existence. The blowing open of the ‘Jai’ flower, is in itself its (subsequent) withering: in that way the relinquishment of (action-) fruit—itself means non-performance of actions (though performed).

Consuming for the sake of subsistence, corn preserved to be used as seeds, means the stopping altogether of the further field-operations such as ploughing, sowing etc.; in that way the relinquishment of the fruit ends all actions, Such ones (relinquishing fruit of actions) gain added strength with the help of the purification of their inward disposition and with the spraying of nectar in the form of the preceptor’s grace, and thereby they are deeply imbued with the Knowledge (of Self) and consequently the piteous (melancholy) condition in the form of duality recedes (vanishes). Then also gets destroyed that threefold action-fruit, which is felt as existing through the infatuation of the world affairs and automatically in such a state cease to exist, (the dualistic ideas of) the enjoyer—and the thing to be enjoyed.

Those that secure such renouncement mainly brought about through knowledge, get, Oh Warrior, free from the sufferings of the action-fruit. When through such renunciation, one’s vision spreads on, to the (essence) of Supreme Self, one sees that actions have no independent existence (apart from the Supreme Self). The paintings on the wall get reduced to dust with the collapse of the wall itself, or there remains no room for darkness with the rising of the Sun. How can a shadow exist, when the original thing (material body) is absent? Wherein would the face be reflected if were there no mirror? How can a dream get a footing when sleep is broken? And is not all controversial talk about the dream being true or false quite futile then? In that way with the advent of renunciation, the very life of the original nescience ceases to exist.

Who is then (left) to receive in the spirit of a bargain the action (with its concomitant fruit) which is after all a product of nescience? Therefore actions are rendered helpless before one who has taken to renunciation. Yet, so long as there exists Nescience in the body, so long as the soul runs after actions, good or bad, full of conceit, thinking he is their doer, or so long as the vision remains under the sway of distinction, duality is bound to exist between the soul and the action, Oh Righteous One, in the way there exists the distinction between the East and the West, or between the sky and the cavity, or between the sun and the mirage or between the earth and the wind.

Although the rock remains in the river enveloped by river water, yet there exists the natural difference between them (rock and water) in crores of points. Although moss grows on the surface of water itself, it is yet distinct from water: or even though there is always the snuff on the (lighted) wick, still it cannot be the light itself; there are spots on the Moon, yet they bear no identity with the Moon: or there is, further, the great difference between the vision and the eyes themselves, or between the water-course and the object flowing through it, or between the mirror and the one looking into it.

In the same proportion there is the difference between the soul and the actions; yet it (the soul) is wrongly identified with them owing to nescience. The lotus creeper in a lake makes its flowers blow fully open suggesting thereby the rise of the Sun, and then makes the black bee to enjoy their fragrance; in that way even though the soul seems to be the doer of the actions, yet there are other causes, five in number, that bring about their happening, and now their aspects.