Who is the Doer?

When we proclaim that we are going to usher in changes, clear the mess and do whatever its possible to bring improvements in the lives of the people, we probably hid within ourselves a smug and self congratulatory tone, that we are the real “doers”, that we have the ability to change lives, to positively (or negatively) influence society, community and the nation. But hold on! Who or what are you? Whether you are a theist or an atheist does not matter. Whether you truly believe in God or whether you are a believer in destiny, karma or whatever, it does not matter in the least. Do you really think you are the doer? Do you really think you create and shape your own circumstances and also that of others who are waiting to be helped by you, your visions, your dreams and your works?


Think of at least one event in your life that has been solely and purely influenced by you, think of anything that “you” have changed. Isn’t there interplay of too many factors and actors in all those events to be claiming credit by just one person? So what are you going to change? If you think deeply you’ll find that you are merely one of the actors, or worse still, a mere cog or an instrument.

Think in this way – have mankind, despite the best efforts, been able to dominate nature completely? Despite the best technological innovations and advancements there is always a tussle which is going on between man and nature, and in many cases man is still helpless child clinging to his fate against the vicissitudes of a cruel nature. By nature I mean external nature, the environment, and not the internal nature, Take example of Japan, despite being technologically most advanced nation, it could not save its own people against Tsunami or earthquakes. If we consider the internal nature, we find men to be even more helpless. As stated in Bhagvat Gita, men helplessly follow their nature in performing a task – Karyate hi abashah karma sarbaih prakritijaih gunaih. Men are mere tools, instruments, in the hands of nature – their Gunas which drive them to do one kind of work over another are also by-products of the same nature. Another statement in Gita corroborates this – Prakritim yanti bhutani, nigrahah kim karisyati.
You may say that these fight between man and nature have brought in many goods, like in the field of medical technology, transportation, comfort and convenience and so on. I am not denying that, but despite that, are we really and truly happy? Aren't more innovations bringing in more miseries? Are'nt advancement in medical sciences being accompnanied by the advent of new and more deadly deseases. Even the deseases like plague or malaria against which we have won, were really products of human avarice and ignorance. The famines were man made and the need for faster transportation arose from the roothless desire of human beings to conquer far off realms, often inflicting severe misery on the people of the land to which they travelled. Even now that same means of transport is being used by nature in spreading deseases rapidly far and wide, bird flue and swine flue being more recent cases, and terrorism is being able to exploit the same faster means of communication. Yes, we do need these despite the drawbacks, but hold on, lets move on. The main point is, are we really the changers as we perceive ourselves to be? Or are these changes, positive and negative, are happening through crucial interplay of other factors, not within an individual, a collective or a nation's control?

Take a long term look into the world history. How many events have been shaped by mankind? Was there any control over the birth and rise of a Hitler? Could the world leaders have stopped the two world wars and the associated death and destructions? In either case there were too many factors and actors, so we come back to "unforeseen and uncontrollable" circumstances. The once mighty Roman Empire crumbled into pieces, Mughals and other mighty Muslim kingdoms faded into oblivion, British imperialism crawled and finally evaporated and now American supremacy and hegemony are at stake, first by the unforeseen and unexpected success of the brutal frontal attack on WTC by a bunch of rag tag jehadis and then by the guerilla warefare in different countries, and finally by the great burden of debt and the cumulative effect of societal violence, arrogance, mindless consumerism and materialism.

So who is controlling all these? Mankind? When people sleep if somebody urinates on their face they will not realize that and yet their puffed up ego considers themselves as the “doer”, “achiever”, “shaper of destiny”, “changer of lives” and what not. They don’t realize that they only humiliate themselves further by acting as the “doer”.

So one may ask, should man stop doing things just because they are not “doers”? Should men stop fighting against nature, bringing out new innovations and dreaming of changing lives of others?

The response is no, one should continue doing that, but with all humility, sans any ego, just like a true Karmayogin, without getting attached or being too concerned with the results of the efforts. It does not matter if one is a theist or an atheist, if one works in this spirit one would find that in humility lies peace, in acceptance of defeat lies victory, in not trying to influence lives but simply trying to serve mankind lies the true positive influence. Work can go on in all sphere – politics, science, humanism, social uplifting, education, technology, but without wearing the cloaks of puffed up ego, selfish desires and motives. When Arjuna asked the lord, what drives a man to commit sins, despite his best attempt to do something, the Lord replied – “Desires and Attachments/anger which are intrinsically related and which arise from Raja Guna, the nature of activity, of restlessness. They are the main enemies of mankind”. The feeling of “I am the doer, the influencer and shaper” stems from several desires, of seeking name and fame, reputation, wealth, power or several of these together. These desires in turn stem from self importance or the ego and vanity. Only humility can leash these forces from spreading across and destroying and that humility can come through higher motives, of Sattva Guna, the nature of peacefulness and serenity, of contemplation and understanding, of compassion and self introspection, of forbearance and truth.