BG 3.26
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Devanagari
न बुद्धिभेदं जनयेदज्ञानां कर्मसङ्गिनाम् ।
जोषयेत्सर्वकर्माणि विद्वान्युक्तः समाचरन् ॥ २६ ॥
Verse text
na buddhi-bhedaṁ janayed
ajṣānāṁ karma-saṅginām
joṣayet sarva-karmāṇi
vidvān yuktaḥ samācaran
Synonyms
na
—
not
;
buddhi-bhedam
—
disruption of intelligence
;
janayet
—
he should cause
;
ajṣānām
—
of the foolish
;
karma-saṅginām
—
who are attached to fruitive work
;
joṣayet
—
he should dovetail
;
sarva
—
all
;
karmāṇi
—
work
;
vidvān
—
a learned person
;
yuktaḥ
—
engaged
;
samācaran
—
practicing.
Translation
So as not to disrupt the minds of ignorant men attached to the fruitive results of prescribed duties, a learned person should not induce them to stop work. Rather, by working in the spirit of devotion, he should engage them in all sorts of activities [for the gradual development of Kṛṣṇa consciousness].
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
26. The wise man should not disturb the intelligence of the ignorant attached to results of work. Engaging in all work himself with detachment, he should engage them in activity.
Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
26. The wise man should not disturb the intelligence of the ignorant attached to results of their work. Engaging in all work with detachment, the wise man should engage them in activity.
Purport
Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ . That is the end of all Vedic rituals. All rituals, all performances of sacrifices, and everything that is put into the Vedas, including all direction for material activities, are meant for understanding Kṛṣṇa, who is the ultimate goal of life. But because the conditioned souls do not know anything beyond sense gratification, they study the Vedas to that end. But through fruitive activities and sense gratification regulated by the Vedic rituals one is gradually elevated to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Therefore a realized soul in Kṛṣṇa consciousness should not disturb others in their activities or understanding, but he should act by showing how the results of all work can be dedicated to the service of Kṛṣṇa. The learned Kṛṣṇa conscious person may act in such a way that the ignorant person working for sense gratification may learn how to act and how to behave. Although the ignorant man is not to be disturbed in his activities, a slightly developed Kṛṣṇa conscious person may directly be engaged in the service of the Lord without waiting for other Vedic formulas. For this fortunate man there is no need to follow the Vedic rituals, because by direct Kṛṣṇa consciousness one can have all the results one would otherwise derive from following one’s prescribed duties.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
You should not disturb the minds of those attached to action because of their impure hearts by saying “This karma is despicable! Give up action and become successful like me by the practice of jṣāna.” Instead you should engage them in action (joṣayet) by saying “Perform action without desire and become successful.” Doing those actions, you set an example for others.
“But according to the Bhāgavatam, this is contrary to the statement of the Lord:
svayaṁ niḥśreyasaṁ vidvān na vakty ajṣāya karma hi
na rāti rogiṇo ’pathyaṁ vāṣchato ’pi bhiṣaktamaḥ
A pure devotee who is fully accomplished in the science of devotional service will never instruct a foolish person to engage in fruitive activities for material enjoyment, not to speak of helping him in such activities. Such a devotee is like an experienced physician, who never encourages a patient to eat food injurious to his health, even if the patient desires it.” SB 6.9.50
True, but this is in relation to instructions given about bhakti. It is not contradictory to giving instructions in this way about jṣāna. Jṣāna is dependent on purity of the heart, and purity of the heart is dependent on action without desire. But bhakti is by nature very strong, and is not dependent even on the purity of the heart. If it is possible for you to produce faith in bhakti in other person, then you may disturb the minds of those attached to action, for those who have faith in bhakti have no obligation for performing karma. This should be understood from such statements as the following:
tāvat karmāṇi kurvīta na nirvidyeta yāvatā
mat-kathā-śravaṇādau vā śraddhā yāvan na jāyate
One should continue to perform the Vedic ritualistic activities until one actually becomes detached from material sense gratification and develops faith for hearing and chanting about Me. SB 11.20.9
dharmān santyajya yaḥ sarvān māṁ bhajet sa tu sattamaḥ
Having taken complete shelter at My lotus feet, however, a saintly person ultimately renounces such ordinary religious duties and worships Me alone. He is thus considered to be the best among all living entities. SB 11.11.32
sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja
Give up all dharmas and surrender to Me alone. BG 18.66
tyaktvā sva-dharmaṁ caraṇāmbujaṁ harer
bhajann apakvo ’tha patet tato yadi
If someone gives up his occupational duties and works in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and then falls down on account of not completing his work, what loss is there on his part? And what can one gain if one performs his material activities perfectly? SB 1.5.17
Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
Moreover, the person in knowledge, desiring the benefit of the people, should act with attention. Though a person may be fixed in knowledge (vidvān—pariniṣṭhita bhakta), he should not disturb the intelligence of the ignorant, who partake of the stupidity of faith in karma (karma saṅginām). He should not disturb the minds of those fixed in karma by saying “What is the use of these duties? Attain success just by jṣāna like me.” Rather, engaging himself in all prescribed actions attentively, performing all the components or aṅgas till completion (samācaran), he should engage the ignorant with affection in all their duties prescribed by scripture (sarva karmāṇi joṣayet). If he disturbs their intelligence, then they will lose faith in performing duties and also will not attain jṣāna. They will thus lose on both fronts.
svayaṁ niḥśreyasaṁ vidvān na vakty ajṣāya karma hi
na rāti rogiṇo’pathyaṁ vāṣchato’pi bhiṣaktamaḥ
A pure devotee who is fully accomplished in the science of devotional service will never instruct a foolish person to engage in fruitive activities for material enjoyment, not to speak of helping him in such activities. Such a devotee is like an experienced physician, who never encourages a patient to eat food injurious to his health, even if the patient desires it. SB 6.9.50
This statement of Ajita however should be applied to those persons who are not attached to karma.
Surrender Unto Me
Similarly we should not preach to the people who are attached to fruits of their work: " there is no use of doing your work, you will gain nothing through your work." We should not preach like that, we should preach as Krsna says "rather by working in the spirit of devotion, he should engage them in all sorts or activities[for the gradual development of Krsna consciousness]." One who has knowledge should by his example and by his words,encourage those without knowledge who are attached to the fruit of their work, to do their work, not to give up their work, but engage the fruit of their work in the development of Krsna consciousness. All these points are very practical.
We talked here about to levels of people working: one level is when one works on the karma‑kanda level. And this level is in the mode of passion because of the attachment to enjoy the fruits of work combining the senses and sense objects. When Krsna explains the higher level of niskama karma, where one is detached because he has knowledge he is in the mode of goodness,what He asks is that one is on that level should keep on working so those karma‑ kanda persons, can come to the sakama karma‑yoga level where he is attached to his work but he is engaging his work or the fruits or his work in devotion and therefore he gradually will make advancement; he will get transcendental knowledge , he will gain detachment and gradually will come to the platform of niskama karma.
On the platform of sakama karma‑yoga one is attached to his work and the fruits of his work by he is sacrificing the fruits of his work.
On the platform of niskama karma one is detached from the fruits of his work but is attached to the work itself ‑ that is the level of the mode of goodness. It is not completely transcendental.
In both platforms it appears that everyone is working and superficially they appear to be the same ‑ but there a big gulf of difference between the two because their consciousness is completely different: one is attached to the fruit of his work and the other is detached from the fruits of his work. And higher than that will be when one is working for Krsna in the same way ‑ that is on the bhakti level where one is detached from is work and its fruits. He works as Krsna wants not as he wants.
Srila Prabhupada explains in the Purport of Text 26: " Therefore a realized soul in Krsna consciousness should not disturb others in their activities or understanding, but he should act by showing how the results of all work can be dedicated to the service of Krsna. The learned Krsna conscious person may act in such a way that the ignorant person working for sense gratification may learn how to act and how to behave."
So the two are working, superficially on the same level, but there is a difference in their consciousness. And what is the difference of their consciousness? Is the difference between one in knowledge and another not in knowledge. And how does a person who doesn't have knowledge think?