Taken from the “The Song of God: Bhagavad-Gita”, pg. 142-143:

There are yogis who meditate and yogis who act. The yogi of action is the karma yogi. Mahatma Gandhi was a karma yogi. In a comment on the Gita, Gandhi defined the perfect karma Yogi:

“He is a devotee who is jealous of none, who is a fount of mercy, who is without egotism, who is selfless, who treats alike cold and heat, happiness and misery, who is ever forgiving, who is always contented, whose resolutions are firm, who has dedicated mind and soul to God, who causes no dread, who is not afraid of others, who is free from exultation, sorrow or fear, who is pure, who is versed in action yet remains unaffected by it, who renounces all fruit, good or bad, who treats friends and foe alike, who is untouched by respect or disrespect, who is not puffed up by praise, who does not go under when people speak ill of him, who loves silence and solitude, who has a disciplined reason. Such devotion is inconsistent with the existence at the same time of strong attachments.”

Ghandi summarized it in one word:

“Desirelessness.”

Desirelessness, or Hindu renunciation, it has been argued, leads to personal indifference and passivity and natural poverty and stagnation. Ghandi contended, on the contrary that to act while renouncing interest in the fruits of action is the best road to success.

“He who is ever brooding over result often loses nerve in the performance of duty. He becomes impatient and then gives vent to anger and begins to do unworthy things; he jumps from action to action, never remaining faithful to any. He who broods over results is like a man given to the objects of senses; he is ever-distracted, he says good-by to all scruples, everything is right in his estimation and he therefore resorts to means fair and foul to attain his end.”

Renunciation, if one is capable of it, creates the inner peace and poise necessary to achieve real lasting results, even material results, unattained by ugly means. Mahatmas are rare. Desirelessness is an ideal to which few in India or anywhere attain or even aspire, but for the exceptional practitioner of self-denial a special prize is in store.

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