यज्ञार्थात्कर्मणोऽन्यत्र लोकोऽयं कर्मबन्धनः।
तदर्थं कर्म कौन्तेय मुक्तसंगः समाचर।।3.9।।
This man becomes bound by actions other than those intended for God. Without being attached, O son of Kunti, perform actions for Him.
Osho’s Commentary
A most significant word: Yajna. What is this action performed as a sacrifice? Usually, when we act, we act for ourselves. The “I” is at the center. “I” want this, “I” want that. This “I” is the bondage. All action that originates from this “I” and is directed towards fulfilling this “I” creates karma, creates chains. Yajna is action where the “I” is not the center. It is action performed as an offering to the divine, to the whole. The feeling is not “I am doing,” but “God is doing through me.” I am just an instrument, a flute through which the divine song flows. When Nanak was weighing grain for the emperor, he counted up to twelve, and then at thirteen, the word tera—which means both thirteen and “yours”—struck him. Suddenly, everything became tera, yours. He kept pouring the grain, repeating, “Yours, O Lord, all is yours.” People thought he had gone mad. In a way, he had. He had gone mad to the ways of the world and become sane in the eyes of God. This is Yajna. To act without any sense of personal ownership. The action happens, but it is not “my” action. It is an offering. And such action does not bind. On the contrary, it liberates. When you are just a vehicle, a passage, a hollow bamboo, the divine flows through you, and you are blessed. You are not the doer; you are simply a witness to the divine play.