Edward’s Diary Entry 34 – Virtue 13: Renunciation (of the fruits of action - Tyagah):

This Virtue literally means “giving up”; giving up of egoism and the fruits of action. Charity is also tyaga. I liked the phrase – had to look it up – “Not caring for the fruits of action, necessary actions are to be performed.” There is something regal and noble about this. The “I” cannot care about the results of what “I” do. If “I” am doing my actions according to a Life Plan (with its Virtues, morals, exercises and self-awareness), my doing is good. The fruits of action are the results of my “karma”, which is simply my doing. “Necessary actions are to be performed.” This is impersonal, an injunction to do what is necessary and not even a “you” or an “I” need be mentioned. This fits in nicely with years of philosophy telling me “to be in the world but not of it”. In other words, according to Sadhguru, a friend of my Guru Nanda, we must give up all identification, with our body, our mind, our beliefs, knowledge, culture, religion, etc. Identifying is looking to a result of an action. And that limits us. So when we follow Self-Inquiry (Who Am I?), we first try to see who this “I” is that is supposedly “doing something”. We have to track it down relentlessly, like a dog tracking its master. If our dog’s nose is good, we will eventually hunt down our master, through field after field, or street after street, and then we will jump for joy and bathe in the master’s presence. And then we will be at peace with ourselves once again: God and Master and Dog… Arjuna’s carriage pictured here, captained by Krishna, is my reminding factor for this Virtue.