Attachment and detachment are the two modes of approach to work. The whole universe is in a state of constant flux and the fast vibration of particles blurs vision of the Self and attaches man to work which thus perpetuates the bondage of man to Nature. The psycho-physical self of man is a product of Nature and is subject to natural law which implies that it is bound to Nature, has its being in Nature, is sustained by Nature and dissolves eventually in Nature. Thus, to attempt spiritual freedom by the agency of the body and the mind is doomed to failure as the very stuff of the mind and the body is composed of ever-changing particles of Nature and must necessarily bind man to this phenomenal universe. The whole of Cosmic Nature is trying to pin down man to his finite status as an entity of the sensory world and man must struggle against this universal might to free himself.
Cosmic nescience is undated in time and predates the birth of the cosmos in its present incarnation. It is beginningless and is the cause of all of phenomena. Man finds himself trapped in this universe for what reason he knows not but with experience he realises that it is a house on fire and he must get out of it as fast as he can for self-survival. He devises means and methods to escape but finds himself pitted against the might of the universe that forces him into the prison-house of his psycho-physical system. The battle lines are drawn as man declares war on Nature but it seems a hopeless war of no consequence with an inevitable result, that of defeat for the human soul. Enmeshed, entrapped and enfeebled by the wiles of Maya, man desperately fights for freedom knowing full well that victory man not be his after all. Yet, he battles on for to struggle against the odds of Nature seems to be ingrained in him.
As defeat stares stark in his face, help comes. The sleeping soul awakes, the slumbering giant rises to its feet causing tremors in the field of Maya. The war is now on, well-pitched and evenly balanced. The forces of Nature hurl fury at man but insentience cannot win the day against sentience. Through the blur of the battle the lines shift, ever so slightly at first, then markedly as the advancing soul marches triumphantly through the war-fields of Maya en route to final freedom in the Absolute Brahman. And through it all, it engages in ceaseless struggle, the karmic war, the exploits of battle, shedding every form of longing, desire or delight save the one supreme aspiration of liberation. Every act is performed as an austerity, a penance, a sacrifice unto the fire of Brahman. Every deed is done with neither hope ahead nor repentance behind. With all its might and concentrated force the mind of man executes the work at hand with neither forethought of success nor afterthought in failure, dispassionately and with detachment.
Victory is nigh, the world will be vanquished, man will enter into freedom, the body will fall and so will the mind of man as he will regain the Kingdom of Heaven, his Garden of Eden, his Paradise Lost. The soul will enter into Brahman, the abode of the Absolute empty-handed, a dispossessed being, bodiless, mindless, with no debt to Nature left unpaid. His is the glory of Self-revelation, his is the bliss of Self-possession, his is the abundance of the infinitude of his Being. His bonds of Maya are cut asunder, his work in Nature is dissolved, surpassed, his play-acting is over for good. He is free, he is free, he is free!
The warring soul's war is over, he is the vanquisher and Cosmic Nature the vanquished. All fruits of work had to be forsaken and then only Maya stepped aside. And this is the secret of karma --- work, but without attachment, and you will be free. And this is karma yoga.
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