Every day, many of us wake up feeling exhausted. We reach for a cup or two of coffee to push through the fatigue and chalk it up to being busy. To combat tiredness, we may rely on energy drinks, quick naps, or late-night scrolling to “wind down.” But rarely do we stop to ask: Why are we so tired in the first place?
Often, the real issue isn’t a lack of caffeine. It may be poor sleep, chronic stress, nutritional deficiencies, or a lifestyle that doesn’t allow proper rest. Instead of addressing these root causes—like consistent sleep, a better diet, or less screen time—we treat only the symptom, which is that feeling of exhaustion. While these fixes—the caffeine, the naps—help in the moment, they don’t solve the deeper problem, and so we stay caught in a cycle of always feeling tired.
This tendency to treat symptoms instead of causes echoes in many parts of our lives. We often distract ourselves from deeper issues with temporary comforts or quick solutions. But these only offer fleeting relief. True healing, real change, requires that we face the root of our struggles, however uncomfortable that may be.
This point is also illustrated in the second chapter of the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita. Shri Krishna Bhagwan, after listening to Arjun’s many arguments on why he cannot fight and perform his given duty to serve as a soldier during this time of war, tells Arjun: Karmanye vādhikāraste mā phaleshu kadāchana. This shloka translates to: "You have a right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, nor be attached to inaction."
This timeless wisdom underscores the importance of performing our duties without getting attached to the outcomes. Arjun was in a state of viṣāda (a deep despair) because he was focused on the consequences of his actions—the results of the war. He failed to recognize that his true responsibility was to fulfill his dharma, his duty, regardless of the outcome. Shri Krishna Bhagwan aims to teach him that we must focus on performing our duties correctly, without worrying about the temporary results. In the same way, solving our problems requires focusing on the real issues, not getting distracted by the temporary symptoms.
Arjun’s despair came from focusing on outcomes—on what might happen if he acted. But Shri Krishna Bhagwan teaches that fulfillment lies in carrying out our duties with sincerity, without clinging to any expectations of what the results should be.
His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj used this same quote to guide Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, the former President of India and a well-known scientist. In his book Transcendence, Dr. Kalam details an instance where he described to Pramukh Swami Maharaj how he felt after his first rocket launch failed. At the time, Dr. Kalam became very depressed and disheartened. He thought of completely giving up and becoming a sanyasi. At that time, Pramukh Swami Maharaj counseled him, pulling the same quote from the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita. Pramukh Swami Maharaj told him that throughout life, we must not renounce the performance of deeds but renounce the desire for the fruits of those actions.
Pramukh Swami Maharaj counseled Dr. Kalam that, in life, we must not abandon our work just because the results are not as expected. Instead, we should detach ourselves from the desire for the results and focus on the process. Dr. Kalam’s failure, far from being a setback, became a powerful lesson that led him to work even harder, leading to success in his later launches. Through this wisdom, Pramukh Swami Maharaj helped Dr. Kalam understand that true success lies in our commitment to the task itself, not the temporary outcome.
It is far easier to soothe the pain than to ask why it’s there. But true growth—real transformation—comes when we stop running from discomfort and choose to sit with it, examine it, and begin the slow, honest work of healing from the root. Because that’s where real change begins.
- BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha