The Gita preaching fatalism?

Karmanye Vadhikaraste Ma Phaleshu Kadachana

Ma Karma Phala Hetur Bhurmatey Sangostva Akarmani
-Chapter 2, Shloka 47, the Bhagavad Gita

This is commonly translated as: Do your duty without thinking about the results.

Many, including myself, have found this oversimplified translation to be very confusing. (No offense meant to the great scholars who have read the Gita and translated it for the benefit of the masses.) So, here is a little more on the verse.

The context:
As Swami Chinmayananda has said lucidly, The Bhagavad Gita is told not in a serene environment like a forest with chirping birds and playful deer, but in a very violent atmosphere-right in the middle of a gory battlefield! What does this mean?
Very simple-The teachings of the Gita are not be read and practiced after retirement, after we have lived the best part of our lives (similar to the peaceful forest), but right during our eventful lives, which are full of problems (represented by the battlefield).

Now to the verse. If we are supposed to work without expecting any result, isn’t it useless? That is, only if we have a goal can we proceed progressively. Blindly walking without any directions will lead us to nowhere. So, does the Gita preach fatalism?

Not at all!
The charioteer only tells Dhananjaya (Arjuna) that one must do his duty with full sincerity, but without thinking about the results all the time. Worrying about the consequences only diverts one’s focus away from the goal. Whatever one does, must be done as if it is an offering to the Lord-this is called “Arpana Buddhi”, and whatever results he/she gets as a results of that action, must be accepted with equanimity, as it is the gift we have got-this is “Prasaada Buddhi”.

In a nutshell, do your everyday work sincerely, and accept the result graciously. That is, the result will come as a result of your present and past Karma-while you don’t have to worry about it, YOU HAVE TO PUT IN YOUR EFFORTS!

Chitragupta-The Hidden Picture!

Chitragupta is the one who assists Dharmaraja in YamaLoka, by noting
down all our good/bad actions. Chitragupta is the personification of the
belief of every Hindu-the belief that one's Karma is recorded across births,
that one's good deeds are rewarded and bad deeds come back to trouble,
in the present or future births.

Among the major religions in the world, Hinduism and other oriental religions
have rebirth as an important part of their philosophy. Most of these religions
say that a living being's next birth is decided based on the actions done by the
being in previous births.

This makes sense, because if there is no rebirth, we cannot explain why there
is so much disorder in the world, as described below.
So many children are born in this world everyday. If there is no rebirth, and if
God is kind, then all children must be born in similar circumstances.

But what do we see?
One baby is born to a king, to live a luxurious life, while another is born to a
beggar, to suffer a miserable life.
A baby is born healthy while another is deaf and dumb.

How can we explain this discrepancy at birth itself? Does this mean that God
is a cruel monster who shows partiality?
No.

The answer is rebirth-the ONLY concept that satisfactorily explains this conundrum:
The one who is born in difficult circumstances has accumulated some bad
Karma, which he can neutralize if he does good Karma in this birth.

Now to the very interesting meaning of the word Chitragupta.

Chitra means "picture" and Gupta means "hidden".
So, Chitragupta means "Hidden Picture".What is this hidden picture?

Well, some of us may have been with our grandparents when they died
and would have seen strange utterances by them just before their death.

1. They would mention details about certain scenes in their life, and
2. They would also utter some unintelligible stuff about some waterfalls, forest, etc.
(My friend has seen his grandmother in this state before death.)

What is this? While a person dies, he/she gets a flurry of images that reminds
him/her of the Karma done in the present life. This is the first point mentioned
above. The second point is the "secret picture" revealed to the dying person
moments before death! This gives details about the next birth of the person.
It is really amazing how our seers have realised even such esoteric aspects of
life and death, and have passed this knowledge down the generations, in such
an an easily understandable form!