What Are Fruitive Activities?

What are fruitive activities? The Lord says, "And action pertaining to the development of these material bodies is called karma, or fruitive activities." (8.3) In the Third Chapter, 28th verse, Krsna says: "One who is in knowledge of the Absolute Truth, O mighty-armed, does not engage himself in the senses and sense gratification, knowing well the differences between work in devotion and work for fruitive results." In the Fourth Chapter, 19th verse, He adds: "One is understood to be in full knowledge whose every act is devoid of desire for sense gratification. He is said by sages to be a worker whose fruitive action is burned up by the fire of perfect knowledge." Fruitive activity, therefore, refers to all activities which have for their object self gratification, and conversely the patḥ to freedom (freedom from the control of the senses, which are dragging us into one body after another to enjoy or suffer according to karma) leads to surrendering the results of all actions to Krsna-and that is Krsna's final summary instruction in the Bhagavad-gita: "Give up all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me; and in return I shall protect you from all sinful reactions." (18.66) Thus from beginning to end, the teaching of the Gita is one: that the living entity should surrender to the Supreme Lord by engaging himself in full Krsna consciousness according to his own particular talent or duty. Whatever he can do just do it for Krsna.

What is the material manifestation? The Lord says: "The physical nature is known to be endlessly mutable. The universe is the cosmic form of the Supreme Lord." (8.4). In the Seventh Chapter, 4th verse, Sri Krsna says: "Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence, and false ego-altogether these eight comprise My separated material energies." So it is concluded that the material manifestation is the temporary manifestation of the Lord for the twofold purpose of giving the living entity a chance to fulfill his material desires and at the same time a chance to cultivate spiritual knowledge so that at the conclusion of this life he does not have to take birth again, but can go back to Godhead. This is very nicely stated in the eleventh mantra of Sri Īsopanisad:

"Only one who can learn the process of nescience and that of transcendental knowledge side by side can transcend the influence of repeated birth and death, and enjoy the full blessings of immortality." That is the perfection of the Vedic culture, that everything is so arranged to give every living entity maximum opportunity to advance in knowledge both material and spiritual so that everyone may make his life successful. To that end society is divided into four classes: the sūdras to provide manpower, the vaisyas to provide productivity in the form of agriculture, commerce and banking, the ksatriyas-to give administration and protection, and the brahmanas to give spiritual direction. There is no question of inequality-aham brahmasmi. We are all part and parcel of the transcendental body of Krsna. Without recognition of Krsna, the system will never work. Without recognizing the father, how can there be brotherhood? Brotherhood means one father, and as soon as mankind recognizes Krsna as that Supreme Father and all living entities as His parts and parcels, each with a particular talent to be used in the service of the whole, then the social organism will work just befitting the design of Krsna-perfectly. Such consciousness can be realized by the asramas, or stages of life, provided in the Vedic system. As a brahmacari one remains a celibate student and learns the principles of Krsna consciousness; as a grhastha he practices those principles in day to day family living; as a vanaprastha he gradually retires from his worldly affairs; and as a sannyasi he travels all over the world preaching this sublime message of love of God. Nothing is left out, but everything is dovetailed to serve the whole, Krsna.