anapeksah sucir daksa

udasino gata-vyathah

sarvarambha parityagi

yo mad-bhaktah sa me priyah

(Bhagavad Gita, 12:16)

‘That devotee of mine, who expecting nothing, is pure, dexterous, unconcerned, free from distress and renounces all undertakings, is dear to Me.’ (shloka from the twelfth canto of the Bhagavad Gita).

The first quality figuring in this shloka is Anapeksha. This term means, ‘to be free from any kind of Apeksha (expectation or desire).’ Can a man having a body, mind and intellect be free from desires at all? It is impossible. But such a state can be realised by an effort of will. (D3 , p. 356)

Anapeksha is described as ‘being free from desires.’ But this is not wholly correct. It is when a man gives up the feeling, in the performance of all actions, that ‘I am the doer’ (the sense of ego), ‘I am the experiencer’, (the sense of fulfilment of desire) that true Anapeksha emerges. This means that conceit of doership and the sense of enjoyment of desired things should be wholly renounced. This is the true state of desirelessness (Anapeksha). It is only when all actions are done as an offering to God that Anapeksha prevails. When such a feeling fills the heart of the devotee, the Divine confers beatitude on him. Such a devotee is dear to the Lord. If you want to earn the love of the Lord, you have to render service to anyone, anywhere, as an offering to the Lord. (D3 , p. 357)

Anapeksha means that the devotee is beyond apeksha, i.e., desires or expectations. Is it ever possible for man, bound as he is by the body and the senses, to be without desires? Hardly. Some desire or the other will always be there. However, there must be control over the desires that one has. What sort of desires are permitted? Recall what Krishna has to say about this matter. He says that all righteous actions are divine. Thus, among the permissible desires, the best is the desire for tyaga or sacrifice. The yearning for dharma also is important. The desire for God is mandatory. Although what must truly be desired is very clear, people have widely different types of expectations and desires. While some consider being righteous as very important, others think that achieving [worldly] greatness is the best among goals. Some even try to combine these two objectives. Truly speaking, no one has the freedom or the authority to do as one likes. One must do exactly as the Lord says.

The Lord has stated very clearly that He wants you to attain the state of anapeksha. How does one do that? One does this by strictly confining to righteous activities alone, performing such actions exclusively for the pleasure of the Lord, and by offering all such actions in their entirety to the Lord. Actions performed in this spirit rise well above worldly desires and expectations. Thus the word anapeksha ought not to be interpreted in a very rigid sense. What it really means is having the irresistible urge to work only for the Lord and for His sole pleasure. However, that does not mean one can do anything and everything. Our actions must be such that they please Him and would secure His approval. If a devotee conducts himself in this fashion, he becomes dear to the Lord. (SSB 2000, pp. 201-202)