In life, we often notice a strange pattern, whenever we run desperately after something, it seems to slip further away. Be it wealth, respect, relationships, or even peace of mind, the harder we clutch, the more it escapes. The Bhagavad Gita, along with many of our shastras, explains this mystery in a way that is not just philosophical but deeply practical.
The Gita tells us
“Karmanye vadhikaraste ma phaleshu kadachana” (BG 2.47). You have the right to action alone, never to its fruits.
The more we chase results, the more restless and empty we feel. Why? Because the fruits of action are never in our hands. They belong to Ishwara, to the cosmic law of karma. Desire (kama) tied to restlessness (trishna) creates bondage, but action offered without clinging creates freedom.
Why Running After Things Pushes Them Away
The Shvetashvatara Upanishad explains that desire is like pouring ghee on fire, the more you feed it, the more it blazes, never satisfied. The Vishnu Purana calls desire ananta, endless, without completion. When the heart runs after objects, the objects lose their sweetness, because no external thing was meant to quench the thirst of the atman.
This is why the Gita warns that chasing sense objects leads to duḥkha-yonaya eva te (BG 5.22), “only sorrow is born from such pursuits.”
The Secret of Reversal
But here lies the paradox. The moment you stop chasing, what is meant for you begins to flow naturally. The Mahabharata declares: “Yad bhavyam tad bhavishyati”, Whatever is destined will come to you.
Not by force, not by chasing, but by dharma—by standing firm in righteous action without greed. The sages knew this: the more you empty your palms of grasping, the more life places treasures into them.
A Higher Way to Live
Sanatana Dharma does not ask us to renounce life’s duties or joys, but to shift our center. Wealth, love, respect, success, these are not enemies. They are by-products. They come when one walks the path of dharma and lets go of obsession.
The Gita teaches equanimity: “Samatvam yoga uchyate” (BG 2.48), Balance is yoga. When you are balanced, not desperate, you act with clarity. You live with freedom. And strangely enough, the very things you once chased begin to come unasked. They come not as chains, but as gifts.
A Lived Truth
Every seeker who has walked this path knows: the more one runs after peace, the noisier the mind becomes. The more one runs after wealth, the more poverty of spirit one feels. But when the heart turns to seva (service), sadhana (discipline), and shraddha (faith), peace comes like a gentle breeze, wealth follows like a shadow, and joy wells up from within.
The Vedas call this “Rtam”, the cosmic order. When we align with it, life unfolds in harmony. When we fight it, running restlessly, we suffer.
Closing Thought
The lesson is simple, yet life-changing: Stop chasing. Start living. Do your duty, walk your path, offer every action to the Divine, and let go of clutching after results. What is meant for you will never run away; what runs away was never yours to hold.
This is not resignation, it is trust. Trust in dharma, trust in karma, trust in the One who guides all. The Gita reminds us again and again: when you surrender the fruit, you gain the freedom. And in freedom, all things find you.