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Writer's pictureArjuna Ben Bernstein

Letting Go Of The Outcome And Still Winning


Recently, I was invited by the Athletic Department of my alma mater to offer workshops in peak performance for student athletes and their coaches. At this highly competitive, elite, New England college, winning is the prime target for all twenty-seven varsity teams. Imagine then, the audience’s surprise when I framed the workshop with this shloka from the Bhagavad Gita:


कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन |

मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि || 2.47 ||Bhagavad Gita


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. (2:47)


As I recited this I could see a question mark forming on many faces, “What does that

mean?” I explained: “Your goal,” I said, “is not to win.” A visible uneasiness rippled

through the room—people started shifting in their chairs; some turned to others with

looks of disbelief, “What planet is this guy from?”


I reminded everyone that as a graduate of the college I was well aware of the school’s

national status in athletics, the importance of attracting top competitors from around the

country, and how winning translates into alumni dollars. Moreover, in my private

practice as a performance psychologist, professional and amateur athletes seek me out

because they want to win. So what did I mean when I said the goal is not to win?


That was the question I had when Acharya Shunya offered a discourse on this shloka.

At first it made no sense. After all, I was brought up in the highly competitive world of

American education, where coming out on top is all that matters—having the #1 football

team, grasping the A+, getting the highest SAT score, gaining admission to the most

prestigious college. In America, and throughout most of the world, life is all about

winning. Now, my teacher is opening the crystal clear window of the ancient, sacred text

for a different vista. On the battlefield of Kuruksetra the Lord is instructing, even

commanding, the warrior Arjuna to focus on his duty: to fight the noble battle— slay the

sensory-driven Kurus—and not be stuck in his ego-driven anxiety of “What will happen

if....?”


As human beings we are always in action. Cooking a meal, studying for an exam,

making love, writing a book: we play out our lives on the field of activity. But if we strive

to cook the most delicious meal, to get the highest marks, to be the best lover, to write

the award-winning novel, our focus is not actually on what we are doing, it is on the

result. Put another way: when we are preoccupied with the outcome of our actions we

are in an indeterminate future, not the present. The Lord is instructing Arjuna—and all of

us—to put our entire selves, body, mind and spirit, into what needs to be done now.

When we are fully present, we are committed to our dharma, our duty. We are not

distracted by how we appear to others or what will happen if and when....


And what does Krishna mean when he says, ““Never consider yourself to be the cause

of the results of your activities”? Shakespeare provides a poetic response: “All the

world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players.” We are in the leela, the

play, of God’s design. Ishwara is the producer, the playwright and the director. Krishna

is reminding us there are much greater forces at work that shape the events of which

we are part. And he also affirms that we cannot be idle bystanders (“...nor be attached

to non-action”). Our job it to fulfill our dharma.


How does all of this translate for the student athletes and coaches? What should they

have focused on if not winning? The answer is simple, they have to play the game to


the very best of their ability. Each athlete has this responsibility to themselves, to their

teammates, and to the people who cheer them on: be your best. Whether you win or not

depends on many forces out of your control (the other team’s prowess, the weather,

the time of day—literally, God knows what). Since you have to act, exercise your

dharma, in the moment, at the highest level you can.


One more note: when we go to a baseball game, swim meets, or a tennis match we are

enthralled and inspired by the talent and commitment of all the athletes, by the level and

quality of their play. They represent the best in us. But focusing on the winner by

definition implies that someone is a loser, with all the unfortunate connotations of that

word. In our winner-take-all culture, a loser is less capable, defeated, pushed aside,

ultimately forgotten. While Arjuna needed to slay the ego-driven Kaurav’s—a metaphor

for what each of us needs to do on an inner level—on the field of life we need to play

together. That is the game. Two sides make one whole. We are one.


Acharya Shunya tells us, “We live in a designer universe.” Ishwara has designed

endless opportunities for us to excel and for each one of us to contribute to a world in

which we all can grow and thrive. Play the game. We all can win. This is our birthright,

and our possibility.


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4 Comments


Shweta Karnik
Shweta Karnik
a day ago

Very beautifully illustrated through your recent experience and how you shared this with your student athletes! Please keep writing!

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Sadhvi Aparna
Sadhvi Aparna
6 days ago

Yes! Thank you Arjuna. The Bhagavad Gita is just as relevant today as it was when first uttered. So good you are sharing it with new fresh ears. 💛🙏💛

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thank you Arjuna. This teaching is actually so freeing, to not focus on the outcome or goal of a thing, but to be present with what we do and to give our best, that is all we can do. Each of us in life, I believe really does try to give our best, whatever that looks like, and that is enough.

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Beautiful, thank you 🙏🏼

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