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Written by Sri Swami Chandrashekarendra
Saraswati |
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Arjuna asks [Krsna] whether it is not a sin to wage war and slay friends
and relatives in battle. It seems to us a natural and reasonable
question.
Sri Krsna Paramatman gives an answer in the Bhagvadgita. An action that
outwardly seems to be bad and cruel need not necessarily be sinful. Acts
that apparently cause pain to others may have to be committed for the
good of the world and there is no sin in them. Then what action is
sinful
and what is meritorious? The Lord answers this question also. Only such
deeds as are motivated by desire and hatred can be sin. Those performed
for the well being of the world without being impelled by desire and
hatred are meritorious even though they may seen to be cruel.
The question arises: Is there any action that does not spring from
desire
or hatred? I will give an example. When a judge awards punishment to a
man found guilty of crime is he driven by desire or hatred? His sentence
may seem cruel but it is indeed for the Atmic well-being of the accused
himself. If one's son is suffering from advanced insanity does one not
keep him in chains? Is that sinful? It is for the son's good as well for
the
good of others who might come to harm by him.
It is this manner that the sastras have kept us bound, ordering us to do
this and that. It is for our benefit as well as the world's, says Sri
Krsna,
that we must live according to the tenets of the sastras:
"Tasmatcchastram prmanam te karyakarya-vyvasthitau" (the sastras are
the authority as to what you must do and must not). The Gita today
enjoys wide esteem. Even people who have no respect for our religious
customs and traditions - researchers, Western scholars, etc - speak in
praise of it. They interpret variously the Gita's teaching on the
svadharma. There is no room for doubt about what the Gita says about
svadharma: It is the karma allotted to a man by the sastras.
When there is neither selfish desire nor hatred, there will be nothing
unpleasant about any kind of work. One can then be always happy doing
one's allotted work.
The reason for desire and hatred is ego-feeling, ahamkara. When there is
no ego-sense, considerations of high and low, or inferior or superior,
will
be found meaningless. We will kept doing our work happily as a matter of
duty and thus also contribute to the world's happiness. The Karmayoga
taught by the Gita is doing one's work without ahamkara, in a spirit of
dedications to the Lord. This tradition of desireless action that
purifies
our inner being has existed in this land from the Vedic period. Sri
Krsna
Paramatman presents it to us as a boon encased in a handy casket.
We must keep applying this teaching with ardour in every work and
action of our life. Every time we do a work we must ask ourselves: "How
do we benefit from this work? Will it bring us fame? Are we moved by
desire or hatred? Are we being partial to somebody in carrying it out?"
If
there is any of these elements associated with our action it must be
considered sinful even if it seems exalted to the outside world. If we
do
something on our own, dictated by our own desire, there will be much
wrong-doing in accomplishing it. So, as Sri Krsna says, all our actions
must
be founded on the sastras. If everybody acts with equal love for all and
with a pure heart there will be neither any rivalry nor any quarrel in
society. The world then will be filled with joy. |
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