‘DUTY’ AND ITS RELEVENCE IN SPIRITUALITY
Kambhampati Krishna Prasad
klaibyam
maa sma gamah paartha
naitat
tvayy upapadyate,
kshudram
hrudaya-daurbalyam
tyaktvottistha
parantapa.
... Bhagavad-Gita (verse 3... Ch II)
“Yield not to
impotence, O Partha! It does not befit thee. Cast off this mean weakness of
heart! Stand up, O Paranthapa (O scorcher of foes)! “
This popular
verse at the beginning of the chapter ‘Sankhya Yoga’ (Path of Knowledge)
embraces the profound spirit and grandeur of the entire text of Bhagavad-Gita
that comprises of 700 verses.
Arjuna, the
mighty Pandava prince, is overwhelmed with attachment (moha) and the
resultant grief at the very sight of the army he was to fight and kill... comprised
of his close kith and kin and his most revered teachers. He is thrown off his
balance, feels badly shaken and awfully weak, loses his courage to fight, and
forgets his prescribed (kshatriya) duty of restoration of dharma (ethical
social order as prescribed and approved by the scriptures). He turns away from
the war and resorts to escapist arguments. The invincible war hero now wants to
renounce all his rights and duties, retire from his princely life, and take to
an ascetic life style. Lord Krishna, having understood Arjuna’s dilemma, is
trying to restore to him his lost courage and sense of duty, and persuade him
to stand up and fight the war, by revealing to him his true divine nature.
Bhagavad-Gita,
the quintessence of the Brahma-sutras and the Upanishads, is a profound
philosophical classic that has stood the test of time. This outstanding sacred
text gained its universal popularity, not merely because it is a scholarly
exposition of the timeless Hindu spiritual philosophy, but also because it is
an invaluable self-help treatise for the common man. Anyone who is in a dilemma
as to how to handle a tough real-life situation can turn to the Gita and there
one will find the most appropriate solution. Bhagavad Gita has inspired
millions of men and women all over the world over the past two millennia.
The
Mahabharata battle at Kurukshetra is synonymous to human life with its
inevitable ups and downs, hopes and disappointments, pleasures and sorrows,
successes and failures, and victories and defeats. One must carry on with one’s
own prescribed duties, irrespective of all circumstantial odds and with no
thought for the probable final outcome, thereby safeguarding dharma in
the larger interests of society. Even blood-relationships cannot be allowed to
come in the way of the discharge of these duties. Attachment (moha) to
these worldly relationships is merely an illusion that arises out of maya, a
product of ignorance (avidya). The unique human faculty...
DISCRIMINATION (viveka), based on rigorous intellectual self-analysis
and renunciation (vairagya), needs to be exercised in order to overcome
the powerful effects of maya.
Freedom (from
bondage) comes from a strong sense of detachment from the ephemeral world and
worldliness. Fearlessness comes from the firm conviction that man, in reality,
is NOT his physical body that is vulnerable to ageing, disease, and death, but
that he is the pure and eternal soul.. Atman, which is gracefully ONE
with Brahman... the omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent ultimate reality
(concept of Atman according to the best accepted Advaita school of
thought). These two mighty vedantic principles... FREEDOM and FEARLESSNESS
together constitute the grand message of Bhagavad-Gita to all mankind.
Swami
Vivekananda, the most notable Hindu Prophet of the modern era conveyed
precisely the same message as the above verse, in his popular sayings...
STRENGTH IS LIFE AND ALL WEAKNESS IS DEATH.
WORK IS WORSHIP AND DUTY IS GOD.
ARISE!
AWAKE! AND STOP NOT TILL THE GOAL IS REACHED!