Shri Krishna Loves You: Obligatory duties towards society

 

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|| जय श्री कृष्ण ||

॥ श्रीमद्‍भगवद्‍गीता ॥ 18.5॥

 

_यज्ञदानतपःकर्म न त्याज्यं कार्यमेव तत्‌ ।_

_यज्ञो दानं तपश्चैव पावनानि मनीषिणाम्‌॥_

 

भावार्थ :

यज्ञ, दान और तपरूप कर्म त्याग करने के योग्य नहीं है, बल्कि वह तो अवश्य कर्तव्य है, क्योंकि यज्ञ, दान और तप -ये तीनों ही कर्म बुद्धिमान पुरुषों को (वह मनुष्य बुद्धिमान है, जो फल और आसक्ति को त्याग कर केवल भगवदर्थ कर्म करता है।) पवित्र करने वाले हैं॥५॥

 

Meaning:

Actions of sacrifice, charity and penance should not be given up, they should certainly be performed. Sacrifice, charity and penance are purifiers of wise people.

 

Explanation:

Shri Krishna begins to describe his criteria for actions that should be performed for karma yoga. Instead of creating the criteria from scratch, he uses a viewpoint mentioned earlier as the basis. He says that nitya karmas, the obligatory duties towards society, Ishvara and oneself should be performed. They should never be given up. Only nishiddha karmas or prohibited actions, and kaamya karmas or selfish actions should be given up.

This criteria is to be followed by those who are maneeshi, who are wise, who have understood that blind pursuit of material gain is not for them. Such people are interested in liberation only. When these wise people perform their obligatory duties, the performance of those actions acts as a cleanser, a purifier. All traces of raaga and dvesha, likes and dislikes, are slowly cleared out by the performance of obligatory duties. Their actions are propelled out of an attitude of seva or service, not out of personal and selfish likes and dislikes.

So then, if this is the case, how should one treat actions performed for one's career? If we love our career, and it gives us a personal reward in the form of salary, should we give up that as well? We need to resolve this issue by converting our reward oriented actions into selfless actions. Only then will we be able to weaken the samskaaraas or mental impressions that impel us to perform our career oriented actions every day. What is the technique by which we can convert our selfish actions into selfless actions? This is taken up next.

Chant the mantra you have faith in

Hare Krishna

The Hare Krishna maha-mantra is composed of three Sanskrit words, which are “Hare”, “Krishna” and “Rama”. According to the scriptures “Obstruction or problem can’t come into their lives, who do chant this mantra continuously”. The Great Mantra is:

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare

Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare

हरे कृष्ण हरे कृष्ण , कृष्ण कृष्ण हरे हरे |

हरे राम हरे राम , राम राम हरे हरे ||