May all our actions be inspirational! – Bhagavad Gita Verses 3.22-3.23

Discussion in 'Chitvish on Hindu Culture & Vedanta' started by Chitvish, Sep 25, 2008.

  1. Chitvish

    Chitvish Moderator IL Hall of Fame

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    The next verse shows that the Lord is an example of Karma Yoga, par excellence.
    Na me parthasthi karthavyam thrishu lOkeshu kinchana
    Naanavaapthamavaapthavyam vartha eva cha karmaNi - 3.22

    There is nothing in the three worlds, O Partha, that has to be done by Me, nor is there anything unattained that should be attained by Me; yet, I engage myself in action.

    Lord Krishna is God himself. He is in all the worlds and all the worlds are in Him. What then should He work for? What is He to gain by work? He is everything and yet out of compassion for humanity He incarnates Himself again and again to maintain Dharma for the well-being and progress of the world. He is ceaselessly working everywhere for establishing Dharma. He, the infinite formless Brahman, takes birth, comes into the world, mingles with men, teaches them, elevates them and leads them on to freedom and bliss. If the Lord Himself is engaged in work, should not the common man work for his own good??
    Work, work is the Lord's command.

    Continuing the same argument, the Lord says:

    Yadi hyaham na vartheyam jathu karmaNyathandritha:
    Mama varthmanu varthanthe manushyaa: partha sarvasha: 3.23

    For, should I never engage Myself in action, without relaxation, men would in every way follow My path, Oh son of Partha.

    The Lord means to convince Arjuna the truth of the great principle that there can be no escape from duty without setting a sinful example in which the whole of society will be involved. The Lord explains His perpetual activity, quoting Himself as an example.

    Staunch adherence to good and devotion to duty are the characteristics of the great. But the ordinary people in society do not feel inclined to emulate the merits of the great.

    But, If there be any lapses in them such as idleness, procrastination and indifference to duty, they are readily caught by the ordinary. They even cite these shortcomings in the great, as precedents. Lord Krishna is therefore exemplary in His conduct. In all His doings, He is a model to mankind.

    Love,
    Chithra.


     
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  2. Cheeniya

    Cheeniya Super Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    Pelagius, a British theologian who lived in the middle of the first millennium, told his followers that they must run if they wished not to go backwards. His doctrine that the Original Sin of Adam did not have any connection with the sufferings of humanity was called Pelagianism. He believed that Adam set a bad example that led the humans into a disastrous route while the life and sacrifice of Christ provided an excellent example for people to redeem themselves from a life of sin. While most of his work came under heavy criticism from later theologians, no one could refute his call to keep running if people wished not to go backwards. The best physical example for the call of Pelagius would be exercising on a treadmill where we remain rooted to a spot despite all the running that we do!

    The Lord’s call for ceaseless work can be best understood by understanding how our ‘prana’ is maintained by the ceaseless work of our heart and our breathing. From the moment we are born, the heart swings into action and this action continues non-stop even if we live for a hundred years. Every involuntary action that covers the whole gamut of our existence goes on ceaselessly throughout our life. The Lord wants our voluntary actions too function ceaselessly to keep us in the path of dharma. While He takes full control of the involuntary functions of our system to keep us alive, He has bestowed every human being with the independent Will to choose between good and evil and everyone thus becomes accountable for his own karma. The Lord’s call to work ceaselessly must be strictly understood in the context of aligning all our work to the Divine Path laid down for our pursuit. It will also be worthwhile to keep in mind Adi Shankara’s call that all work is for the purification of the mind, not for the perception of reality. The realization of Truth is brought out about by discrimination and not in the least by ten millions of acts. In simple terms, it would mean that if we do not align all our work to the Path of Dharma, no amount of annual visits to holy places or dips in holy rivers would be of any use.

    The second verse here focuses on a very vital characteristic of human behaviour. It is the ease with each we replicate the negative qualities of others but not the good ones. It is not uncommon to see how we subject the lives of great men to a close scrutiny looking for any lapses and how we tend to highlight such lapses if we ever find them. We may overlook their entire life of austerity and penance but when see them in a tainted light, we blow it out of all proportions. A good example would be the travails of Jayendirar, the present Head of the Kanchi Mutt. What is more appalling is how we try to justify our own dark deeds by citing the examples of great men who seemingly erred. Have we not heard of Satan quoting the Bible to justify his machinations of evil? Thus, it becomes imperative for us not only to act continuously but also to ensure that our actions are devoid of any evil that others may find easy to copy.
     
  3. corallux

    corallux Bronze IL'ite

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    My Dear Gita Gurus,

    Everything has two colours to it. Black and White.
    People who are pure see the good in people. If society wants to pull
    down a person, all they have to do is highlight a bad aspect of that
    person. Damage is done on it's own.

    Dear Chithraji, I agree with you when you say that the Lord himself is
    not perfect. Now a days, people (incl me) question Ram's action in
    sending his consort away to the forest based on a washerman's words.
    My mom a Ram-Bhakt had just one question for me: Could you not see
    his compassion towards his enemies or his Pitru-Bhakti?

    See the good in people not their faults as there is a higher authority
    to judge them say our elders. But yes, humans that we are we tend to
    ignore the faults of the people we like & highlight the faults of the
    people we love to hate.

    Cheeniyaji, this week's lesson reminds me of Shri Sai's story. The one
    where he compares slandering to a pig eating dirt. As for the Head of the Kanchi Mutt, how come none of the papers highlighted his philantrophic activities? His service to society & Hinduism?

    What was his fault Cheeniyaji? Getting the converted Hindus back into
    Sanathan Dharma? A true Karma yogi, he allowed himself to be sacrificed
    on the altar of politics.
    Regards,
    Corallux
     
  4. aishu22

    aishu22 Gold IL'ite

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    Dear Chithra,
    I should say this lesson has come to me on time today.Lord himself is working to make the mankind to reach freedom and bliss.Then how can we not work? Each one of us has been assigned with responsibilites and duties. We are supposed to fulfill them come what may;our dedication towards work should be treated as dedication to lord.
    Well, for my first sentence in this F.b, I have to work this sunday(Navarathri starting on Tuesday) i have loads of preparations to do as such.But, my work demands me to come on Sunday and i was in dilemma.But after reading this post, i realise that its my duty to complete the work for which i'm being paid and theres no escaping.
    So i have accepted "my" work.

    Thanks for this great lesson.I'm inspired to work nd perform the actions assigned to me!
     
  5. aishu22

    aishu22 Gold IL'ite

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    Dear Sri,
    Its such a profound statement -If you do not want to go backwards;RUN...The more we run - doing our work/actions, the more we are away from the back(dark). Treadmill was a beautiful example citied for the call of Pelagius.
    As you have stated, like prana, we are supposed to do the actions ceaseless and with utlost dedication.Baba says work is worship! No scripture ever has told us that donot read, just pray god for good results.Even when we tell kids, we tel them, Do your best, and god will do the rest.. and its not vice versa.Without effort there cannot be any fruit.
    Your's quoting Adhi Shankara's call for purification of mind was well explained.
    "Dharumathin vazhuvuthannai Sudhu kavvum, anal dharumam marubadiyum vellum"
    The path of dharma never ceases and it is the way of life.If we understand that and lead a life, its even more interesting and blissful.

    Your last para, i agree with you to the fullest.
    Thanks for this wonderful lesson.
     
  6. gayathriar

    gayathriar Bronze IL'ite

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    Dear C & C

    That was a wonderful lesson how on important ceaseless activity without any lapse is. If God himself who had nothing to attain, is involved in ceaseless activity, we just cannot stay idle. As it is, idle mind is devil's workshop - isn't it? On a different plane, Chitvish herself is a good example of inspiring with action - display and making of her work( spreads ) has been inspiring many a women to shed their laziness and enter their kitchen with enthusiasm. Cheeniya sir, your example of heart beat is good enough to drive us into action - too profound an analogy....!

    How very true we try to see the bad in every person and justify our actions instead of trying to perfect ours. How many great lives small scandals have demolished. So, it is better to be conscious about our actions at all times. Like you suggested in your prior post, our very own kids emulate our actions and inaction and even there what should not be followed is imitated promptly.

    -Gayathri.
     
  7. Chitvish

    Chitvish Moderator IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Lux,
    Lord Krishna did not want a kingdom all for Himself which He could have easily carved out. He went to the battle-front only with a sense of duty towards the noble and righteous cause the Pandavas stood for!
    He was spending Himself constantly in activity, as though work was to Him a rapturous game of enthusiasm and joy!
    If the Lord did not continue to work without relaxation, men would also follow in His wake & sink them selves into inactivity and so into an unproductive existence. In nature, everything acts constantly and sincerely.The entire Universe survives and sustains itself by activity!
    Love,
    Chithra.

     
  8. gayathrikartik

    gayathrikartik Senior IL'ite

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    Hello Mrs. C

    Always wanted to browse your religious thread but didn't have the time. I was always attracted to your recipe thread and today atlast instead of going there came to this thread.

    I really was amazed of your knowledge and patience and your ability of defining each every aspect of our religion. I read only two topics and my computer gave some problem. Will definitely find time to read other topics.

    Your thread really helps us(NRIs) to explain our culture to our kids when they ask us questions. Instead of mazhupuvaiying:hide: saying it is our culture and practice we can tell them the reason.

    Thanks a lot. Will read the other threads too.

    Regards
    GK
     
  9. mkthpavi

    mkthpavi Senior IL'ite

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    Dear C & C
    "Actions speak louder than words", "Practise what you preach" are all sayings that emphasize the importance of action in our lives.....We have to DO things to achieve our goals. The word "duty" perhaps came from "do" :)

    Many times, we experience negative thoughts only when we are idle with "nothing to do". Idle mind then becomes a devil's workshop indeed. When we are busy in our daily duties and responsibilities, we not only do things as required, but there is a sense of completion and satisfaction :) A little rest is fine...but too much rest can itself cause stress.

    Too often we read about children of celebrities as becoming lazy and sometimes anti-social also. These children take their parents' wealth and fame for granted and assume that "life ban gaya" - that they no more have to slog it out to succeed.

    No offence meant to anyone on this forum - but I have come across cases - children of NRI parents - who are not bothered about doing well in their 12th std exams 'cos their parents have the money to buy engg / medical college admissions not just in India, but even abroad. I dread to imagine what kind of future such children would have !!

    Threads like yours and the words of Lord Krishna Himself will hopefully bring more sense, sanity and responsibility in our lives.

    Thanks and love
    Your IL disciple
    Pavithra
     
  10. Chitvish

    Chitvish Moderator IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Aish,
    You have written, rightly, a career woman's dilemma.
    We must remember, we are obliged to do the work, we are paid for, without any excuse. We have to apply viveka (discretion) with reference to performing actions and responding to situations.
    You love to get ready for navaratri, I know. But that pleasure cannot be at the cost of your duty! You will feel guilty or your boss may not accept it!
    When whatever you want to gain involves a loss in terms of your duty and happiness, your peace of mind - you should be able to see the laws at work and refrain from the pursuit.This is what Viveka, call it maturity is all about..
    Love,
    Chithra.


     

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