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Source: The Hindu (http://www.the-hindu.com)

 

The art of living a purposeful life

 

CHENNAI, DEC. 7. The body of a human being is a good instrument

made available by God for working out not only man's desires but

also his noble aspirations and ideals. The mind thinks and the

plans chalked out therein need to be put into operation for which

the body is required. Sages have looked upon it as a temple. The

Bhagavad Gita, a treasure left by the Lord Himself to benefit the

entire humanity, teaches the art of living a purposeful life

without running into excess, steering clear of sheer asceticism

on the one hand and shameless and uninhibited indulgence on the

other. Within the body is housed a soul, the former being

perishable while the soul within is indestructible.

 

Our physical body passes from childhood to youth, which again is

gradually metamorphosed into decrepitude and yet the soul remains

the same all the while, though it goes through the cycle of

births and deaths. Lord Krishna points out to us through the

despondent Arjuna that men of intelligence will not deplore the

loss by the death of this temporary tabernacle of the soul.

 

Lord Krishna's argument, as Arjuna refused to fight in the

Kurukshetra war, that a person who thinks that one soul can kill

another or be killed by another, knows nothing at all, for a soul

does not destroy nor can be killed by anyone. ``You are a soul

and so neither can you kill nor be killed. You need not

therefore, be afraid of being calumnised as a killer of your

superiors.''

 

Dealing with ``Sankhya Yoga'' elaborated in the Gita, Sri S.R.

Raghothamachar, in his discourse, said God-incarnate asked the

bewildered Arjuna to cast aside all desires for the fruits of his

actions, engage himself in the performance of his socio-religious

duties in a devotional mood. Equability of temperament in success

or failure is Yoga. ``Cultivate a devotional attitude by the

application of your pure intelligence and perform your ordained

duties disinterestedly'' the Lord said. Here one is reminded of

the fact that the body is like one's clothes, which when becoming

old, are thrown away and new ones are worn. If one body is to

stick for ever to the soul, the latter would be in a sad plight,

it would stop growing, its joy would vanish and the light of the

knowledge would become dim. Krishna also refers to the duties of

a man which have been prescribed in scriptures, according to his

qualities. Living in a society, he has to carry out these duties.

For a man of warrior group, what else is more beneficial than to

fight for a right cause, Krishna asks Arjuna. The Lord wants us

to make use of our intelligence and strive hard in cooperation

with our grain dedicating the acts at His feet.

 

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