To Renounce or not to Renounce...

[Guest guest]

To Renounce or not to Renounce...

A partial narration of Gita's Fifth Chapter

by Victor D DiCara (Vraja Kishor das)

--

 

He was there in his transcendental body, the residence of the goddess of

fortune,

with his usual gentle and sweetly smiling face, his words like nectar…

 

And confusing.

 

He told me to become learned, a sage, sthita-dhir muni. He told me to be a

yogé.

Then, he told me to fight a war.

 

Can you be a yogé and a warrior at the same time? So I asked, "Which one, yogé

or warrior?"

 

"Both are good," he said. "Renunciation leads to liberation; and so does

careful

execution of duty. Which one is for you? Stick to your duty, that is better

than

sannyäsa."

 

And that was just like him, always saying something to brim my mind with wonder

 

and blow the doors of what I thought I knew was certain.

 

"Because," he went on, "the renunciation one who performs his worldly duties

without attachment is steady. It lasts. Others often ruin themselves by

suddenly

abandoning what they still hold dear.

 

"Don't be so amazed. Only the ignorant say that renunciation brings a different

 

fruit than karma-yoga. The wise know that they both cause enlightenment. Yet

still, I say that sannyäsa is a difficult path. Rare is the seed that can

flurish

in that dry soil. On the other hand, if you carefully perform the prescribed

duties of your kñatriya varëa and gåhastha äçrama you will enjoy happiness, and

 

become purified at the same time.

 

"It is not a joke. It is not easy to execute your duties in this world. It is

also a yoga. The most important practice of this yoga is to give shelter to all

 

living entities, treat them as you would treat your self. Give them charity.

Feed them. This is how you will purify the fruits of your äçrama and not be

entangled

by them. But how will you be able to sacrifice for others unless you have

purified

your intelligence, controlled your mind, and conquered the lust in your senses.

 

Therefore I say that sticking to your duties is also yoga - it is equal to

renunciation.

 

"I ask you to be active in this world, but not get absorbed in it and carried

away into illusion. It is an art! It is a discipline. You will have to

cultivate

spiritual realization. You will have to see that you are not the cause of what

comes from your endeavors, nor are you able to do anything in this world

without

the cooperation of higher forces - material nature, and the Supreme Personality

 

of Godhead.

 

"Beware! Without this realization, you will be lost. If you think that you are

the doer of your actions, and the cause of their fruit, your labor will

increase

without limit and swollow all the hours of your day and night. Your regulation

will disintegrate as you struggle to increase your pay check. Your study time,

your meditation time will be lost. So will you.

 

"However, if you always remember that everything you do in this world is simply

 

an interaction of the three material modes, and that all their fruits come from

 

and belong to the Supreme Lord, then you will be untouched by ignorance, like

a lotus leaf untouched by water."

 

There he still stood, transcendent, radiant - delivering wisdom and guidance

to live in this world, and be untouched by it. Awed by his gift, I asked a

question,

"What is it like to be such a liberated person? How do they see the world they

live in?"

 

"The liberated soul," he said, "sees everything and everyone equally, because

he has no attraction or aversion to matter and is thus as flawless and

impartial

as the Lord. Since he is without desire or hatred, his intelligence does not

rejoice or lament. It remains sharp and fixed in the self. This brings him

incomparable

happiness eclipsing the paltry glitter of temporary sense gratification, which

is actually only a source of misery.

 

"The karma yogi patiently tolerates the forces of desire and anger (23) by

focussing

his happiness, activities, and goals inward (24) and purifying his external

activities

by constantly working for the benefit of others (25). Endeavoring in this way,

he soon attains liberation (26).