Paramacharya

[Guest guest]

Karmayoga from Hindu Dharma

 

Arjuna asks [Krsna] whether it is not a sin to wage war and slay

friends and relatives in battle. It seems to us a natural and

reasonable question. Sri Krsna Paramatman gives an answer in the

Bhagvadgita. An action that outwardly seems to be bad and cruel need

not necessarily be sinful. Acts that apparently cause pain to others

may have to be committed for the good of the world and there is no

sin in them. Then what action is sinful and what is meritorious? The

Lord answers this question also. Only such deeds as are motivated by

desire and hatred can be sin. Those performed for the well being of

the world without being impelled by desire and hatred are

meritorious even though they may seen to be cruel.

 

The question arises: Is there any action that does not spring from

desire or hatred? I will give an example. When a judge awards

punishment to a man found guilty of crime is he driven by desire or

hatred? His sentence may seem cruel but it is indeed for the Atmic

well-being of the accused himself. If one's son is suffering from

advanced insanity does one not keep him in chains? Is that sinful?

It is for the son's good as well for the good of others who might

come to harm by him.

 

It is this manner that the sastras have kept us bound, ordering us

to do this and that. It is for our benefit as well as the world's,

says Sri Krsna, that we must live according to the tenets of the

sastras: " Tasmatcchastram prmanam te karyakarya-vyvasthitau " (the

sastras are the authority as to what you must do and must not). The

Gita today enjoys wide esteem. Even people who have no respect for

our religious customs and traditions - researchers, Western

scholars, etc - speak in praise of it. They interpret variously the

Gita's teaching on the svadharma. There is no room for doubt about

what the Gita says about svadharma: It is the karma allotted to a

man by the sastras.

 

When there is neither selfish desire nor hatred, there will be

nothing unpleasant about any kind of work. One can then be always

happy doing one's allotted work.

 

The reason for desire and hatred is ego-feeling, ahamkara. When

there is no ego-sense, considerations of high and low, or inferior

or superior, will be found meaningless. We will kept doing our work

happily as a matter of duty and thus also contribute to the world's

happiness. The Karmayoga taught by the Gita is doing one's work

without ahamkara, in a spirit of dedications to the Lord. This

tradition of desireless action that purifies our inner being has

existed in this land from the Vedic period. Sri Krsna Paramatman

presents it to us as a boon encased in a handy casket.

 

We must keep applying this teaching with ardour in every work and

action of our life. Every time we do a work we must ask

ourselves: " How do we benefit from this work? Will it bring us fame?

Are we moved by desire or hatred? Are we being partial to somebody

in carrying it out? " If there is any of these elements associated

with our action it must be considered sinful even if it seems

exalted to the outside world. If we do something on our own,

dictated by our own desire, there will be much wrong-doing in

accomplishing it. So, as Sri Krsna says, all our actions must be

founded on the sastras. If everybody acts with equal love for all

and with a pure heart there will be neither any rivalry nor any

quarrel in society. The world then will be filled with joy.