Perform your duty

Karma Yoga

Chapter 3, Verses 23-24

 

yadi hyahaṁ na varteyaṁ  

jātu karmaṇyatandritaḥ 

mama vartmānuvartante 

manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ

 

utsīdeyur-ime lokā 

na kuryaṁ karma ced aham 

saṅkarasya ca kartā syām 

upahanyām-imāḥ prajāḥ

 

For if I did not continue to engage Myself in action, unwearied, O Arjuna, humankind would follow My example. These worlds would perish if I did not perform action; I would be the author of confusion and the cause of destruction of these beings.

 

The Lord descends to Earth to establish the rules of righteousness in the society. It will never be possible for Him who is the Lord Himself, to neglect His duty at any time. He never ceases to perform His duty with vigilance and care. Again Krishna reminds Arjuna, “If I don’t perform My action at any time, great harm will come to this world! I am the Creator, the Protector and the Destroyer of this universe. I, God, I am doing My action. If I stop doing My action of creation, protection and destruction, the whole universe will come to a stop, to a standstill.”

 

Krishna says that the Lord is the ideal person. He never neglects His duty, because He knows that if He does, others will take Him as an example. They will say, “If He, who is the ideal, has let go of His duty, we should follow His example.” Thus, this will bring great imbalance into the world. But, “These worlds would perish if I did not perform action.” If the Lord Himself ceases to act, what will happen to the people?Krishna says that if He ceases to act, “I would be the author of confusion and the cause of destruction of these beings.” If He renounces His action, other people will also do the same. They will laze themselves around. They will become bored and waste time and energy. So they will hang onto the dualities of love and hate, joy and sadness.

 

When a man fails to do his own duty, there will be confusion; this confusion will spread everywhere in society. It’s like when one person is depressed and that person starts talking about his depression to another person who is not strong. What will happen? The other person will take part in that depression and also become too weak to do his duty.

 

Krishna was well aware of what He is saying, reminding Arjuna, “You are a great warrior! Now, you are running away. How will all the future warriors look at you? They will say you are coward!”

 

Krishna says that if God has given you a certain duty to do in life, if He has given you a family to look after, if your duty is the family, do your duty properly! If you are a mother, be a good mother! If you are a father, be a good father; if you are a husband or a wife, do your duty accordingly. 

 

In the same way, when you do your duty properly in the world, it can be a blessing to others. Your children watch you. Your children learn first from you. When they look at you, they imprint your example into their lives. And they will pass on this imprint to their children later on. If you are depressed, if you are weak, that’s what you will give to your children, to humanity, to the world. Krishna says, “I am the Lord of all this; take Me as an example. Perform your duty!”

Bhagavad Gita