Karma Yoga
Chapter 3, Verse 35
śreyān sva-dharmo viguṇaḥ
para-dharmāt svanuṣṭhitāt
sva-dharme nidhanaṁ śreyaḥ
para-dharmo bhayāvahaḥ
Better is one’s own duty, though devoid of merit, than the duty of another well-done. Better is death in one’s own duty; the duty of another is fraught with danger.
“Better is one’s own duty, though devoid of merit, than the duty of another well-done.” So here Krishna says, “Do your dharma! Don’t try to do other things which are not your duty.” Don’t put your nose into other people’s business! Putting your nose into other people’s business will devoid you of good merit. Even if you think that you are doing something good, if it doesn’t concern you, it will not bring any good to you. It’s better if you don’t do it! Then you won’t bring negative punya to you. When you do your own duty you gain at least good punya.
Krishna says, “Focus on what has been given to you as a duty!” The duty of a doctor is to be a doctor. A doctor can’t be a lawyer. The duty of a lawyer is to protect his client. You can’t put a doctor there! Otherwise it will be chaos. The duty of a banker is to look after the finances of the bank, no? Imagine that you put a sweeper there? You can be sure that the bank will be ruined. Do your duty properly! Even if you don’t see any merit in the outside, you should do your dharma.
“Better is death in one’s own duty; the duty of another is fraught with danger.” Krishna says, “If you die performing your dharma, you will get good merit!” Very often people come and say, “Swamiji, what is my dharma?” I say, “Well, look, what do you do?” “I work in an office.” I say, “Okay, that’s your dharma. Accept it!” But they don’t want to hear that. Do you know what they want to hear? “Your dharma is to be spiritual.” But they don’t know that spirituality is also in their duty of daily life – what God has given them to do! They think, “Let me come and live in the ashram.” But it is not meant for everybody to live like this. Each one has their own duty to do outside, otherwise you will kill yourself here! Krishna Himself says, “It is fraught with danger.” He says to Arjuna, “Please, My dear, if one doesn’t do one’s duty in life, it will bring lots of pain and sorrow. It will bring lots of damage and this is very dangerous.”
Imagine that I ask Swamini Vishwamohini to do Sabarish’s work; Sabarish looks after all the electricity in the ashram, the cables, everything. If I told Swamini Vishwamohini to do this, we can be sure that I would be sitting here electrocuted right now! In spite of all the precautions she would take, it could be very dangerous!
Bhagavan says, “Accept your duty in daily life.” If your duty is your family, accept that duty! If your duty is at the South Pole, do your duty there! Come to the ashram from time to time, but then go there! Don’t try to go in a roundabout way and say, “Okay first, I will rent a room in the village and then, step by step I will dig my way into the ashram!” People think they are clever. But I am here and I am more clever. So, don’t try your clever way! The tunnel will collapse on you! Many have done this. But in the long-term, if you don’t accept the outside, what God has given, you will never be able to handle a greater duty when it will be given to you. God will not even give you a greater duty to do! That’s why He has placed each one in the world differently. Each one has his own right place and if one sees this perfection of the Lord, one will do one’s dharma at that place, at that time.
For some, it is meant to live completely for God! But for some, no. They are still on the way. They are still in preparation; they are still in kindergarten. Very often, you will see this in children: when they look at grown-ups, they also wish to be grown-up. They don’t know what it is to be grown-up. Because they see it only from the outside and say, “Oh, it’s a party! When will we grow up?” They are so eager to grow up. But then one doesn’t let time carry oneself.
One doesn’t learn to trust in the Will of the Divine, that God has put everyone where they have to be. Look at me, I was born in Mauritius and look where He put me! People often ask me, “Why Germany?” But it doesn’t matter, you know? I know the reason. Look! If I would not be here, all these lovely people would not be here listening to the Lord’s words. Just to let you know, each one is right where one has to be. Learn to accept this! If you start to fight it, of course, your mind will say, “Oh, how wonderful it would be if I move there.” But if you do not go to the right place, this will create a complete imbalance inside of you. And when this confusion starts happening inside of you, you go backwards. Stay wherever you are and accept the Will of God, accept that He has put you there, and let yourself flow with it, until He clearly calls you to go elsewhere. If it is meant to be, He will call you, and when you develop this trust, then you are free!
Krishna says to Arjuna, “Be centred in your duty! Even if it is without any merit, don’t try to run away. This would be the reaction of a cowardly person. Better is death in your own duty!” When God calls you to your true dharma, to do what you have come to this world to do – if you die in that, it is your salvation! That’s why it is said of a soldier who is dying on the battlefield, whether he is killing or being killed, he doesn’t create any karma. A doctor while operating, if the doctor has given full attention and care to the patient, and yet the patient passes away, there is no karma. The same is true for a jeweller. Sometimes you have deities which are made of gold or silver and are broken. When you take them to the jeweller’s, they melt it. To melt the deity, even if it is a pendant, is a very sinful act to do. They are aware of this. But because of their commitment to their duty, they don’t have any karma from this. Krishna says that even if one dies while doing one’s duty, one is free! One attains salvation! One is liberated or one incarnates in a very high state. But to do one’s duty, you have to have this love! You have to love what you are doing! And that’s true wisdom!
Bhagavad Gita
