The Philosophy of the Bhagavadgita - 6.5. Swami Krishnananda.

-------------------------------------------
Saturday, August 22, , 2020. 7:26. AM.
Chapter 6: The Meaning of Duty -5.
---------------------------------------------

1.
Such is the fate of a spiritual seeker, also. We are studying the Bhagavadgita as a spiritual gospel, a great torchlight before us in treading the path. It is intended principally for everyone as a seeker of God, for the salvation of spirit. It is not merely history that we are studying or a legend that we are recounting. It is clothed in imagery and mythology and epic magnificence, but its essence, the core and the kernel, is pure impersonal spirituality.

2.
“So, Arjuna,” says Sri Krishna, “You have a duty towards human society, you have a duty to yourself, you have a duty to the world, you have a duty to the antaratman, the deepest Self within you which pervades the Cosmos.” Human society is based on mutual cooperation. We have what is known as the  varna, which is wrongly translated as ‘caste’ in modern times. As it is not caste but a classification of society, a better translation would be ‘class’ and not ‘caste’. The classes of society do not imply the category of inferior and superior. They imply, on the other hand, a necessity for cooperation on the part of every unit of this classification. There is a necessity to maintain oneself materially, economically. We know very well the importance of one’s economic existence. There is no need of a commentary on this. But what is economic life except production and consumption? So there is a necessity to work for the production of material and economic values for the sake of the consumption thereof, by which human beings sustain themselves materially, physically. We have to work hard for this, it means that.

3.
Now, again, it does not mean that everyone will have to do the same work. The entire mankind would otherwise be concerned only with production of material goods as if there is nothing else of value in life. That is also not true; that would be a wrong interpretation of human history and society. There is an economic interpretation of human history nowadays, which is a misplacement of values. We are not merely bodies, we are not merely food-consumers, we are not just money-holders; we are something more, as we know very well, each one of us.

To be continued ...

=================================================================