A Study of the Bhagavadgita - Chapter 7.1. Swami Krishnananda.

 

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Tuesday, July 20, 2021. 8:00.AM.
Chapter 7:The Entry of the Absolute into the Relative -1.
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The involvement of everyone in the principle of sacrifice is stated briefly when the Gita tells us: sahayajñ?? praj?? s???v? purov?ca praj?pati?, anena prasavi?yadhvam e?a vostv i??ak?madhuk (Gita 3.10). When Prajapati, the Creator, manifested this universe and projected individuals like us, he also ordained, at the same time, that the life of an individual is inextricably involved in the process of the whole of creation through the bond of the principle of sacrifice.

We live on account of the result that spontaneously follows from the act of the sacrifice that we perform in this world. We will wither away into airy nothing and will not be able to even survive for three days if some sort of sacrifice is not done by way of our participation in the work of cosmic creation. Our interconnection with all things in the world is the reason why we require to be conscious always of this need to participate by way of sacrifice. We are not totally independent individuals. Our independence is only a grant, a special permit issued to us, as it were, for the time being, like the permission given to a cow to move freely within the distance of the rope with which it is tied. If a cow is tied to a peg with a long rope, to the extent of the length of the rope there is freedom for the cow to roam about wherever it wants, and it feels totally independent. It may feel a great freedom to move anywhere, but only to the extent of the length of the rope. The moment it reaches the terminus of the rope, it is pulled back and it cannot go further. So our individuality, which appears to be a kind of freedom that we enjoy in our own so-called personality, is limited by the necessity to participate in a cosmic purpose, and we are free only to the extent our sacrifice is complete as ordained.

Inasmuch as the freedom of individuality is not real finally, as is apparent in the context of our assertion of personality through egoism, the point of sacrifice assumes great importance, and we seem to be living more for things beyond ourselves than for our own selves. The need that you feel for social service, for cooperation with people outside, to work for the betterment of anyone in the world – this need that you feel as an urge from inside you is not a whim or fancy; it is an upsurge of a necessity that is emanating from the root of your personality itself. Your very soul calls for this activity on your part, saying inwardly in its own voice that you cannot exist by yourself. You exist also for something more than yourself.

To be continued ...

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