— Vraja Kishor das iis a regular contributor to CHAKRA

He was there in his transcendental body, the residence of the goddess of fortune, with his usual gentle and sweetly smiling face, his words like nectar.

And confusing.

He told me to become learned, a sage, sthita-dhir muni. He told me to be a yogi. Then, he told me to fight a war.

Can you be a yogi and a warrior at the same time? So I asked, "Which one, yogi or warrior?"

"Both are good," he said. "Renunciation leads to liberation; and so does careful execution of duty. Which one is for you? Stick to your duty, that is better than sannyasa."

And that was just like him, always saying something to brim my mind with wonder and blow the doors of what I thought I knew was certain.

"Because," he went on, "the renunciation one who performs his worldly duties without attachment is steady. It lasts. Others often ruin themselves by suddenly abandoning what they still hold dear.

"Don't be so amazed. Only the ignorant say that renunciation brings a different fruit than karma-yoga. The wise know that they both cause enlightenment. Yet still, I say that sannyasa is a difficult path. Rare is the seed that can flourish in that dry soil. On the other hand, if you carefully perform the prescribed duties of your ksatriya varna and grhastha asrama you will enjoy happiness, and become purified at the same time.

"It is not a joke. It is not easy to execute your duties in this world. It is also a yoga. The most important practice of this yoga is to give shelter to all living entities, treat them as you would treat your self. Give them charity. Feed them. This is how you will purify the fruits of your asrama and not be entangled by them. But how will you be able to sacrifice for others unless you have purified your intelligence, controlled your mind, and conquered the lust in your senses. Therefore I say that sticking to your duties is also yoga - it is equal to renunciation.

"I ask you to be active in this world, but not get absorbed in it and carried away into illusion. It is an art! It is a discipline. You will have to cultivate spiritual realization. You will have to see that you are not the cause of what comes from your endeavors, nor are you able to do anything in this world without the cooperation of higher forces - material nature, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

"Beware! Without this realization, you will be lost. If you think that you are the doer of your actions, and the cause of their fruit, your labor will increase without limit and swallow all the hours of your day and night. Your regulation will disintegrate as you struggle to increase your pay check. Your study time, your meditation time will be lost. So will you.

"However, if you always remember that everything you do in this world is simply an interaction of the three material modes, and that all their fruits come from and belong to the Supreme Lord, then you will be untouched by ignorance, like a lotus leaf untouched by water."

There he still stood, transcendent, radiant - delivering wisdom and guidance to live in this world, and be untouched by it. Awed by his gift, I asked a question, "What is it like to be such a liberated person? How do they see the world they live in?"

"The liberated soul," he said, "sees everything and everyone equally, because he has no attraction or aversion to matter and is thus as flawless and impartial as the Lord. Since he is without desire or hatred, his intelligence does not rejoice or lament. It remains sharp and fixed in the self. This brings him incomparable happiness eclipsing the paltry glitter of temporary sense gratification, which is actually only a source of misery.

"The karma yogi patiently tolerates the forces of desire and anger (23) by focusing his happiness, activities, and goals inward (24) and purifying his external activities by constantly working for the benefit of others (25). Endeavoring in this way, he soon attains liberation (26).

© CHAKRA 23-Mar-2000

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