Krishna says:
Whatever a leader does,
the ordinary people also do.
He sets the standard
for the world to follow.
In the three worlds,
there is nothing I must do,
nothing unattained to be attained,
yet I engage in action.
What if I did not engage
relentlessly in action?
Men retrace my path
at every turn, Arjuna
These worlds would collapse
if I did not perform action;
I would create disorder in society,
living beings would be destroyed.
As the ignorant act with attachment
to actions, Arjuna,
so wise men should act with detachment
to preserve the world.
No wise man disturbs the understanding
of ignorant men attached to action;
he should inspire them,
performing all actions with discipline.
Actions are all effected
by the qualities of nature;
but deluded by individuality,
the self thinks, "I am the actor."
When he can discriminate
the actions of nature's qualities
and think, "The qualities depend
on other qualities," he is detached.
Those deluded by the qualities of nature
are attached to their actions;
a man who knows this should not upset
these dull men of partial knowledge.
Surrender all actions to me,
and fix your reason on your inner self;
without hope or possessiveness,
your fever subdued, fight the battle!
-- excerpted from the Bhagavad-Gita, the Third Teaching: Discipline of Action (21-30)
When it says
ReplyDelete"qualities of nature"
I think he is referring to the three gunas.
parital knowledge.
ReplyDeleteDespite the spelling problems, I love the message. I get that the wise PEOPLE, performing action without attachment, keeps the world going, and without them, that is, with only those performing with attachment, the world would fall apart.
Do you get that?
I'm so inspired by this work -
ReplyDelete". . . there is nothing I must do,
nothing unattained to be attained,. . ."
Reminds me of:
"There's nothing you can do that can't be done,
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung,
Nothing you do but you can learn how to feel inside,
It's easy . . . . ."