#9 — Importance of being alert 24 hours a day & seven days a week

Chapter 3 — Gita

Shloka 12 — इष्टान्भोगान्हि वो देवा दास्यन्ते यज्ञभाविताः। तैर्दत्तानप्रदायैभ्यो यो भुङ्क्ते स्तेन एव सः ।।१२।।

Shloka 13 — यज्ञशिष्टाशिनः सन्तो मुच्यन्ते सर्वकिल्बिषैः । भुञ्जते ते त्वघं पापा ये पचन्त्यात्मकारणात् ।।१३।।

Shloka 14 — अन्नाद्भवन्ति भूतानि पर्जन्यादन्नसंभवः । यज्ञाद्भवति पर्जन्यो यज्ञः कर्मसमुद्भवः ।।१४।।

Shloka 15 — कर्म ब्रह्मोद्भवं विद्धि ब्रह्माक्षमुद्भवम्। तस्मात्सर्वगतं ब्रह्म नित्यं यज्ञे प्रतिष्ठितम् ।।१५।।

Shloka 16 — एवं प्रवर्तितं चक्रं नानुवर्तयतीह यः । अघायुरिन्द्रियारामो मोघं पार्थ स जीवति ।।१६।।

Shloka 17 — यस्त्वात्मरतिरेव स्यादात्मतृप्तश्च मानवः ।आत्मन्येव च संतुष्टस्तस्य कार्यं न विद्यते ।।१७।।

Shloka 18 — नैव तस्य कृतेनार्थो नाकृतेनेह कश्चन । न चास्य सर्वभूतेषु कश्चिदर्थव्यपाश्रयः ।।१८।।रस

Dada — Nice to see your long mail. It is indeed, good to see that what I learned after a lot of trial & error, has been sorted out by you at such a young age. You will soon realize that this approach of not caring for credit, will make your actions more perfect & success would be always at your doorstep.

The seven Gita shlokas are very significant. Ponder over them well & meditate upon them. The example, that after success in making money, they realize that giving back is the only way to feel happy. That only fortifies your approach as to why waste time in only making money first & then begin to practice charity, why not do it all along while you are leading your life.

Shloka 19 — तस्मादसक्तः सततं कार्यं कर्म समाचर । असक्तो ह्याचरन्कर्म परमाप्नोति पूरुषः ।।१९।।

Shloka 20 — कर्मणैव हि संसिद्धिमास्थिता जनकादयः । लोकसंग्रहमेवापि संपश्यन्कर्तुमर्हसि ।।२०।।

Shloka 21 — यद्यदाचरति श्रेष्ठस्तत्तदेवेतरो जनः । स यत्प्रमाणं कुरुते लोकस्तदनुवर्तते ।।२१।।

Shloka 22 — न मे पार्थास्ति कर्तव्यं त्रिषु लोकेषु किंचन । नानवाप्तमवाप्तव्यं वर्त एव च कर्मणि ।।२२।।

Mudit,

As always, your mails are very interesting. If your mind is focused on what you should be doing at a given moment as your bounden duty, then you would have no time to think about your self & selfless action alone would naturally flow out of you every moment.

As you have observed me since your childhood, I have maintained this attitude right from my IAS service days, because as a civil servant, I was required to be alert 24 hours a day & seven days a week. This became a habit & I was able to perform at my best always.

These Gita shlokas 19, 20, 21, 22 are indeed great lessons on Karma Yoga. I will share with you that I recite 77 Gita shlokas every day while doing my daily chores; these I have memorized over time; earlier I was doing more but I realized that it was becoming too strenuous for my heart.

Shloka 23 — यदि ह्यहं न वर्तेयं जातु कर्मण्यतन्द्रितः । मम वर्त्मानुवर्तन्ते मनुष्याः पार्थ सर्वशः ।।२३।।

Shloka 24 — उत्सीदेयुरिमे लोका न कुर्यां कर्म चेदहम् । संकरस्य च कर्ता स्यामुपहन्यामिमाः प्रजाः ।।२४।।

Will power always keeps on becoming stronger & stronger with constant practice. You are practicing it daily with your steady fitness schedule & also through your pretty heavy office work schedule every day.

Reading the shlokas of the Gita which you are covering every day, is like remembering old friends for me because I have read them so often in the last 15 years. Every shloka of the Gita carries deep meanings which keep on becoming obvious when read them again & again.

Shloka 25 — सक्ताः कर्मण्यविद्वांसो यथा कुर्वन्ति भारत । कुर्याद्विद्वांस्तथासक्तश्चिकीर्षुर्लोकसंग्रहम् ।।२५।।

Shloka 26 — न बुद्धिभेदं जनयेदज्ञानां कर्मसङ्गिनाम्।जोषयेत्सर्वकर्माणि विद्वान्युक्तः समाचरन् ।।२६।।

I wonder if you have got the full sense of shloka 25, which says that a selfless person works for public good as passionately as a selfish person does for his own benefit.

Shloka 26 is worth noting, that while you may continue to do your duties & obligations selflessly, you should not discourage or taunt those who may not be enlightened enough in their daily life, but you may keep trying to assist them to the extent possible to enable them to perform their duties selflessly.