The Relevance of the Bhagavadgita to Humanity 10-1: Swami Krishnananda.
========================================================================================Thursday 12, December 2024, 06:10.
The Relevance of the Bhagavadgita to Humanity:10-1.
Chapter 10: The Need for Sankhya
The First Six Chapters of the Bhagavadgita:
Swami Krishnananda
(Spoken on Bhagavadgita Jayanti
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Chapter 10: The Need for Sankhya-1.
The interdependence of human society was one of the points which was taken up as a position to substantiate human responsibility in respect of all humanity. The fact of interdependence of human society would enable us to conceive humanity as a single person. All mankind is one man, as it were. All persons constitute one person. This conclusion would follow from the appreciation of the fact that the units forming human society are interdependent, interdeterminant and interconditioning – we may say, even interexistent. Thus comes the necessity on the part of each unit in human society to contribute its little might for the solidarity, structural stability and well-being of this total reality which we call humanity.
The character, the nature of this contribution, which is the duty that one has to perform in respect to society, differs according to the position that each unit occupies. This is very important to remember. Human beings want knowledge, but inasmuch as no human being is omniscient and omnipotent, each one is not expected to know everything and be capable of doing everything. The different gradations of evolutionary position in which people find themselves would sanction the kind of contribution that can be expected from them and, broadly speaking, this classification of duty has been arranged in a fourfold fashion. The traditional names for these classifications were Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Sudra which, actually, in an impartial manner, mean spiritual power, administrative power, economic power and manpower. This is a very beautiful setup conceived by the ancient sages for not only the stability of society but also for the inner growth of society from the lesser levels to the higher levels.
Thus, there is no person who is totally exempt from the performance of some duty or other. It is impossible to exempt anyone. It is so because of the fact that everyone forms part of the society. It is no use saying that we are not part of society. That also is not a possibility. Whoever exists in society is a part of society. A mere proclamation from one's own side that one is not a part does not become a sanction for one's independence. Śarīrayātrāpi ca te na prasidhyed akarmaṇaḥ (BG 3.8) is a passage from the Bhagavadgita: Even our physical existence cannot be possible if we assert such a type of independence. This egoism is not permitted under the law of nature. Even our physical existence is conditioned by the contributions made by many other units of human society.
Honest, dispassionate thinking is necessary here, and everyone has to be humble enough to realise the extent of one's dependence on external factors. No one is the creator of the universe, and no one is so vastly occupied with power that one can be totally independent. Nothing can be independent in this world of interconnections, interrelations. Therefore, we have a duty, and what our duty is, is to be decided by the position we are occupying in the structure of the human society, our knowledge, and our capacity: guna karma vibhagasah (BG 4.13). Details of this guna karma vibhaga, the classification of human function and duty in the light of the gunas that constitute and operate in the human personality, will be explained in a little greater detail in the Eighteenth Chapter.
We have a social duty. It is simple common sense. It does not require much of a study and logical understanding. Any sensible person will realise that there is mutual give and take of assistance. So, from this point of view also, we cannot say we shall do nothing. That is not a possibility.
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Continued
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