Playing our role in life

[1]

Swami Tejomayananda [1]

When there is a sense of oneness and love, service comes naturally. The wish to injure does not arise. There is growth and prosperity for all. That is why we say that the knowledge of Advaita, or oneness of the self, is dharmika as it leads to the full integration of society. To love and serve all is the very basis of self-knowledge and in its light alone can we determine what is dharma.
Furthermore, having understood this to be your true duty (svadharma), you should not waver, for there is nothing higher for a kshatriya than a righteous war (II:31).
Here, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna not to fear, nor to avoid the impending war. Once more He exhorts Arjuna that it is his responsibility and duty to fight. But the necessary principles must be understood in order for him to be successful. We have discussed at length what constitutes dharma. All those virtues, values, feelings, conduct, behaviour and actions that contribute to the improvement of society, are dharma. In contrast, all actions and conduct contrary to these cause disintegration, and are adharmika.
Today we see the disintegration of values and families. Communities are floundering and it is evident that something is wrong. That is because people are disintegrating from within.
Outer integration comes only when inner integration is established. How to establish that inner integration? Make your vision and values spiritual, it is then that dharma will be meaningful.
The breakdown of the family is a clear sign that a gap exists between how we think and how we act. It may be that we give too much importance to ambition or something else, and the view of the totality is lost. If only an individual perspective is held, then there are many problems. Individualism has its place in the scheme of things, but when carried to the extreme it disturbs the balance of the whole.

Integrating Dharma: Dharma is that which brings about self-integration. In his introduction to his book The Holy Geeta, Swami Chinmayananda affirms that when our subjective mind becomes one with the objective mind, there is personality integration. Lacking that, we may know many things intellectually, but our mind, coloured by personal prejudices and judgments, will give way to its own desires. Our evaluation of a situation may be wrong because the mind lacks the necessary purity. Therefore, the problem is due to lack of vision only, and what happens at the physical level is only a symptom. For every one of us there is a dharma and this is fully elaborated upon in the scriptures. The idea is that every person lives in the society as an individual relating to many others.
Whether we are students, administrators, businessmen, labourers or even monks, all are governed by the duties established for their particular stages and professions. When everyone accepts the responsibilities of their dharma the entire society prospers.
Consider a sports team, for example. Each player is assigned a different position, but they have a common goal and that is to win! Sometimes we lose sight of that common goal. If we are concerned with individual glory only, then the collective prosperity suffers. This occurs often in many organisations. A person may work very well alone, but when it comes to working with others, he finds it difficult. We should strive to work well together.
If personal prejudices or dislikes come into the picture, the sense of oneness is lost and the common objective becomes defeated. This is the understanding of dharma in its wider context.
It is at this time that Lord Krishna tells Arjuna that he is a noble and valiant warrior, one who has been groomed to protect the cause of righteousness. The Lord persuades Arjuna that if he were to leave the battlefield he would be forsaking his duty as a kshatriya, which is to fight. Therefore, it becomes imperative that Arjuna engage himself in the battle while viewing dharma in its totality.

— Swami Tejomayananda, head of
Chinmaya Mission Worldwide, is an orator, poet, singer, composer and storyteller. To find out more about Chinmaya Mission and Swamiji, visit www.chinmayamission.com [2].
© Central Chinmaya Mission Trust.