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Bhagavad Gita - January 16, 2009 Chapter 3, Verses: 21-26 Swami Yogatmananda Vedanta Society of Providence     Please click the 'Play' button to start. It may take a minute.   Launch in external player   To download the lecture, please right-click here and then click "Save Target As..."       III.21: Whatever a superior person does, another person does that very thing! Whatever the superior upholds as an authority, an ordinary person follows that. III.22: In all the three worlds, O Partha, there is no duty whatsoever for Me (to fulfil); nothing remains unachieved or to be achieved. (Still) do I continue in action. III.23: O Partha, if at any time I do not continue vigilantly in action, men will follow My path in every way. III.24: These worlds will be ruined if I do not perform action. And I shall become the agent of intermingling of (casres) and the destroying of these beings. III.25: O scion of the Bharata dynasty, as the unenightened people act with attachment to work, so should the enlightened person act, without attachement, being desirous of the prevention of people going from astray. III.26:The enlightened being should not create disturbance in the beliefs of the ignorant, who are attached to work. Working, while himself remaining diligent, he/she should make them do all duties.   To Order Audio/Video CDs : bookstore@vedantaprov.org   List of Audio/Video CDs, DVDs

Summary of this lecture: Sri Ramakrishna said the essence of the Gita is "Tagi"--to give up clinging to what is not real. Although we can intellectually grasp that we must give up our attachment to the world, the mind wants to keep clinging. Knowing Arjuna's inclination to avoid doing his duty of fighting the war, and knowing that the rationale of spiritual evolution through the performance of unattached work may not be enough to make Arjuna fight (for he may think that he is beyond that stage), Krishna gives another reason: as a wise person and role model, Arjuna must set a good example. If he does not fight, the other soldiers will also refuse, and then Arjuna will be responsible for the harm that comes to them. Krishna himself works in this way. Since he is Lord, he needs nothing and has no duties; he does not need to work. However, because others are following his example, he is continuously working, in order to lead people to the Truth. Krishna then returns to the subject of proper work, which is advantageous because by working in this way one can avoid forming samskaras and thus will be free from bondage. We do not have to change the actions but the attitude with which we do the actions.