Hinduism Doctrine And Way Of
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Books By Rajaji |
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THE FIRST STEP |
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IT is commonly
thought that the main teaching of Vedanta is retirement from the activities of the world.
The English literary tradition according to which the mild Hindu lets
"the legions thunder past, then plunges in thought again" is mainly due to
illusion, and partly also to wishful thinking. Far from this being true, it is a position
refuted in almost every chapter of the Bhagavad Gita with great force. Sanyasa or
renunciation has over and over again been explained as the giving up of the selfish desire
for the fruits of action, and not the giving up of action itself.
-Gita XVIII (xi)
"He who renounces the reward resulting from action is called a renouncer."
Flight from painful duty is unmanly and ignoble. The teaching of Sri Krishna in the Gita,
which is the epitome of upanishadic scripture, is: It is thine to do thy duty; the result does not be long to thee. It becometh not
thee to tremble when faced with the duties of thy life. Look upon pleasure and pain and
loss and gain as the same and fight-thereby thou incurrest no sin. |
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