Should we do our duty or leave it on God?

Question:  If your near and dear ones are facing problems, and you have done your level best to resolve them, with no positive results, then what is your duty now? Should you leave it to God and feel that now you have peace?

     

Answer by Swamiji:  As human beings, we are instructed by the scriptures to help others, and endeavor to mitigate their sufferings. But, we must do so in a detached manner, leaving the results to God.  As long as we are in material bondage, there will always be misery.  We will all grow old, we will all become sick, and we will all die one day.  Who can escape these realities of life?   So we cannot make anyone totally free from misery.  

Apart from this, we all have sañchit karmas (the karmas of endless past lives) that create suffering and happiness for us from time-to-time.  Not even God violates the Law of Karma.  The Purāṇas tell us that the Pāṇḍavas suffered immensely, even though they were great devotees of Shree Krishna. Arjun was a God-realized Saint, and yet his son Abhimanyu passed away, leaving Uttara a widow. Neither Shree Krishna nor Arjun could prevent the bereavement caused by his death. Then how do we hope to remove anyone's miseries entirely.  

Again, suffering is sometimes directly given by God for spiritual progress, to increase one's detachment from the world.  The scriptures state: 

taṁ bhraṁshayāmi sampadbhyo yasya chechcchāmya

nugraham (Śhrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.27.16)

In this verse, God says: "When I wish to bestow the highest treasure of Divine Love upon someone, I first prepare that person by giving suffering." The Bible states: "God sometimes gives misery in our lives, to turn us away from sin, and seek eternal life."  At the level of our thinking, material suffering is bad, but in the Divine plan, it may be necessary for the evolution of the soul.

Even if we are successful in removing someone's material miseries, this is only a very partial and temporary solution - you give food to a hungry person, and after six hours he is hungry again.  I am not decrying the need for doing material charity towards society.  But, that is not the only kind of charity that exists.  The highest charity is to help someone attain love for God, and get out of the cycle of life-and-death. The God-realized Saints engage in this Divine charity. They remove the root cause of suffering of the souls, which is forgetfulness of God. If we help the God-realized Saints in their welfare work, we effectively engage in the highest charitable activity we possibly can.  

So, if people are close to you, do try to alleviate their material miseries.  But at the same time, try to inspire them to strengthen their relationship with God.  And most importantly, remember to help others as a matter of duty, and leave the results in the hands of God.  If your sincere efforts to assist them do not yield results, do not be disturbed.

Why is it said that souls are only instruments in the hands of God?

Question by devotee: I have heard you explain in your discourses that we souls are the doers of our actions. Then why have the Bhakti Saints written padas (devotional songs), saying that they are only instruments in the hands of God, and that He is a real doer of their karmas?

Answer by Swamiji: The concepts Karm (action) and Karmphal (fruit of those actions) need to be understood separately for two categories-before surrender to God and after surrender to God.

Consider the first category-those souls who have not surrendered to God. They are under the grip of the unforgiving ego that makes them feel they are the doers. Also, they harbor personal desires independent of the will of God. In this state, God does not inspire their actions. He gives them the power to act, notes their karmas, and gives the fruits at the appropriate time.

Now consider the second category-those souls who are surrendered to the Almighty. They are free from the pride of doership. Also, they make God's desire as their own desire. In this state, the soul becomes the non-doer, and God becomes the Director for that surrendered soul. Hence, the God- realized souls are able to say:

na mai kiyā na kari sakauñ sāhiba kartā mora

karata karāvata āpa hai tulasī tulasī śhora

The Saint Tulsidas says: "I neither wrote the Ramayan, nor do I have the ability to write it. Shree Ram was the writer Himself, yet people say that Tulsidas has done it." We must bear in mind that this statement applies only to the second category, i.e. the God-realized saints.

The path for moving from the first category to the second category is to perform actions as if they are dependent upon us, and at the same time, to internally practice to think that God is the doer. Sage Vasishtha has expressed this very beautifully, in his advice to Lord Ram:

kartā bahirkartāntara vihara rāghava (Yoga Vāsiṣhṭha)

"O Ram! Act carefully, as if the results are dependent upon You. But from within, practice thinking that God is the real doer."

So at present, we will have to keep both principles in mind, as we journey from the materially bound state to the God-realized state.

What is virtue and what is sin?

Question asked by a devotee: We have heard many times that if we do punya we go to heaven and if we do paap we go to hell. So, what are those paap and punya?

Answer by Swamiji: Our scriptures have formulated code of conduct according to class and stage of life called "Varnashram Dharm". This code of conduct have an extensive set of rules like always speak truth, never lie, give respect to your parents etc. You can get detail information about it from scriptures like Manu Smriti, Mimamsha, Mahabharat, etc. There are millions of rules. If you are to keep your feet on ground, chant this mantra, chant this one while bathing etc. But the main purpose of all these rules and regulations are to make you work in accordance to the scriptures. If you work in accordance to scripture it will be called punya (virtue) and if you go against, it will be called paap (sin).

But there is one more theory that is the theory of Karm Yog. What are you supposed to do in Karm Yog? Not much. Do whatever is required in your present situation. If you are in family, look after it. If you are a husband, earn. If you are a wife, take care of house. Perform these basic duties. But, while performing these duties, detach your mind from these worldly objects and transfer your attachment to God. Lord Krishna said in Geeta:

manmanā bhava madbhakto madyājī maṁ namaskuru |
māmevaiṣhyasi satyaṁ te pratijāne priyosi me ||

Give your mind to Me, be devoted to Me, worship Me and bow to Me. Doing so, you will come to Me alone, I truly promise you; for, you are exceptionally dear to Me.

Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj has written in his Bhakti Shatak:

man hari meṁ tan jagat meṁ, karmayog tehi jān |
tan hari meṁ man jagat meṁ, yah mahān ajñān ||

Karm Yog is when your mind is fully observed in Shree Krishna while performing duties from your body. But, opposite of this, performing devotional formalities with body and attaching mind on world is greatest ignorance.

So this is called Karm Yog - keep your mind in God and body in the world. Rest are actions  in accordance to the code of conduct set by scriptures is virtue and going against them is sin.