The Hindu : One must not shirk his responsibility

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 26, 2003

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous - Religion

One must not shirk his responsibility

CHENNAI JUNE 26 . "Do your duty with love, dedication, involvement, as God's command, remain unmindful of the results; think that you are an instrument chosen by God and do not anticipate rewards". If only men in their different walks of life adopt these suggestions, there is bound to be all round improvement in this country. India is a land of the Vedas and traditions left by sages and saints but on the other hand the landscape has changed and we now witness deterioration.

Why this imbalance? To a great extent this may be attributed to the tendency to shirk one's responsibility. Ask any one, whether a white-collared person or an employee in private establishment, he will only say that he does his duty mechanically, with reluctance and there is no charm about his job as it is repetitive and rigmarole.

A teacher feels that he has taken up this assignment, as there was no other alternative. He will be hoping to jump into some other job. Even a housewife's reaction will be that her routine is drudgery. It is in this context that the Bhagavad Gita serves as a valuable digest to bring cheer to the unhappy. Arjuna, the warrior, gave many excuses to avoid the fight but the Lord said, "Your duty is to face your foes and meet the challenge squarely. Do not try to run away shirking your responsibility."

A famed teacher and political leader was once asked whether he would become the country's President or Prime Minister when it gets Independence. He replied, "I shall continue to love my job and train hundreds of Presidents and Prime Ministers". A saint remarked about his mastery over his flute that "the mellifluous sound that emanates from it is God's, I am the mere holes." What is relevant in administration is to shed one's ego and feel that God is behind while he is a tool to complete his work successfully and honestly, explained Sri Sukhi Sivam in a lecture.

Has God as a human followed this dictum, one may want to know. Two examples, one the manner in which He attended to the horses with great care when He acted as a charioteer and secondly the way in which He led Draupadi to Bhishma to take his blessings (in the war theatre) and how He preserved her footwear when she went inside the tent, reveal that He did His duty with absolute dedication.

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