Gyaneshwari -Sant Gyaneshwar
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Chapter-18
Release
48. One should not abandon one’s duty, O Son of Kunti, even though it may be faulty; for all actions are overlaid by defects, as fire is with smoke. Since every action involves labour in the beginning, then why should one find fault with one’s duty, on the ground that it is laborious? O Arjuna, one becomes equally fatigued, even if one walks on a highway or a by-path. Whether one carries a stone or provision for the journey, the burden is the same. Therefore, one should carry the burden which will relieve fatigue caused by the journey at the rest-house. Pounding corn or chaff involves the same labour, so does cooking meat or cooking food for sacrificial purposes. O intelligent Arjuna, one has to toil equally in churning curds and water or in crushing sand and sesame in an oil-mill (936-940). One has to suffer from smoke, if one kindles fire for an obligatory sacrifice or for other work. One has to incur expenditure equally in supporting a wife or a kept woman. Why then incur the odium of a scandal by keeping a mistress? If one cannot avoid death by turning one’s back to the enemy, then why should one not face the enemy and fight with him? If a lady from a good family has to bear the blows of a stick in another’s house, does it not mean that she has made a mistake in leaving her husband because he beat her? If therefore, we cannot avoid physical labour in performing any action, even of our liking, then how can we complain that the prescribed action is difficult to perform (941-945)? |
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