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Chapter 17
PROGRAMME FOR THE SEEKER
98. The Gita’s Scheme for Harmonious Living
22. Take the matter of food. Is there any opposition between the mouth and the stomach, the two organs involved in eating? Mouth should provide to the stomach only as much food as it really needs. It should not go on eating something just because it is tasty and delicious. The mouth should stop the moment the stomach signals it to do so. Both the stomach and the mouth are our organs. We are the master of both of them. There is perfect unity between their interests. Why do you create any wretched opposition? The organs in the body are not opposed to each other; there is cooperation between them. This is true for the society as well. To promote cooperation within the society, the Gita is prescribing yajna-dana-tapas, to be performed with a pure heart. Such karma will lead to the welfare of both the individual and the society. A man whose life is full of the spirit of yajna belongs to all. Just as every child feels that the mother loves him, everyone feels that such a person belongs to him. The whole world cherishes such a person. Ramdas has said, ‘ऐसा पुष ता पहावा । जनांस वाटे हा असावा ।’ (‘Everybody wants such a man in their midst.’) The Gita teaches us how to live such a life. |
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