The Gita according to Gandhi 135

The Gita according to Gandhi -Mahadev Desai

DELUSION DESTROYED (Discourse 18) 'From the unreal lead me to the Real, From darkness lead me to Light, From death lead me to Deathlessness.'* Let him blazon on the tablet of his mind three things: pure act or pure abandonment is the performance of what comes to one's lot, without attachment, without like or dislike, without thought of reward; pure perception is the vision of unity in all diversity; pure happiness is the straining for eternal bliss through arduous, even apparently painful endeavour (XVIII. 18-40). These gunas are thus woven into every fibre of man's being; no one is free from them* not even the gods (40). The four-fold division of the social organism is also based on what gifts and what special aptitudes one can bring to bear for the service of the organism. A Brahman's function or work presupposes and must evidence the qualities of serenity, self-denial, long-suffering, spiritual knowledge; a Kshatriya's work, the qualities of valour, spiritedness, magnanimity; a Vaishya's work will be the production of wealth from land, cows and commerce; and a Shudra's work is to help the rest by bodily labour (XVIII. 41-44).