SELF-LESS GOALS

 

            SELF-LESS GOALS

It is in the eighteenth chapter of the  Bhagavad  Gita, the sacred book of the Hindus, where its author Lord Krishna says human beings have the right to perform their allotted  actions but not to the fruit or reward thereof:-

“To do thy duty is the only right;

            Thou hast no right to crave reward or fruit.

            Do all thy work with a detached mind.

            Enjoy the joys thy fortune may bring thee,

            But with aloofness, ready to give up.

 

Another English version Is like this:”You have right to work only never to its fruits. Let not the fruits of action be your motive, nor let your attachment to be inaction.“

This  is what is meant by a self-less goal. In other words: One should choose a selfless goal and use selfless means to attain it.

 

            Finally, a quotation  from the translation of the Bhagavadgita by Dr. Sarvepalli  Radhakrishnan (1888-1975) :  An action which is obligatory, which is performed without attachment, without love or hate by one un-desirous of fruit, that is said to be good.

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G.R.Kanwal

27 June 2024