SOME THOUGHTS ON DUTY
“Duty” is defined as moral or legal responsibility to be
performed by an individual or a team of individuals. Its non-performance is not only negligence but
also harmful, even dangerous. It is the duty of a sick man to treat his
sickness, otherwise he will endanger his health and die.
There are paid as well as unpaid duties. Both are important.
Lord Krishna says in the Bhagvad Gita it is everyone’s duty to perform his allotted actions,
without expecting any reward, and also by abandoning the ego of being the doer.
When Arjuna hesitates to perform his
duty of fighting, he tells him that you are born to fight, so you cannot neglect
your guty because that will be immoral.
Some common synonyms of duty are: responsibility, obligation,
loyalty, function, assignment, job, role, mission, and
requirement.
It has been rightly said by someone that duty performed is a moral tonic; if
neglected, the tone and strength of both mind and heart are weakened, and the
spiritual health undermined.
The safety and smooth-sailing of every department of life in
this world demands performance of duties to whomover they are assigned .
The American theologian Theodore Parker (1810-1860} said: Let
us do our duty in our shop or our kitchen; in the market, the street, the
office, the school, the home, just as faithfully as if we stood in the front
rank of some great battle, and knew that victory for mankind depended on our
bravery, strength and skill.---When we do that , the humblest of us will be
serving in that great army which achieves the welfare of the world. “
Finally, this thought which was uttered by American minister
and activist Martin Luther King Jr.(1929-1968): No work is insignificant. All
labour that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be
undertaken with painstaking excellence.”
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G.R.Kanwal
24 November 2024
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