Passage 13

Tap any word for its meaning.

In plain words

Someone may be a farmer. Another may be a merchant. Their Dharmas, too, are distinct. One may be a woman. Another may be a man. Their Dharmas too are distinct. Among these women, too, one may be a housewife. Another may be a maiden. Their Dharmas also are distinct. So to think of Dharma as the same for everyone is madness. To enquire into one's own state, one's mind, one's course and understanding is a very hard thing. The easy way for this is simply to act as ‘Sarvakarma bhagavat prītyarthamu’! ‘Swami! I offer everything to You. Whatever I do, it is You who make me do it!’ If we act in this spirit of Śaraṇāgati, Dharma comes about very easily. The heart must change; the words must not change. We must not merely recite the Bhagavad Gītā; we must prove it in practice. We must achieve this truth with determined effort. Set the five delicacies and sweet rice on a plate, and even if you chant ‘five delicacies and sweet rice, five delicacies and sweet rice’ a thousand times, will your stomach be filled? It will not. You need not chant; take it in your hand and put your mouth to work: that is enough. The stomach fills. Putting your mouth and your hand to work: that is the practice of karma! So in practice you will find Ānanda, but in recitation you will not find Ānanda. This itself is the chief authority of the Bhagavad Gītā, its life-breath.