Karmani eva adhikaarah te... - Swamini Sugunananda

Inspiration comes to many people at some point in life. Some get inspired by famous singers. Some want to become great sportsmen; why, some even want to become leaders or politicians, whatever they are worth for. For all this, some kind of inspiration must be there. This is called motivated inspiration, or personalized inspiration, where there is a personal imprint on what one wants to become – that "I" want to become so-and-so, somehow or other. That becomes the goal of their life, and they put forth maximum efforts to reach that goal. But in all these kinds of motivated or personalized inspiration, whenever they come up against obstacles (may be a few, may be many), almost always, they end up in frustration and disappoint-ment. They start with high hopes and ambitions, dreaming of finding their peace and fulfillment in the goal they have set for themselves. They know very well that, for every thousand or lakh of aspirants, there can be only one great singer, sportsman, leader or artist. For even these few who succeed, even after reaching that position, the fear of losing it will always haunt them. The very goal of fulfillment and peace, which they had hoped to enjoy, seems to be going farther and farther away from them. The very purpose for which so much of efforts were put, appears not to be serving any purpose at all.

But now, naturally, one may ask, "Is it wrong to have an ambition or goal in life?" Not at all. But one must know the secret of reaching the goal, or the right means and ways of not only achieving the goal, but also how to save oneself from frustration.

In the 7th Chapter of the Geeta, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna,

© "Tapovan Prasad" (February, 2002) published by Chinmaya Mission, # 2, 13th Avenue, Harrington Road, Chetput, Chennai 600031. Website: chinmayamission.org. Reprinted with permission.

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