TEXT 16
एवं प्रवर्तितं चक्रं नानुर्क्तयतीह यः।
अघायुरिन्द्रियारामो मोघं पार्थ स जीवति॥१६॥
TRANSLATION
" My dear Arjuna, one who does not follow in human life the cycle of sacrifice thus established by the Vedas certainly leads a life full of sin. Living only for the satisfaction of the senses, such a person lives in vain."
PURPORT
The mammonist philosophy of "work very hard and enjoy sense gratification" is condemned herein by the Lord. Therefore, for those who want to enjoy this material world, the above-mentioned cycle of performing yjanas is absolutely necessary. One who does not follow such regulations is living a very risky life, being condemned more and more.
By nature's law, this human form of life is specially meant for self-realization, in either of the three ways--namely karma-yoga, jnana-yoga, or bhakti-yoga. There is no necessity of rigidly following the performances of the prescribed yajnas for the transcendentalists who are above vice and virtue; but those who are engaged in sense gratification require purification by the above mentioned cycle of yajna performance.
There are different kinds of activities. Those who are not Krsna consious are certainly engaged in sensory consciousness; therefore they need to execute pious work. The yajna system is planned in such a way that sensory conscious persons may satisfy their desires without becoming entangled in the reaction of sense-gratificatory work.
The prosperity of the world depends not on our own efforts but on the background arrangement of the Supreme Lord, directly carried out by the demigods. Therefore, the yajnas are directly aimed at the particular demigods mentioned in the Vedas.
Indirectly, it is the practice of Krsna consciousness, because when one masters the performance of yajnas one is sure to become Krsna conscious. But if by performing yajnas one does not become Krsna conscious, such principles are counted as only moral codes. One should not, therefore, limit his progress only to the point of moral codes, but should transcend them, to attain Krsna consciousness.
TEXT 17
यस्त्वात्मरतिरेव स्यादात्मतृप्तश्र्च मानवः।
आत्मन्येव च सन्तुष्टस्तस्य कार्यं न विद्यते॥१७॥
TRANSLATION
" But for one who takes pleasure in the self, whose human life is one of self-realization, and who is satisfied in the self only, fully satiated--for him there is no duty."
PURPORT
A person who is fully Krsna conscious, and is fully satisfied by his acts in Krsna consciousness, no longer has any duty to perform. Due to his being Krsna conscious, all impiety within is instantly cleansed, an effect of many, many thousands of yajnas performances. By such clearing of consciousness, one becomes fully confident of his eternal position in relationship with the Supreme.
His duty thus becomes self-illuminated by the grace of the Lord, and therefore he no longer has any obligations to the Vedic injunctions. Such a Krsna conscious person is no longer interested in material activities and no longer takes pleasure in material arrangements like wine, women and similar infatuations.
TEXT 18
नैव तस्य कृतेनार्था नाकृतेनेह कश्र्चन।
न चास्य सर्वभूतेषु कश्र्चिदर्थव्यपाश्रयः॥१८॥
TRANSLATION
"A self-realized man has no purpose to fulfill in the discharge of his prescribed duties, nor has he any reason not to perform such work. Nor has he any need to depend on any other living being."
PURPORT
A self-realized man is no longer obliged to perform any prescibed duty, save and except activities in Krsna consciousness. Krsna consciousness is not inactivity either, as will be explained in the following verses. A Krsna conscious man does not take shelter of any person--man or demigod. Whatever he does in Krsna consciousness is sufficient in the discharge of his obligation.
TEXT 19
तस्मादसत्कः सततं कार्यं कर्म समाचर।
असत्को ह्याचरन्कर्म परमाप्नोति पूरूषः॥१९॥
TRANSLATION
" Therefore, without being attached to the fruits of activities, one should act as a matter of duty, for by working without attachment one attains the Supreme."
PURPORT
The Supreme is the Personality of Godhead for the devotees, and liberation for the impersonalist. A person therefore, acting for Krsna, or in Krsna consciousness, under proper guidance and without attachment to the result of the work, is certainly making progress toward the supreme goal of life.
Arjuna is told that he should fight in the Battle of Kuruksetra for the interest of Krsna because Krsna wanted him to fight. To be a good man or a nonviolent man is a personal attachment, but to act on behalf of the Supreme is to act without attachment for the result. That is perfect action of the highest degree, recommended by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna.
Vedic rituals, like prescribed sacrifices, are performed for purification of impious activities that were performed in the field of sense gratification. But action in Krsna consciousness is transcendental to the reactions of good and evil work. A Krsna conscious person has no attachment for the result but acts on behalf of Krsna alone. He engages in all kinds of activities, but is completely nonattached.
TEXT 20
कर्मणैव हि संसिद्धिमास्थिता जनकादयः।
लोकसङ्गहमेवापि सम्पश्यन्कर्तुमर्हसि ॥२०॥
TRANSLATION
"Kings such as Janaka attained perfection solely by performance of prescribed duties. Therefore, just for the sake of educating the people in general, you should perform your work."
PURPORT
Kings like Janaka were all self-realized souls; consequently they had no obligation to perform the prescribed duties in the Vedas. Nonetheless they performed all prescribed activities just to set examples for the people in general. Janaka was the father of Sita and father-in-law of Lord Sri Rama.
Being a great devotee of the Lord, he was transcendentally situated, but because he was the king of Mithila (a subdivision of Bihar province in India), he had to teach his subjects how to perform prescribed duties. Lord Krsna and Arjuna, the Lord's eternal friend, had no need to fight in the Battle of Kuruksetra, but they fought to teach people in general that violence is also necessary in a situation where good arguments fail. Before the Battle of Kuruksetra, every effort was made to avoid the war, even by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but the other party was determined to fight.
So for such a right cause, there is a necessity for fighting. Although one who is situated in Krsna consciousness may not have any interest in the world, he still works to teach the public how to live and how to act. Experienced persons in Krsna consciousness can act in such a way that others will follow, and this is explained in the following verse.
TEXT 21
यद्यदाचरति श्रेष्ठस्तत्तदेवेतरो जनः।
स यत्प्रमाणं कुरूते लोकस्यदनुवर्तते॥२१॥
TRANSLATION
"Whatever action a great man performs, common men follow. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues."
PURPORT
People in general always require a leader who can teach the public by practical behavior. A leader cannot teach the public to stop smoking if he himself smokes. Lord Caitanya said that a teacher should behave properly before he begins teaching. One who teaches in that way is called acarya, or the ideal teacher.
Therefore, a teacher must follow the principles of sastra (scripture) to teach the common man. The teacher cannot manufacture rules against the principles of revealed scriptures. The revealed scriptures, like Manu-samhita and similar others, are considered the standard books to be followed by human society.
Thus the leader's teaching should be based on the principles of such standard sastras. One who desries to improve himself must follow the standard rules as they are practiced by the great teachers. The Srimad-Bhagavatam also affirms that one should follow in the footsteps realization.
The king or the executive head of state, the father and the school teacher are all considered to be natural leaders of the innocent people in general. All such natural leaders have a great responsibility to their dependents; therefore they must be conversant with standard books of moral and spiritual codes.
TEXT 22
न मे पार्थास्ति कर्तव्यं त्रिषु लोकेषु किञ्चन।
नानवाप्तमवाप्तव्यं वर्त एव च कर्मणि॥२२॥
TRANSLATION
"O son of Prtha, there is no work prescribed for Me within all the three planetary systems. Nor am I in want of anything, nor have I a need of obtain anything--and yet I am engaged in prescribed duties."
PURPORT
The Supreme Personality of Godhead is described in the Vedic literatures as follows:
tam isvaranam paramam mahesvaram
tam devatanam paramam ca daivatam
patim patinam paramam parastad
vidama devam bhuvanesam idyam
na tasya karyam karanam ca vidyatee
na tat-samas cabhyadhikas ca drsyate
parasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate
svabhaviki jnana-bala-kriya ca
"The Supreme Lord is the controller of all other controllers, and He is the greatest of all the diverse planetary leaders. Everyone is under His control. All entities are delegated with particular power only by the Supreme Lord; they are not supreme themselves. He is also worshipable by all demigods and is the supreme director of all directors. Therefore, He is transcendental to all kinds of material leaders and controllers and is worshipable by all. There is no one greater than Him, and He is the supreme cause of all causes."
"He does not possess bodily form like that of an ordiary living entity. There is no difference between His body and His soul. He is absolute. All His senses are transcendental. Any one of His senses can perform the action of any other sense. Therefore, no one is greater than Him or equal to Him. His potencies are multifarious, and thus His deeds are automatically performed as a natural sequence."(Svetasvatar Upanisad 6.7-8)
Since everything is in full opulence in the Personality of Godhead and is existing in full truth, there is no duty for the Supreme Personality of Godhead to perform. One who must receive the results of work has some designated duty, but one who has nothing to achieve within the three planetary systems certainly has no duty. And yet Lord Krsna is egaged on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra as the leader of the ksatriyas because the ksatriyas are duty-bound to give protection to the distressed.
Although He is above all the regulations of the revealed scriptures, He does not do anything that violates the revealed scriptures.