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Let’s
just do our duty sincerely…
Dr
R Neerunjun Gopee
I am a
believer in continuous learning, and recently I read
something in an issue of the Africa Journal of Nursing
and Midwifery that caught my attention. The article was
about nursing approaches to improving patient care through
the quality of life (QOL) concept, which encompasses several
aspects: the functional status of patients, their emotional
well-being, life satisfaction, anxiety and symptom
intensity. The authors wrote that in Sub-Saharan Africa,
being given the heavy workload and the pressure under which
nurses work, ‘The focus is on what needs to be done rather
than thinking about the results of what has been done.’
The implication is that, while performing a particular
action, the nurse must always keep in mind whether it will
impact favourably on the QOL dimensions. Such more ‘active
engagement’ is presumed, then, to be able to achieve this
desired result.
In
general this should be the case, but experience tells us
that there are ‘known unknowns’ and ‘unknown
unknowns’ that can influence the course or results of
actions. In other words, we do not have complete control
over all the factors that come into play when we undertake
to do something, and this dimension is usually referred to
as chance, destiny, or fate. Still, this does not absolve us
from sloppiness or a lackadaisical attitude towards the
performance of our duties. But as long as we have done the
right thing to the best of our ability and with a positive
attitude, we can see that, in everything, when looked at in
a broader perspective, our commitment should be to the
performance of our action/s as part of our duty/-ies, and
having done that, accept the eventual result calmly and
gracefully. This does not preclude the fact that, should the
result not be to our expectations, we should analyse why
this has been so, and take the appropriate corrective
measures in future.
The
quotation from that journal struck me because it immediately
reminded me of Verse 47 in Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita:
‘You have the right to work, but never to the fruit of
work. You should never engage in action for the sake of
reward. Perform work in this world, Arjuna, as a man
established within himself – without selfish attachments,
and alike in success and defeat. For Yoga is perfect
evenness of mind.’ Arjuna is one of the Pandava princes,
whom Lord Krishna is teaching right there on the
battlefield, where he is facing the army of Kauravas.
Allegorically, the battlefield is that of our lives, our
daily struggle to ward off what is bad and to adhere to what
is good. This battle is fought from moment to moment in our
minds, which has its likes and dislikes, and it is these
latter which impel us to action.
Thus: I
want to have a nice house, so I need the money to buy or
build it, for which I have to work. Or, I do not like the
colour of one of the rooms in the house, which will lead me
to go and buy the colour of paint that I prefer. And so on
– one can multiply the examples a thousand-fold, because
we have so many desires and thus so many things to do.
This
verse came to my mind because of the association of two
events: the 24th World Ramayana Conference during
the weekend of 8/9/10 August, and Krishna Janmashtami
(celebration of the birthday of Bhagavan Shri Krishna) due
tomorrow. The essential practical teaching of both the
Ramayana and the Bhagavad Gita centres on the importance of
abiding by dharma, in its aspects of the performance on
one’s duty (kartavya) through engagement in action
(karma) and the upholding of righteousness. To carry
out an action, we need to know what is the end and what is
the means.
And our
performance must always be such that the means must justify
the end – not the other way round, viz. that the end
justifies the means. Because this leads us to the slippery
road of unrighteousness: we may be tempted to use unethical
means to achieve a given end. Because every action is
inevitably followed by a reaction – in the short or the
long term – the consequence of an unethical action can
only be undeserved, even if there is short term gain e.g.
stealing to buy a mobile phone, or cheating in the
examination. The world abounds in instances of victims of
unrighteousness, and they are too numerous to be mentioned
here. Each one of us can pick his favourite one.
What the
Ramayana stresses is that we have an obligation to do our kartavya
(to ourselves first, to spouse and children, to
parents/elders/ancestors, in our workplace, to the community
and society at large, to all living things, etc.,), and what
the Bhagavad Gita emphasises is that the actions to be done
in the fulfillment of these duties must be ethical – that
is, we must knowingly choose only the righteous means in
doing them to achieve the end sought. And having done that,
then it is best that we accept whatever result that comes as
Prasad, as a grace from Bhagavan, and not get unduly
excited when the result is as expected or better, or
depressed when it is less or the opposite of that expected
– these four outcomes: equal to and more than, or less
than and opposite to that expected being the only possible
ones in the natural order of things.
An
example often cited is that of student taking his HSC exams.
He has put in the necessary effort and time, sacrificed his
leisure and so on. When the results come he gets three As
expected, or he gets more: becomes a laureate. Other
scenarios: when going to the exam hall he gets held up in
traffic: when the results come he unfortunately has not got
good grades or perhaps he fails. But it is clear that he was
not responsible for the traffic hold-up, something entirely
outside his control. Instead of blaming himself, his fate or
finding fault with others, he must accept that these things
can happen – and his close ones must support him at this
crucial moment – and get over the negative episode, then
brace himself up to continue again. For who knows that
something better awaits him?
As
happened to Dr Abdul Kalam. He was dejected after his the
interview for his first job as technical officer in New
Delhi, in the 1950s. In this state of mind, before he
returned to his native Rameshwaran in Tamil Nadu, he went to
Rishikesh and visited Pujya Swami Sivananda. The latter
intuitively made out his situation, and told him not to
worry because he was meant for bigger things.
Abdul
Kalam became the leading rocket scientist of Bharat, and
went on to become her Rashtrapati. His ‘Wings of Fire’
is a must read. Happy reading!
RN
Gopee
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