Every member in the entire kingdom of the minerals, the vegetables and the dumb-creatures, instinctively follows this principle of Yajna and contributes thereby to the smooth running of the Universal-Wheel-of-Action. Among living creatures, man alone has been allowed the FREEDOM OF ACTION to contribute to the harmony, or to bring about discord in the smooth running of this cosmic mechanism. So long as the majority of a generation manage to live abiding by the Law-of-Harmony they shall grow from strength to strength, opening up fields of happiness for themselves. Such periods are called the golden eras of their social and cultural life.

But, this faithful obedience is not always possible, for all of them, at all times. At certain periods of history, man, as a social being, comes to revolt against this Eternal Law, and then, life starts slipping away from its peaceful domain of constructive growth, and shatters itself in tearful ruin. Such ages are the dark ages of despair and restlessness, war and pestilence, flood and famine.

The question naturally arises as to why the bright day of the world slowly sets itself to bring in the dark night of chaos. The explanation is given here in the Geeta.

A community is made up of its individuals. However much we may glorify the achievements of the community as such, we cannot totally ignore the contributions made by the units constituting the community — the individuals. If the individuals are perfect, the community works smoothly. But, if the units are wrongly composed, then the entire healthy growth and strength of structure in the total collapses. The individuals’ negative existence starts with their pre-occupation with their senses. In their limited recognition that they are themselves nothing more than their body, they become pre-occupied with its nourishment and fattening. As a body, they cannot perceive the Higher ‘ways of life’; nor can they entertain any goal other than seeking satisfactions for their mere animal passions.

In such an era, nobody would come forward to work in the redeeming noble spirit of Yajna, without which, no “favourable circumstances” (rain), could be created for the “productive potentials” (Devas) to manifest themselves as nourishing joy. Seekers of sense (Indriya-ramah), they compete among themselves, each seeking with lustful greed, his own selfish happiness, and they, often unconsciously, bring about a discordant rhythm in the Wheel-of-Action. Such people are considered by the Geeta as “living in sin,” and the Divine Song asserts, “they live in vain.”

NOW THE LORD HIMSELF SUPPOSES ARJUNA TO ASK THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS: “IS THE WHEEL-OF-ACTION, THUS SET IN MOTION, TO BE FOLLOWED BY ALL, OR BY HIM ONLY WHO HAS NOT YET ATTAINED FIRM FAITH IN THE PATH OF KNOWLEDGE?”

O Partha, sah, he; jivati, lives; mogham, in vain; yah, who, though competent for action; na anuvartayati, does not follow; iha, here, in the world; cakram, the wheel of the world; evam, thus; pravartitam, set in motion, by God, on the basis of the Vedas and the sacrifices; aghayuh, whose life (ayuh) is sinful (agham), i.e. whose life is vile; and indriya-aramah, who indulges in the senses-who has his arama, sport, enjoyment, with objects, indriyaih, through the senses. Therefore, the gist of the topic under discussion is that action must be undertaken by one who is qualified (for action) but is unenlightened. In the verses beginning from, ‘(A person does not attain freedom from action by adstaining from action’ (4) and ending with, ‘You perform the obligatory duties…And, through inaction, even the maintenance of your body will not be possible’ (8), it has been proved that before one attains fitness for steadfastness in the knowledge of the Self, it is the bounden duty of a person who is qualified for action, but is not enlightened, to undertake Karma-yoga for that purpose. And then, also in the verses commencing from ‘(This man becomes bound) by actions other than that action meant for God’ (9) and ending with ‘O Partha, he lives in vain,’ many reasons [Such as, that it pleases God, secures the affection of the gods, and so on.] have been incidentally stated as to why a competent person has to undertake actions; and the evils arising from their non-performance have also been emphatically declared. Such being the conclusion, the question arises whether the wheel thus set in motion should be followed by all, or only by one who is ignorant of the Self and has not attained to the steadfastness which is fit to be practised by the Sankhyas, the knowers of the Self, through the Yoga of Knowledge only, and which is acquired by one ignorant of the Self through the means of the practice of Karma-yoga mentioned above? Either anticipating Arjuna’s question to this effect, or in order to make the meaning of the scripture (Gita) clearly understood, the Lord, revealing out of His own accord that the following substance of the Upanisads-Becoming freed from false knowledge by knowing this very Self, the Brahmanas renounce what is a compulsory duty for those having false knoweldge, viz, desire for sons, etc., and then lead a mendicant life just for the purpose of maintaining the body; they have no duty to perform other than steadfastness in the knowledge of the Self (cf. Br. 3.5.1)-has been presented here in the Gita, says: