The chances are that when a man of equipoise and Self-discovery enters the field of activity, he will be tempted to advise his generation on pure ethics and abstract ideologies. The generation, misunderstanding the words and emphasis of such a Master, might come to a wrong conclusion that, to renounce activity was the direct path to Truth. The teachers are warned against such a hasty guidance which might damp the enthusiasm of the generation to act.
Life is dynamic. Nobody can sit idle. Even the idler contributes to the general activity. In this ever-surging onward rush of life’s full impetuosity, if there be a foolish guide who would plunge himself in the mid-stream and stand with upraised hands, howling to the generation to halt, he would certainly be pulverized by the ever-moving flood of life and its endless activities. Many a hasty Master has made this mistake and has had to pay for it. Krishna is declaring here only a Universal law for the guidance of the saints and sages of India that they should not go against the spirit of the times and be a mere revolt against life’s own might and power.
In this stanza is given out the art of guiding mankind, which can be used by every leader in all societies, be they social workers, or political masters, or cultural teachers. A society, that is functioning in a particular line of activity at any given period of history, should not be, all of a sudden, arrested in its flow, says Krishna, but the leader should fall in line with the generation, and slowly and steadily guide it to act in the right-direction, by his own example.
A traveller motoring with the idea of going to Hardwar may miss his way and speed down towards Saharanpur, but the way to guide him back to the main road is not to halt him; because, by halting, he will never reach his own destination, or any other goal. So long as the wheels are not revolving on the road, distances are not covered. Keeping the wheels on the move, he has to change the direction of his movements until he comes to his right path, heading towards Hardwar.
Similarly, man should act and even if he be acting in the WRONG DIRECTION, through action alone can he come to the RIGHT PATH of diviner activities, and gain the fulfilment of his Perfection. No ‘wise’-man should unsettle his generation’s firm faith in action. He must himself diligently perform the ordinary actions in a diviner and better fashion, and he must make himself an example to the world, so that the lesser folk may automatically imitate him and learn to follow his unfailing footsteps.
IN WHAT WAY IS AN ‘IGNORANT MAN ATTACHED TO ACTION?
