550 words ST

The leaders of society have the subtlest duty in life. They take upon themselves the difficult and subtle duty of guiding the masses. They should be able to work always with inspiration and dedication. Even to such dedicated men of action, Lord Krishna puts in a word of warning so that they may not bring about harm through a blind over-enthusiasm.

Let no wise man unsettle the minds of the ignorant people who are attached to action; let him engage them in all actions, himself fulfilling them with devotion. ( Bhagavad Gita III.26)

A society is not built up overnight through any magic incantations. Time and tradition alone can build up the strength and beauty of society. It functions under the influences of the world­pattern around and the personality plan within. This should not be all of a sudden stemmed in its flow and violently diverted into some new direction of action and purpose. The art of guiding mankind without disrupting the existing harmony is well brought out by Lord Krishna in his note of warning to the leaders in all fields. A true leader should fall in line with the generation by himself setting an example, and slowly and steadily he should guide his generation to act in the right direction .

It is dangerous to unsettle the faith of the generation all of a sudden. Violent revolutions deform the character of the individuals. The world's history is not wanting in examples, when in the excitement and over-enthusiasm following the discovery of new ideals, leaders have miscalculated the strength of the masses and have consequently found themselves crushed by the avalanche of emotions and passions let loose by them earlier in the masses. Hence, Lord Krishna says that the best way to bring about a renaissance is by the leaders themselves expressing the divinity in them and thus attracting followers to them. By precept and practice the masses should be gradually guided toward the right path. In case one wants to be a just leader and bless his generation, his first attempt should be to cultivate equanimity and poise within himself qualities that will raise him above the dualities in nature such as honor and dishonor, likes and dislikes, love and hatred .

Such a karma yogi crosses over and reaches beyond the shackles of the

gunas: sattva , rajas, and tamas (three textures of thought: serenity, activity, and inactivity). From such a noble person emanate the divine qualities of harmlessness, truth, renunciation, fortitude, and so on. Having transcended the dualities, he is equally disposed toward friends and enemies, toward the indif­ ferent and the hateful, the relatives, and the righteous and unrighteous .

The same in honor and dishonor; the same to friend and foe ; abandoning all undertakings, he is said to have crossed beyond the gunas . (Bhagavad Gita XIV :25)

When such noble leaders come forward to act in a spirit of cooperation and self-dedication, they release the community not only from its poverty and sorrows but also from its ignorance and superstitions. To arrive at such a balance within ourselves and work in a spirit of dedication, we have to necessarily free ourselves from the attachment to objects around.