Raised Fists Or Linked Arms Dont Transform As Effectively As Folded Hands Gita 03.37

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Raised fists or linked arms don’t transform as effectively as folded hands. When we see something going terribly wrong in the world, we may feel impelled to act. We may act by raising our fists in angry protest.
Or we may link our hands in solidarity and activism, making a united call for change. Such responses are desirable. They indicate that our consciousness is active enough to galvanize us to action that cynicism hasn’t paralyzed us.
Simultaneously, it’s important that through such actions, some oppressive structures, oppressive social leaders or social structures are removed. But equally important, if not more important, is what replaces them. Human history bears witness to many instances when revolutionaries who overthrew tyrants eventually went on to become tyrants themselves.
Power can corrupt even those who start with the noblest of intentions. The root cause of society’s wrongs, society’s problems, is not corrupt leaders or corrupt structures. It is the corruptibility of the human heart and that corruptibility is what we need to work at, work on.
Highlighting this sobering reality, the Bhagavad Gita states that the biggest enemy of the world is the selfishness in the human heart. So it states that this is the enemy of the world. If you see this verse in the context of the Gita, the Gita is spoken to someone who is about to fight a war and that war is to be fought because godless elements have committed countless atrocities and have grabbed power unscrupulously and they need to be removed.
And even when on the brink of such essential and urgent action, the Gita reminds of the need for inner purification. Inner change, purification of the heart is the foundation of sustainable social transformation. How can the heart’s corruptibility be countered? By spirituality.
When we grow spiritually, we gain access to non-material enrichment. A life becomes filled with meaning, purpose and fulfillment and that makes us less vulnerable to the allurements of power and pleasure. When we are thus immunized, protected, then we can contribute constructively through outer change.
Now while we can grow spiritually by various means, the most expeditious and efficacious is by linking with the divine. When we connect with the one who is omnipotent or all pure, then purity comes fastest in our heart, driving impurity out. Folded hands signify this invocation of the divine in a mood of devotion and service.
Thus when we complement outer reformation with inner purification, we can become agents for enduring transformation.