How can we know our prescribed duty?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Thank you, Hare Krishna and there is a contextual application so when the context changes the specific way in which that principle is applied will change so we need to focus on the essential principle not the contextual application so in the past when Krishna spoke the Bhagavad Gita at that time there were different social divisions which were meant not for discrimination but for co-operation that the Varanasian system was there and people had their duties prescribed according to that but today the social system is quite different, we do not have that kind of division in which we can position ourselves appropriately so then we go to the fundamental principle Krishna says what is the purpose of social division it was guna karma vibhagya guna means all of us have certain certain means we are comfortable some people may be intellectual they like to study, they like to analyze some people are more extroverted just like to be with people they like to talk, they like to live, they like to interact so we all have our own dispositions certain things which we feel comfortable doing so guna refers to that which we are comfortable doing karma refers to that which we are competent at doing, something which we feel good doing and something which we are good at doing so we look at our current situation and we try to observe how best can I function in my present situation, so while going through our life we encounter different situations we do different kinds of activities so we observe what am I good at, what makes me what I feel good doing, what I am good at doing and gradually try to gravitate towards that, so we don’t have to worry too much about finding some prescribed duty which is prescribed for us and doing that the essential principle is that we live harmoniously with that which is our nature so whatever I find comfortable doing not comfortable in narcissistic sense where I am self obsessed but comfortable in the sense that I can contribute in optimum way so we focus on doing that and that is how the whole principle of Bhagavad Gita is harmony if I have a say a car which is meant for racing and I try to drive it through crowded metropolis, it’s not going to work so well, if I have a car which is meant for driving on normal road, if I take it for racing it’s not going to work so the body and the mind it is like a vehicle that we have, it’s like a car so when we do our prescribed duty, it simply means that we do the duty, we play the role that our vehicle is best suited for so by observation by introspection and by association we observe ourselves, we introspect based on observation and then we have our friends, we have our guides we ask them also you observe me, what do you think that I am good at gradually by this we learn about ourselves and then we can position ourselves in a vocation that is best suited for the body mind vehicle that we have been gifted at the age of