Four Contaminations Associated With Prescribed Work

“In conditioned life, all work is contaminated by the material modes of nature. Even if one is a brahmana, he has to perform sacrifices in which animal killing is necessary. Similarly, a kshatriya, however pious he may be, has to fight enemies. He cannot avoid it. Similarly, a merchant, however pious he may be, must sometimes hide his profit to stay in business, or he may sometimes have to do business on the black market. These things are necessary; one cannot avoid them.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, 18.48 Purport)

Download as podcast episode (right click and save)

1. Animal killing

“People are so proud to call themselves brahmanas today. I realize they base the identification off ancestry, but some of them at least attempt to follow through on the occupation. It is supposed to be at the top of the pyramid, so to speak. The brahmanas are like the brains of society. The requisite qualifications, like austerity of speech, self-control, cleanliness, honesty, and the like help to maintain sobriety and intelligence, dhira.

“Okay, but just see what brahmanas of the past had to do. They were involved in religious sacrifice, in the explicit sense. Think of how Shri Rama appeared in this world. Maharaja Dasharatha happened to run into the esteemed Rishya-shringa, who recommended a yajna. Part of that sacrifice involved killing a horse. I believe Queen Kausalya then had to spend a night sleeping next to the horse’s head? Like, wow! Can you imagine going to work and having to do something like that? I don’t know. It seems pretty bad to me.”

2. Fighting enemies

“People tend to think of the dangers involved with police work. The same applies to security detail and the military. You are in the line of fire. You are supposed to value the life of the protected more than your own. Every second is dangerous. You are never safe. In fact, it is your job to keep others safe.

“Well, what about the other side? As part of your job, you might have to shoot someone. You might end up killing others. Their life ended, finished, all because of something you did. Can you imagine having to carry that burden around? No wonder so many of these ex-military take to drugs and alcohol.”

3. Hiding profits

“If you ask me the root cause of the problems of the world, it is that we have decided to place business leaders at the top. They become the de facto leaders of society. I have no idea why that is. Have you thought about what it takes to be successful in business? You have to be dishonest. You have to be duplicitous. When you are ready to lay off thousands of workers, you think there is any advance notice? These people lose their jobs and the company’s stock price goes through the roof.

“That is fine and good, for running a business, but why should such people be writing public policy? Shouldn’t we be turning to the honest? Practically everyone is a businessman to some degree today. Survival of the fittest. This means that we have no one to guide us. Everyone is compromised by their self-interest, in prioritizing self-preservation. That is a recipe for disaster.”

4. A bad boss

“Man, the things I had to do at that last job, I am not proud of. But what can you do? The boss asks you to do something, you carry through. You don’t want to be considered a troublemaker. I don’t think I did anything illegal, but I can’t be entirely sure. What other option did I have? Go work for someone else? Then I have to spend years trying to build the same level of trust. And who is to say that the new boss will be any more honest than the one I have right now? Not a good line of work to be in, if you ask me.”

…

The premise for the sacred Bhagavad-gita conversation, as delivered on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, which is also known as Dharmakshetra, could be characterized in a variety of ways. Two friends working out a problem. An impromptu counselling session involving a respected, but temporarily bewildered member of society and a guide who seemingly has all the answers. Hesitation to carry forward with work, with a coach on hand to give assurance. Another angle of vision to consider is someone wanting to swap occupations. Assume the work of a different person, with different qualifications, in order to abandon the task at hand. Amazingly, for whatever angle of entry there is, the person on the other side has an appropriate response. In this way, we can know for sure that Shri Krishna is correct in asserting that everyone follows Him in all respects.

ये यथा मां प्रपद्यन्ते
तांस् तथैव भजाम्य् अहम्
मम वर्त्मानुवर्तन्ते
मनुष्याः पार्थ सर्वशः

ye yathā māṁ prapadyante
tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham
mama vartmānuvartante
manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ

“All of them – as they surrender unto Me – I reward accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pritha.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 4.11)

As everyone follows, so Krishna has a way to relate. Whether they are high or low, man or woman, child or adult, moving or nonmoving, or coming or going, Krishna is always with them. This is one way to understand God. He expands as Supersoul, or Paramatma, to accomplish omnipresence. It might be considered a passive role, but as we see with the approach made by Arjuna, the door on the other side is always open. The doctor will surely see the patient, provided the patient brings the requisite mindset.

In today’s review, we consider the argument from Arjuna that it would be better to do something else. This is because the task at hand, fighting in a great war, with the world’s best military men assembled and prepared for conflict, would exact too ghastly a toll. Loss of life at the grandest scale. In one sense, the fate of the fighters would be assured. The gates of heaven would open for them. At the same time, there would be catastrophic loss for the affected family members. They would have the lingering memory of death and destruction. They would have to continue in life without sufficient protection.

Arjuna considered a loophole. Maybe he could escape responsibility. If he simply dropped his weapons. If he took on a different occupation. Then, he wouldn’t be culpable in the death of thousands. It wouldn’t be his arrows flying at targets, you see. No one could accuse him of craving a kingdom at the cost of lives. No one could say anything about him since he wouldn’t be a party to the violence.

सह-जं कर्म कौन्तेय
स-दोषम् अपि न त्यजेत्
सर्वारम्भा हि दोषेण
धूमेनाग्निर् इवावृताः

saha-jaṁ karma kaunteya
sa-doṣam api na tyajet
sarvārambhā hi doṣeṇa
dhūmenāgnir ivāvṛtāḥ

“Every endeavor is covered by some sort of fault, just as fire is covered by smoke. Therefore one should not give up the work which is born of his nature, O son of Kunti, even if such work is full of fault.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 18.48)

As with the other arguments made, Krishna countered perfectly, by describing how every occupation has its faults. It is not that by switching to something else Arjuna would be immune from collateral damage. In the above reviewed situations, we see that there is a constant of vulnerability. There is always some risk involved, in the first place. I take a chance by taking a seat behind the steering wheel of the car. I think that my sitting in the cubicle at the office is safe, but danger is everywhere. I might accidentally get caught up in a scheme hatched by the leaders of the firm, who are corrupt. I then have to choose whether to take a plea deal, to avoid prison time, or continue asserting my innocence, at great expense in hiring the best legal representation.

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada reveals that the better option is to simply sacrifice the results to the work. We have some occupation that we are suited for. We should not abruptly resign out of fear of the consequences. Better to dedicate that work for the highest cause. This aligns with the recommendation from Krishna, which was ultimately followed by Arjuna.

In Closing:

Ultimately in that path to head,
Despite mass violence to dread.

Occupation switch to consider,
But from ignorance to deliver.

Krishna the best of guides,
In whom Arjuna confides.

Applying to road ahead of me now,
Transcendence through working how.