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A Series of Lessons on the Inner Teachings of the Philosophies and Religions of India1236
of desire and cause and effect resulting therefrom, and, spreading its wings,
soar to higher planes of being as the eagle soars above the low-lying clouds
of the lifting fog. As the old Hindu aphorism says: “Kill out Desire for Fruits
of Thy Work—yet Work as do those who are consumed with the Desire
for Fruits.” Do the Best you Know How—but leave the consequences in the
hands of the gods, without any further concern on your part—wash your
hands of the results of Work well Done in accordance with the Best That
is In You. Such is the advice of the Wise of all Lands and Ages. Or, in the
colloquialism of the American business man—“Do your very best, and let it
go at that!” Or, in the words of the Persian poet:
“Do what thy manhood bids thee do, from none but self expect applause.
He noblest lives and noblest dies who makes and keeps his self-made laws.
All other life is living death, a world where none but phantoms dwell;
A breath, a wind, a sound, a voice, a tinkling of the camel-bell.”
In connection with Karma Yoga, the Purva Mimansa naturally takes up
the subject of Dharma at great length. “Dharma” is the Sanscrit term, similar
in meaning to “virtue; duty; law; righteousness; etc.,” but none of which
words convey its precise meaning. In a previous writing on the subject,
we defined the term as follows: “Dharma is the rule of action and life best
adapted to the requirements of the individual soul, and best calculated to
aid that particular soul in the next higher step in its development. When
we speak of a man’s Dharma we mean the highest course of action for him,
considering his development and the immediate needs of his soul.” It is
the Hindu Science of Ethics—the Philosophy of “Right and Wrong”—the
Rule of Conduct. It is a peculiar Rule of Action, viewed from our Western
position, inasmuch as it does not claim to establish absolute positions of
Right and Wrong, but rather adopts the idea which every thinking man has
considered at some time—the position of things right “in their time and
place, or under the circumstances and conditions”; or else wrong, from