Do Good to Others.

[By PROF. NIMANANDA DASADHICARY SEVATIRTHA, B.Ag., B.T., July 1929]

OF all the maxims the above is the most well-known one. Everybody pretends to know it and follow it. But in fact none knows it and follows it. The maxim signifies more than what is generally understood by it. An honest attempt will be made here to discuss the significance of it in the light of the teachings of Sriman Mahaprabhu.

The maxims involves five problems which, for solution, demand our careful attention and close examination. They are:-

1. What good should be done to others.
2. Who are the others to whom good should be done.
3. Who should go to do good to others.
4. How to do good to others.
5. Who should teach how to do good to others.

These five problems are closely related to one another, such that the solution of one is hinged on the solution of another. We propose to take up the first two at first.

In this world it is found that different people have got quite different ideas of 'good' and 'other'. There comes a man who is extremely self-centred. He knows none but his own self and he knows how to live for his own self only. Eat drink and be merry is the be-all and end-all of his life. Should such a life be considered as an ideal life? Certainly not. It is an irrational and irresponsible life which is a constant menace to others lives around it. In going to gratify his own senses he has neglected the gratification of the senses of other people. Again while he pretends to do good to his body and the mind he has left the soul that inhabits them to take care of itself. His idea of 'good' and 'others' is extremely narrow and hence it is no use living up to it.

There comes another man who is fondly devoted to his horse. His 'other' is the horse whom he feeds well, clothes well and does everything to keep him stout and strong. Is his one of ideal life? Certainly it is not. Firstly because while he takes care of a particular horse he has left other members of its race uncared for; secondly, because what he does is not as much for the sake of the horse as for his own sake. Thirdly because the treatment accorded to the animal being not approved by it is more likely to do harm than good. Fourthly because while he has proposed to do good to the body of the horse he has left his soul unbenefited and fifthly, because by his attachment to the animal he has done in calculable harm to his own self in as much as he, if the scriptures, are to be believed, stands thereby in danger of rebirth like Raja Jadabharat in the form of the animal he feels attachment for.

Next you come across a couple of men much agitated over the question of cow killing; one says he has right to kill the animal because his religion sanctions it. The other objects to it saying that his religion condemns it. Each of them commands a large following to cheer them up in their controversy. Is their life an ideal life that we should desire to live? Ah! No. This ideal should also be condemned. Religion cannot be a party to a crime. Any religion that encourages the slaughter of animals is not commendable. Again one may take delight in killing a cow but the latter certainly does not take delight in being killed by him under any circumstances. The ideal of the other party that goes to oppose cow-killing under the injunction of religion and usefulness does not also hold good. If he kills other classes of animals for his food or religion, he has no right to oppose the other party who professes to kill cow on the same grounds. The question of usefulness equally involves the element of partiality and selfishness The idea that the life of one should be preserved when it is of use to a party and destroyed when it is not so is not at all a liberal one. Everything that breathes has got a right to live on its own account, none can claim the right to disturb it with impunity.

You meet another man who is a patriot. He has fought much, suffered much and sacrificed much for the sake of his own country. His unselfish devotion to the cause of his country has held him dear to millions of his fellow countrymen. Now should we crave to live such a life as an ideal one? No. His seemingly unselfish actions have a background of selfishness. There is always a party to oppose his actions under the same pretence. One that holds the country of another for the good of his own country is as much a patriot as the other who tries to set her free from his clutches. None can expect to serve to such contending parties, of diametrically opposite interests. This service of one certainly involves neglect of the other including his own self. Hence the highest good is not likely to accrue from such a narrow service.

There comes another man who is a great scientist. He has done yeoman service to the cause of civilization by some of his most ingenius inventions. His 'other' is the whole world whom he is serving. Has he really done the highest good to mankind? A little examination will show that he has not. For has not the invention of chemical indigo compelled a class of indigo-planters to roll up their business with a heavy loss? Has not the invention of cotton mills hard hit the class of poor weavers who had to use their shuttle and cock as fuel to cook their scanty meal? Has not the introduction of steamer service in carrying cargo paralysed the activity of the country boatsmen who used to subsist on this trade before? Examples can thus be multiplied to show that for each such invention there is invariably a class of men who have to suffer. The class of people that seem to be benefited by these inventions form a microscopic minority, and the world, without any harm to it can bid good bye to them any moment. These inventions have steadily helped the rich to grow richer and the poor poorer. For this unequal distribution of wealth, theft, burglary, and crimes of still worse nature are being now-a -days committed without restraint. This is indeed a very sad picture of the present civilization that is being constantly helped forward, by scientific inventions. Ah! How hourly are the teeming millions tired of the present embarrassing civilization wishing the good old days of sufficiency come back to them. They want food and not civilization and are always ready to exchange present civilization for a hearty meal.

Hitherto we have discussed the merit of good that the Karmin section of the world, the elevationist school of thought propose to do to the world. We would now propose to discuss the merit of 'good' as conceived by the Jnanin section of the world or the salvationist school of thought.

The Salvationist, like the elevationist, thinks himself the master of the world. He can make the unmake things as manifested therein. Both dislike woe and desire weal--the elevationist by fighting woe and the other by denying its existence. According to the salvationist the world and his own self as its enjoyer have got no subjective existence. They exist because one thinks so. It is all illusion--it is all Maya. If this Maya is overcome there will exist neither the world nor its seer according to him then there is in reality no others and consequently there can be no good that needs be done to them. Is this then an ideal life? No. Things after all may not be such as to appear with our acknowledgement and disappear with our denial. They may have a subjective existence in which case it is dangerous to go by a mere supposition that they do not exist. Hence the life of a salvationist is most uncertain and is not at all an ideal life worth coveting.

Let us now discuss the merit of the concept of the highest good that Sriman Prabhu proposed to do to the world. His idea of the highest good can be culled from the following two well-known copulates.

• In all the villages that are on earth,
  Will My Name be preached.
  In India let those who are born as men,
  Do others good after being useful made,

This briefly means that a man can render mankind the highest good if he only takes care to become worthy at first. The highest good accrues from chanting and preaching the Name of Krishna. The word preaching connotes much more than what is generally understood by it. It roughly means—

1. Hearing the Name of Krishna from the real source.
2. Chanting the Name of Krishna.
3. Offering prayers to Krishna without mundane reference of elevation and salvation.
4. Preaching His gospel to the worthies.
5. Doing everything that facilitates such preaching.
6. Serving His devotees who are the real sources of spiritual strength.
7. Utilising the multifarious services of others for the purpose.
8. Helping others to do all the above.

Lord Krishna is the greatest of the great and in His Karsna form, the smallest of the small. He is in all and all are in him. Serve Him and all are served; leave Him and none are served Just as by watering at the root of a tree you water its twigs and leaves as well so by serving Him, you serve all-- friend or foe, animate or inanimate. The service of Him is then the highest form of service whereby one can except to do the highest good to all around.

An illustration of this form of service is found in the great epic Mahabharat. King Duryodhan bore a grudge against the Pandavas. Desiring their destruction from the curse of Durbasa, a Brahman of irritable temper, he requested him to become guest at the cottage of the Pandavas with his disciples. Draupadi, the wife of the Pandavas had the supernatural power of feeding with a small quantity of food, as many people as might come to their cottage, as long as she did not eat herself. But after she had her meal she could not do so. Durbasa along with his sixty thousand disciples came to the house of the Pandavas long after Draupadi had her meal. Draupadi apprehended the curse, and prayed to Krishna to come to their help. Durbasa along with his disciples went to a river to perform ablution. In the meantime Krishna to protect his devotees appeared before Draupadi and demanded a particle of her cooked food. Unfortunately Draupadi could offer Him nothing but a small particle of vegetables found still sticking to the pan in which it was cooked. Krishna ate it and was gratified which led to the gratification of Durbasa and his followers who considering their inability to eat more and apprehending the shame which they would be put avoided visiting the cottage of the Pandavas altogether.

In Ramayana, another great epic, a similar illustration is found. Ramachandra, the incarnation of Vishnu desired to go over to Ceylon by a bridge. At once all things animate or inanimate felt the desire and came out for the construction. The sea, over which the bridge was to be constructed, remained still, the stone refused to sink, the squirrel brought straws as building materials. Thus is no time was the bridge constructed.

These illustrations clearly indicates that one Supreme Being pervades through all, great or small, animate or inanimate. In his satisfaction lies the satisfaction of all. If He is served all are served, and if He desires their service, they all feel the call.

Sriman Mahprabhu teaches that Jiva is in reality the servant of Krishna. The fundamental function of every soul, whether in the garb of a man or of a tree or of a stone, is to serve Krishna, their Lord. In service of him only lies the salvation of the Jiva. He will have to regain through service the plane of consciousness which he has lost through his non-serving attitude. Hence good done to the body is not the highest good, neither is good done to the mind so; good done to the soul is what is the real good, the highest good. It is the Supreme duty of every one to serve Him and help others to do the same. There should be no flickering, no wavering and no running away. If we fall in it, we commit a double crime--we commit suicide and, at the same time, help other do the same directly or indirectly. We commit a double crime when we kill any life for our food, we commit a double crime when we cut trees for fuel to cook our food, we commit a double crime when we cut stones for the construction of our house, we commit a double crime when we draw water for our drink. In every such action if it is not done as a sacrifice unto Krishna and for His satisfaction, we commit there two-fold crimes. Let the cook prepare vegetables for Him, the drawer draw water for him, the hewer fell trees for him, the mason make construction for Him, the plough-man open his furrows for Him, the scientist make inventions for Him and so on. Let the whole universe be one temple in which are engaged His several servants in serving Him in their different capacities. The nature of works make no difference in the quality of devotion. All these are services to Lord Krishna, and all doing these for Him are His servants. Remember Lord Krishna is the Absolute Master of the whole universe: He is the sole Lord of sacrifice He admits no partner in this business. Whatever we think, whatever we do, whatever we consume must be first dedicated unto Him, lest we become usurpers. In the matter of ascertaining the nature of the offerings, that is, what should be offered to Him and what not, we shall have to refer to our scriptures. We should not do anything, think anything and consume anything if it is not warranted by the scriptures. The scriptures embody the will of Krishna and one, who transgresses the scriptures, transgresses His will, and consequently, His offerings will not be acceptable to Him. A servant must always do the will of his Lord or he is not a servant.

Let the patriot always remember that the freedom for which he is fighting at present is another bondage. The world is a prison house; and whatever we do here for the re-adjustment of our position as a mundane entity, we only manage thereby to strengthen its walls against us. So long as we are in this prison-house, our talk of freedom with reference to our existence here is merely the talk of changing cells. The things that we fight to possess, possess us in turn. Our attempt to become their lord leads us to become their servants. Thus we run from one subjection to another. This is a punishment and Krishna wills it. There will be no flying away from this long chain of subjections. Let us not then confine our attention to such seeming gains which, in reality, entail on us a heavy loss. Let us rise above all fetish and superstition and view things from quite a different angle of vision, view them with spiritual eyes, when they will appear in their true perspective colours. Let us embrace the whole world with a loving heart and thereby prove ourselves worthy of the descent from that All loving Father on high. Evil strengthens evil and hatred strengthens hatred. If we desire to free this world of its evils, then let us return evil with good, hatred with love and anger with smile. We should turn our right cheek to them who smite us on the left. Knowledge cannot be gained by superstition and love not by hatred. Gain love by loving and service by serving. Approach all with a loving and serving attitude, and we will find all doing the same to us in return. So long as we bear ill-will to the tiger, the latter we have the same feeling towards us. But as soon as we become God-loving, the tiger will forget its ferocity and love us. For did not the mad elephant, which was intended to kill Prahlad, take him on his back and dance in ecstasy? Did not the venomous serpent intended to bite him, wear a loving look and begin to play on this lap? None did him any harm. Such is the influence one God-loving exercises even on this wild mischievous animals whose nature it is to do wrong. Let us then, even when hurt by our enemies, say with Christ "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing." Let us reciprocate their ill-well with love for them.

Sriman Mahaprabhu came with this message of love and invited all to preach it in every part of the world. Against it there can be no party. All are equally interested. Questions of caste, creed or colour do not arise. Sriman Mahaprabhu did not recognise superiority of any on mere consideration of high birth, age, rank, learning etc. According to Him he who serves Krishna is the greatest of all. He says:--

"Great is he who serves, others are low,
No distinction of caste His service doth make."

The next problem is, who should go to do good to others. The preachers above all must be honest and sincere. Insincere hearts are dangerous and do incalculable harm both to themselves, and to those that hear them. Sincerity qualifies a man for initiation. The Guru initiates a sincere heart, for the regulation of his hitherto unregulated life, into the holy order of Divine servants, when he as service unto Krishna and Guru, does the work of preaching. Before initiation none are qualified for the work, no matter whatever his natural endowments might be. In the matter of preaching we cannot take the initiative. It must come from high through the medium of the Guru. As like begets like so sincerity begets sincerity. Insincere preachers not only engender insincerity but endanger sincerity and turn men sceptic and aetheistic. A story may be told here to illustrate this point.

A man was once found addressing a huge gathering on the subject of “Brinjal as the human diet." He spoke with great eloquence for hours and concluded his speech saying that Brinjal as human diet was most injurious, and that the man who consumed it would have to reside in hell for as many years as there were seeds in it. Unhappily his wife was among the audience. She knew that her husband did not relish a dish without brinjal. In order to teach him a lesson she came home and cooked only rice and nothing else. When her husband sat for supper she served him with a dish of rice without any vegetable. The husband grew angry and called for an explanation. The wife told him that as she had gone to attend his lecture, and as it was too late for the market she could get nothing to cook. At this her husband restored that she could have easily plucked some brinjals from their kitchen garden and prepared them. The wife forthwith told him that she after having heard so much against it, promised not to touch the hellish thing again in future. The husband laughed heartily and said that she was a most foolish woman. Hell was for those who heard him and not for him who spoke.

The influence of his speech on one of the audience is thus made clear, and that on the rest it is not difficult to guess. Such preaching makes man incredulous and impervious to further education. Our scriptures have condemned their preaching by the insincere.

They say:-

Hear not of Hari if by non-Vaishnava be preached:
It harms, though holy, like milk as orts of snake.

Preaching must be done as a service unto Krishna; and only a Guru can direct such service otherwise it will lose its divine character and will be turned into a mere mundane exercise. Guru is a Divine representative on earth. He having no other occupation, is the only Being who can direct such service unto him. "Knock and the door of heaven will be opened unto you." But where to knock and how to knock? It is Guru who teaches how and where to knock and it is He again who opens the door and admits the disciple into the kingdom of heaven. Hence humble yourself and heaven will be yours. For has not Christ remarked to his disciples saying, "whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.” Only the humble can submit to the will of Guru and Krishna submits to him who thus submits the guru. Hence Christ said, "whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in Heaven."

Sriman Mahaprabhu states humbleness as the necessary qualification of him who desires to be favoured by Krishna, He says --

God to the humble is very kind;
The noble, the learned, the rich are proud.

The above three classes of people are too proud to submit to the will of Guru, and hence the door of heaven remains shut against them forever. "No man can serve two masters, You cannot serve God and Mammon." Mammon-worship means non God-worship. Seeking of and attachment to learning, riches and rank for their own sake is classed as Mammon-worship. These things however are themselves not hellish. The purpose for which they are employed determines their quality if they are utilised for the service of God they are divine, and if not, they are hellish. Let therefore the rich employ their riches, the learned their learning, the noble their rank, the famous their fame, the great their name, and all whatever they possess, in the service of Lord Krishna.

Mammon-worship is as bad as the company of its votaries. Hence a sincere devotee of Lord Krishna must not only not worship Mammon but should always shun the company of its votaries as well, in as much as not only does not help him in his mission but is very likely to cause his deflection from it. Instances are not rare to show that the people engaged in God-worship have been found to depart from His temple to that of Mammon. Hence Sriman Mahaprabhu calling upon Vasudev, a leper, whom he had healed, to preach His doctrine from door to door, promised him protection against the evil influences of these two things. He says--

At my command you be saviour, and save the world,
Never shall the waves of wordliness hinder you.

Such is the influence Guru exerts upon those who have the fortune to submit to Him. They do none harm, and, protected as they are by the Divine Shield called Sudarsana, none can do them harm. Without such divine protection their frequent association with these people engaged in non-God-worship would not have at all been safe.

The fourth problem is how to do good to others. To educate others is a very difficult and psychologically a very knotty problem. But we do not intend to enter into the psychological discussion of it. It is enough here to say that education must begin more by examples than by percept. A theory belied by practice is no good. On the contrary it does incalculable harm as has been illustrated before. "An ounce of practice is better than a pound of theory." The teacher should be the living source of inspiration to their disciples. Their life should be such as to inspire others to imitate it. A preacher should always remember that learning, he can make others learn, and being faithful he can make others faithful. We cannot expect service if we do not serve. We cannot expect others to do a thing if we do not do it ourselves. Hence Sriman Mahaprabhu says-

Teach others rites by doing yourself them:
None can you teach if yourself do not them.

The fifth and last problem is who should teach us how to do good to others. Of course he must be a Divine Guide. None but a Divine Guide can aspire to play the role of religious teacher.

We know nothing about Lord Krishna, and nothing about the realm, Baikuntha where He resides. Necessarily we must expect some of this realm to come down here to inform us of His existence and beauty. Without such information it is not at all possible for us to crave Him and start to work for Him. There are two sources where from it is possible for us to get the information- one the scripture and the other the Divine guide or guru. Scriptural texts are capable of different interpretations. Hence it is always safe to receive the information from the living source Guru.

Again there is another difficulty. How can it be possible for us to select a particular man as guru capable of guiding us in the light of divine wisdom which can be thrown only by the true interpretation of the scriptural texts? We do not know the scripture or at least we do not know what the true interpretation of their texts is. How can we avoid the danger of selecting a wrong man as Guru? Whom can we trust as reliable to make this selection for us? Sriman Mahaprabhu says that none but Krishna Himself can appoint Guru for us. He is not an inert thing. He sees and feels He makes Guru manifest himself to him when He notices his sincerity. He and His Guru are one. The Master knows the Servant and the Servant the Master. The Servant always executes the will of his Master as has been said before. Hence he can communicate the will of his Master to others who are fortunate enough to unconditionally surrender themselves to him. If anybody wants to serve God by doing His will he must follow and carry out the will of Guru. Without such following the service of Godhead is impossible; and the people, who are for direct worship, only chalk out a wrong path for their destination by their so called religious activities. The importance of Guru has been stated in Srimat Bhagabat thus--

Know Guru as myself, think not Him low;
Grudge Him not as mortal, godly is He all.

Selection of Guru on mere consideration of his pedigree as is the custom prevalent among some sects is pernicious. Mahaprabhu warning all against such custom has, for us, left a clear statement with regard to the quality of guru. He says--

Brahman, Sannyasi or Sudra designated as he may be,
On knowledge all about Krishna welcomed as Guru will be he.

In the selection of a Guru importance must not be attached to the worldly designations as Brahman, Sannyasi or Sudra. He should be judged on the merit of His transcendental wisdom. Guru is Guru: Guruship can not be attributed to any if he is found lacking in essentials.