Karthavyam (Duty)

గురు బ్రహ్మ గురుర్ విష్ణుః గురుర్ దేవో మహేశ్వరః

గురు స్సాక్షాత్ పరబ్రహ్మ తస్మై శ్రీ గురవే నమః

శుక్లాం బరధరం విష్ణుం శశివర్ణం చతుర్భుజం

ప్రసన్న వదనం ధ్యాయేత్ సర్వ విఘ్నోప శాంతయే

శ్రుతి స్మృతి పురాణానాం ఆలయం కరుణాలయం

నమామి భగవత్ పాదం శంకరం లోక శంకరం

ఓం నమః శివాయ

Once Raavana got killed, Sri Rama had sent Hanuma to get Sita from Ashoka Vanam. Hanuma went to Sita and informed her about the death of Raavana and the victory of Sri Raama over the Raakshasas. There were few female raakshasas around Sita at that point of time too, executing the instructions of Raavana. Hanuma requested Sita to give him permission to take revenge on all those raakshasas who had tortured her all along. But Sita turned down that request and told the following story.

Once a lion started chasing a man in a forest. This man runs fast and climbs a tree. On that tree there lived a bear. The lion sits underneath the tree and waits for the man to come down. The lion speaks to the bear, “Throw that human being down. We both are animals and we will share his flesh.”

The bear responds, “Knowingly or unknowingly this person has come to my abode. He is my guest now. So, I cannot betray him. I shall protect him to the best of my abilities.”

Hearing this, the man feels happy that he is safe. The bear speaks to the man, “I am feeling sleepy. Let me sleep on your lap for some time please.” The man agrees to that and allows the bear to sleep.

The lion now speaks to the man, “You throw that bear down and I will eat that and then will go away (Hunting animals never kill anyone once they fulfill their hunger). You can then go back to your home unhurt.”

Hearing this, the man becomes greedy and pushes the bear down. The bear wakes up from sleep and somehow clings onto one of the branches of the tree and does not fall down.

The lion once again speaks to the bear, “Look at this faithless human being. You protected him and he tried to kill you to save himself. Don’t think twice now, just push him down and we can make merry.”

The bear responds, “Just because the human being did not abide by his karthavyam (duty) does not mean that I got a right to deviate from my duty. I have protected him not by considering his nature but because that’s my duty. I will still not push him.

Sita continued, “This is how one must perform his/her duty (karthavyam). Our duty cannot change based on the responses or reactions. The Raakshasas performed their duty of harassing/torturing me on the order of their king. So, there is nothing wrong with that. The way you have performed your duty on the words of your king, they have done the same. So, they are not liable to be killed on account of that. More importantly, I have given them a word that they would be protected even after the war and so they should not be killed.”

How many times have we heard or said the following statements.

·         I am not going to invite that person/family for this function because he/she did not invite me/us for some function they performed.

·         Last time when I spoke to that person nicely, he/she responded arrogantly. So I will also speak in a rude/arrogant manner with that person.

·         I helped that person when he/she was in need and when I needed help, I was refused. So, this time I am not going to help him/her.

·         I take care of my parents so well, but they keep shouting at me and are biased towards my other brother/sister.

·         I do so many things for my son/daughter but he/she doesn’t listen to the good things that I tell him/her. So there is no point I telling him/her anything.

The above are result of work (duty) done based on expectations.

సర్వే జనాః సుఖినో భవంతు

PS: There could be typos and other mistakes in telugu and english, kindly pardon me with big hearts.