TEXT 20

Devanagari

कर्मणैव हि संसिद्धिमास्थिता जनकादयः ।
लोकसङ्ग्रहमेवापि सम्पश्यन्कर्तुमर्हसि ॥ २० ॥

Text

Tekst

karmaṇaiva hi saṁsiddhim
āsthitā janakādayaḥ
loka-saṅgraham evāpi
sampaśyan kartum arhasi

Synonyms

karmaṇā — by work; eva — even; hi — certainly; saṁsiddhim — in perfection; āsthitāḥ — situated; janaka-ādayaḥ — Janaka and other kings; loka-saṅgraham — the people in general; eva api — also; sampaśyan — considering; kartum — to act; arhasi — you deserve.

karmaṇā — gennem handling; eva — blot; hi — sandelig; saṁsiddhim — i fuldkommenhed; āsthitāḥ — blev situeret; janaka-ādayaḥ — Janaka og andre konger; loka-saṅgraham — folk i almindelighed; eva api — også; sampaśyan — idet du tager hensyn til; kartum — at handle; arhasi — du fortjener.

Translation

Kings such as Janaka attained perfection solely by performance of prescribed duties. Therefore, just for the sake of educating the people in general, you should perform your work.

Konger som Janaka opnåede fuldkommenhed blot igennem foreskrevne pligter. Du bør derfor gøre dit arbejde udelukkende for at uddanne folk i almindelighed.

Purport

Kings like Janaka were all self-realized souls; consequently they had no obligation to perform the prescribed duties in the Vedas. Nonetheless they performed all prescribed activities just to set examples for the people in general. Janaka was the father of Sītā and father-in-law of Lord Śrī Rāma. Being a great devotee of the Lord, he was transcendentally situated, but because he was the king of Mithilā (a subdivision of Bihar province in India), he had to teach his subjects how to perform prescribed duties. Lord Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna, the Lord’s eternal friend, had no need to fight in the Battle of Kurukṣetra, but they fought to teach people in general that violence is also necessary in a situation where good arguments fail. Before the Battle of Kurukṣetra, every effort was made to avoid the war, even by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but the other party was determined to fight. So for such a right cause, there is a necessity for fighting. Although one who is situated in Kṛṣṇa consciousness may not have any interest in the world, he still works to teach the public how to live and how to act. Experienced persons in Kṛṣṇa consciousness can act in such a way that others will follow, and this is explained in the following verse.

FORKLARING: Konger som Janaka var alle selvrealiserede sjæle, og derfor var de ikke forpligtede til at efterleve de foreskrevne pligter i Vedaerne. Ikke desto mindre levede de op til alle de foreskrevne aktiviteter blot for at sætte et godt eksempel for almindelige mennesker. Janaka var Sītās far og Herren Śrī Rāmas svigerfar. Som en stor hengiven var han transcendentalt situeret, men som konge af Mithilā (en del af provinsen Bihār i Indien) måtte han undervise sine undersåtter i, hvordan man gør sine foreskrevne pligter. Herren Kṛṣṇa og Arjuna, Herrens evige ven, behøvede ikke at kæmpe på Kurukṣetras slagmark, men de gjorde det for at vise folk i almindelighed, at vold også kan være nødvendig, når fornuftige argumenter slår fejl. Før slaget på Kurukṣetra blev der gjort alt for at undgå krigen, selv af Guddommens Højeste Personlighed, men modparten var fast besluttet på kamp. Så for sådan en retfærdig sag er det nødvendigt at kæmpe. Selv om en person i Kṛṣṇa- bevidsthed måske ingen interesse har i verden, arbejder han alligevel for at undervise befolkningen i, hvordan man lever og handler. De, der er erfarne i Kṛṣṇa-bevidsthed, kan handle på en sådan måde, at andre vil følge dem, hvilket vil blive forklaret i det næste vers.