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tendency to exalt and ennoble us, while certain other acts, have a tendency to degrade and to brutalise us. But it is not possible to make out with certainty which acts have which kind of tendency in relation to all persons of all sorts and conditions. There is, however, only one idea of duty which has been universally accepted by all mankind, of all ages and sects and countries, and that has been summed up in a Sanskrit aphorism thus :-"Do not injure any being; not injuring any being is virtue ; injuring any being is vice." This is the only universal and objective definition of duty that we can find. As to the subjective aspect of duty we cannot say more than that the spirit in which certain acts are done happens to be elevating and ennobling, while the spirit in which certain other acts are done tends to lower us often even in our own esteem.
· The Bhagavad-Gita frequently alludes to duties dependent uporf birth, and position in life. Birth and position in life and in society largely determine the mental and moral attitude of
