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50
KARMA-YOGA
1 piece of beef before him and does not eat it to save his own life, or will not give it to save the life of inother man, he is sure to feel that he has not done his duty. But if a Hindu dares to eat that piece of beef or to give it to another Hindu, he is equally sure o feel that he too has not done his duty; the Hindu's raining and education make him feel that way. In he last century there were notorious bands of robbers a India called Thugs; they thought it their duty o kill any man they could and take away his money; he larger the number of men they killed, the better hey thought they were. Ordinarily if a man goes ut into the street and shoots down another man, Le is apt to feel sorry for it, thinking that he has done vrong. But if the very same man, as a soldier in his egiment, kills not one but twenty, he is certain to eel glad and think that he has done his duty renarkably well. Therefore we see that it is not the hing done that defines a duty. To give an objective lefinition of duty is thus entirely impossible. Yet here is duty from the subjective side. Any action hat makes us go Godward is a good action, and is iur duty; any action that makes us go downward is vil, and is not our duty. From the subjective standjoint we may see that certain acts have a tendency o exalt and ennoble us, while certain other acts have , tendency to degrade and to brutalise us. But it is lot possible to make out with certainty which acts lave which kind of tendency in relation to all persons, of all sorts and conditions. There is, however, only
