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Verse 32
परोपकृतिमुत्सृज्य स्वोपकारपरो भव । उपकुर्वन्परस्याज्ञो दृश्यमानस्य लोकवत् ॥
(32)
Engage in doing own good rather than of others; this is the way of the world. It is out of ignorance that you engage in the service of visible objects like the body, and not the Self.
EXPLANATORY NOTES
The experience of the soul, on one hand, and of the objects of the external world, on the other, is altogether different. When the attention is turned inward, one gets the overwhelming experience of the soul without the help of the sense organs. The knower becomes the object of knowledge; the distinction between the knower and the known vanishes. Outward attention, through the instruments of the senses, reveals the body and other objects of the external world. Such knowledge is temporal and transient; it fades out as the senses die away. Nothing but woe is in store for the man who spends all his time and energy on visible objects like the body, family, friends, business, home, and all other paraphernalia of the external world. All these objects appear very attractive and pleasant at first and few, indeed, appreciate that there could be a more sublime goal in life than their acquisition and enjoyment. Fewer still are those who secure freedom and happiness by renouncing desires for such objects.
We all perform work for worldly gains and to avoid stagnation. A transition must take place in our lives when the purpose of work
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