some more musings

In Geetha, apart from sanction, or even persuasion, to commit violence as part of one's duty, it is also said that each of us is born with a natural set of qualities, which nobody can avoid. One would wonder whether it is sheer fatalism, in which case, nothing we do matters.The exhortation to practise yoga and other means to better oneself becomes meaningless.In the last chapter, it is said that we will be forced to do by nature what we try to avoid.Yet all through the book, the emphasis is on committed action based on knowledge of the realities, so that one can rise up the ladder ofdevelopment to a higher state of perfection.So it would appear that it asserts both, that one's natural inborn qualities are very powerful, and at the same time that one can rise above these, by means of knowledge and understanding. It is said that repression is impossible. What it recommends is introspection, going down to the roots. If the roots are not completely eliminated, the oldinstincts would sprout again. The way to do this is study, thinking and practice,with intense commitment. Till that time, better that one follows one's nature, gently directing it away from lower to higher levels.
I would like to fancy that it is like a computer programmed in one way at manufacture, which sets the way operations would be sequenced. The programme can be changed by one who really knows how. Till then, things have to go on, even if not in the best way.The moral, I suppose, is that one should do one's best, in whatever station one is, and not be too much perturbed if things do not always go as desired. .The important thing is a feeling of self-satisfaction and self-esteem, in feeling that we have performed to our capacity, what we judge to be our duty. It of course cannot be to ge approval from others, or to impress them. The judge is our own conscience, and the approval has to come from it, and it alone!