One's Calling in Life

The Bhagavad Gita, as we know, is a conversation between two friends, Krishna and Arjuna. But the conversation is accessible to us today because of the earnest inquiry of the blind King Dhritarashtra to his secretary Sanjaya, who was blessed with the vision to see the battle happening on the battlefield of Kurukshetra.

The first and the last verses are, therefore, by Dhritarashtra and Sanjaya in the Gita, and the first word is "Dharma," meaning one's calling or one's duty. So the Gita is not singing the glories of Lord Krishna but is offering us a map of paths and choices and their destinations and consequences, so that we can know our true Dharma or calling in this life.

Dharma is a Sanskrit word defined as duty or calling or the divine order that sustains this universe. Dharma comes from the Sanskrit root "dhri," meaning "to uphold or support." Lord Krishna refers to Dharma in progressively more profound ways, shedding light on the meaning of the term and its essence for personal spiritual growth.

Sanjaya says in the last verse that whenever there is an alignment between our confused, petty self and our Highest Self, there is victory, opulence, strength, and morality.

The message of the Gita centers on human will and one's duty or calling, not on proclaiming God's position. The purpose of the Gita is to transform human disposition and align human will with divine will.

It addresses the question of what one's Dharma is, by giving us a map of choices of paths and their destinations. It also shows us our place and our purpose in cosmic reality.

Thus the Gita urges each one of us to know what our duty is, what our calling is, and not get distracted by what the world says or what our mind exaggerates about our situation in life. When we are faced with so many choices and decisions to make, the message of the Gita for us is that the sense of direction and clarity must come from the divine Self.