Selfless Service Provides Human Happiness.

Selfless Service Provides Human Happiness.

In my street there is one old advocate, who is about 90years old. I always use to consult him and clear my doubts. He is a noble and self effacing person and acted accordingly. Once he told me about his doubt in performing his duty and narrated as under:-
“When doubt persisted, I used to adopt the course which would be happiness to others. Then I came across the famous dictum of the immortal Gita.
“Karmanyevaadhikaaraste maa photeshu kadaachana”
[Bhagavad Gita.2-47]
It means your right is to work only, but never to the fruits thereof. In its first part, I found a great support to my own belief, but I remained unconvinced about its latter half that the doer should be completely unconcerned about the result. In such a situation what would be the motivating force, I asked myself. To me the interpretation of Lord Krishna’s words appeared somewhat fallacious. Because as an advocate by profession, I was always conscious, nay keenly anxious, about the fruit of my efforts. Moreover, I found this I found this interpretation paraded by learned commentators, inconsistent with Lord Krishna’s repeated exhortation to Arjun to fight, describing the results thereof. Obviously, Krishna could not be illogical or inconsistent. Then it dawns upon me, as student of logic that according to the theory of causational cause is a bundle of conditions negative, positive and operative which invariably produces the same result. But all conditions always under your control.

It would mean that the inscrutable destiny determines the result over which you do not always have control. Do your duty and the result is not what you expected, moan not because some condition some where changed the result over which you never had any control.


Again in doing your duty you have your own limitations of means, strength and inclinations and cumulatively they control the result. The fixed lesson is do your duty as best as you can. You may aspire for the result also but if you do not get it, there should be no reason to be disheartened. Life is a bundle of desires; it calls for ceaseless efforts with varying results.


A great lesson was learnt is, if you wipe away someone’s tears, it gives you lasting happiness, not the acquisition of earthly wealth which is a fleeting pleasure which almost immediately adds to other wants with bacterial rapidity.” Advocate concluded.

Selfless service provides a lasting dividend for human happiness, this is the lesson I have learnt from the Advocate.