Krishna called the inaction of Bhisma a great sin (mahapapam). How is that possible?
This is a most appropriate question.
So well choosen because it shines light on the topics of
“Dharma” [occupational & constitutional obliged duties] +
“Karma” [the nature of ‘Work’ and its re-actions]
a] Protocol requires sanskrit scholars to provide citation of “Chapter & Verse” ---But here, I can work with what you gave me. “In-Action” and, “Great-Sin” (aka, ‘maha papa’).
B] This citation has been ‘truncated’ irregardless of specific context. For implicite in a discussion of “In-action” is the Topic of DHARMA.
IE: The firemen’s DHARMA is to extinguish public fires ---during an alarm call to action--- it is an impeachable (sinfull) “Act of In-action” to ignore the call-to-action when the alarm is ringing.
The person whose DHARMA is to preform a specific duty ---is entrusted to ensure “In-Action” Never ever occurs.
DHARMA = performance of one’s individual occupational/obliged duty.
The conclusion of “Seinfeld” the TV Sitcom Show
had the main char-acters be arrested for “in-Action”
---they Video-taped a street mugging (car hi-jack)
without aiding and comforting the victim---
they find out that a recent local law “required”
volunteerring Good-Samaratans to respond to helpless people.
This was a TV Comnedy Fiction.
Is there enforcable “Good-Samaratan Laws” in all communities?
I don’t know. Probably not.
But I do suspect “repo-men” do work tightly with local police and of course Bank-Loan officers.
C] “ACTION” Off the top of my head I will say
[I’ll double-check b4 I post this ~yeah close enough]: There are three ‘actions’
as explained in the Gita: ---action, re-action & in-action
Bhagavad-gita chapter 4 verse 16-18:
“Even the intelligent are bewildered in determining what is action and what is inaction. Now I shall explain to you what action is, knowing which you shall be liberated from all misfortune.”
“The intricacies of action are very hard to understand. Therefore one should know properly what action is, what forbidden action is, and what inaction is.”
“One who sees inaction in action, and action in inaction, is intelligent among men, and he is in the transcendental position, although engaged in all sorts of activities.”
The indian swami A.C. Bhaktivedanta begins his commentary to this verse:
‘If one is serious about liberation from material bondage, one has to understand the distinctions between action, inaction and unauthorized actions. One has to apply oneself to such an analysis of action, reaction and perverted actions because it is a very difficult subject matter. …’
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Who does a 'true brahmin' worship, and give all kinds of respect to?
This is another great question.
Brahmins (actually: brahmanas) whorship “BRAHMAN”
In India the term, “BRAHMAN” is the received universal Vedic nomenclature for GOD
---pareticularly similar to how GOD is referred to in Abrahamic parlance:
“God is the singular composite whole amalgamation of all cosmic phenomena
---which may or may not include, or incorporate, or first orginate from---
a Personal Godhead”
Although brahmanas by quality are supposed to know about Brahman,
the Supreme Absolute Truth, most of them approach only the impersonal Brahman manifestation of Lord Krishna. But a man who transcends the limited knowledge of a brahmana and reaches the knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, becomes a person in “Krishna consciousness”—or, in technically, a Vaisnava.
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Resources - definition of a Brahmin:
IMO verse gives a definition of a Brahmin’s requisite spiritual goals:
Bg 14.22-25:
“He who does not hate illumination, attachment and delusion
when they are present or long for them when they disappear;
who is unwavering and undisturbed through all these reactions of the material qualities, remaining neutral and transcendental,
knowing that the modes alone are active;
who is situated in the self and regards alike happiness and distress;
who looks upon a lump of earth, a stone and a piece of gold with an equal eye;
who is equal toward the desirable and the undesirable;
who is steady, situated equally well in praise and blame, honor and dishonor;
who treats alike both friend and enemy;
and who has renounced all material activities
—such a person is said to have transcended the modes of nature. [the 3 gunas]”
Bg 7.16:
Four kinds of pious men do devotional service unto God
—the distressed, the desirer of wealth, the inquisitive,
and he who is searching for knowledge of the Absolute.
Bg 7.17:
Of these, the one who is in full knowledge
[of the nature/workings of karma, dharma, action and the soul]
and who is always engaged in pure devotional service is the best.
For God am very dear to him, and he is dear to God.
Bg 7.18:
All these devotees are undoubtedly magnanimous souls,
but he who is in knowledge of Me
I consider to be just like My own self.
Being engaged in My transcendental service,
he is sure to attain Me, the highest and most perfect goal.
Bg 7.21:
I am in everyone’s heart as the Supersoul.
As soon as one desires to worship some demigod,
I make his faith steady so that he can devote himself to that particular deity.
Bg 7.22:
Endowed with such a faith, he endeavors to worship a particular demigod and obtains his desires. But in actuality these benefits are bestowed by Me alone.
Bg 7.23:
Men of small intelligence worship the demigods,
and their fruits are limited and temporary.
Those who worship the demigods go to the planets of the demigods,
but My devotees ultimately reach My supreme planet.
[I will interject this point:
In material real world society, we find ourselves ‘beholding’ to demagogues
---these fellow humans often impose taxation and thus vexations through out ones lifetimes ---such is the vicissitudes of the manifest world of Time & Space; and thus, the Ying & Yang world of duality; of Spirit-Souls in a Material World of Karma & Samsarah]
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A verse from the Padma Purana:
sat-karma-nipuno vipro
mantra-tantra-visaradah
avaisnavo gurur na syad
vaisnavah sva-paco guruh
“A scholarly brahmana, expert in all subjects of Vedic knowledge, is unfit to become a spiritual master without being a Vaisnava, or expert in the science of Krishna consciousness. But a person born in a family of a lower caste can become a spiritual master if he is a Vaisnava, or Krishna conscious.”
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A true yogi observes Me in all beings and also sees every being in Me. Indeed, the self-realized person sees Me, the same Supreme Lord, everywhere.
Bg 6.8:
A person is said to be established in self-realization and is called a yogi [or mystic] when he is fully satisfied by virtue of acquired knowledge and realization. Such a person is situated in transcendence and is self-controlled. He sees everything—whether it be pebbles, stones or gold—as the same.
Bg 6.23:
He is a perfect yogi who, by comparison to his own self, sees the true equality of all beings, in both their happiness and their distress, O Arjuna!
Bg 6.28:
Thus the self-controlled yogi, constantly engaged in yoga practice, becomes free from all material contamination and achieves the highest stage of perfect happiness in transcendental loving service to the Lord.
