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TEXT 48 saha-jam karma kaunteya
SYNONYMS  saha-jam--born
simultaneously; karma--work; kaunteya--O son of Kunti; sa-dosam--with
fault; api--although; na--never; tyajet--to be given
up; sarva-arambhah--any venture; hi--certainly; dosena--with
fault; dhumena--with smoke; agnih--fire; iva--as;
avrtah--covered.
TRANSLATION Every endeavor
is covered by some sort of fault, just as fire is covered by smoke. Therefore
one should not give up the work which is born of his nature, O son of Kunti,
even if such work is full of fault.
PURPORT In conditioned
life, all work is contaminated by the material modes of nature. Even if
one is a brahmana, he has to perform sacrifices in which animal
killing is necessary. Similarly, a ksatriya, however pious he may
be, has to fight enemies. He cannot avoid it. Similarly, a merchant, however
pious he may be, must sometimes hide his profit to stay in business, or
he may sometimes have to do business on the black market. These things
are necessary; one cannot avoid them. Similarly, even though a man is a
sudra serving a bad master, he has to carry out the order of the
master, even though it should not be done. Despite these flaws, one should
continue to carry out his prescribed duties, for they are born out of his
own nature.
A very nice
example is given herein. Although fire is pure, still there is smoke. Yet
smoke does not make the fire impure. Even though there is smoke in the
fire, fire is still considered to be the purest of all elements. If one
prefers to give up the work of a ksatriya and take up the occupation
of a brahmana, he is not assured that in the occupation of a brahmana
there are no unpleasant duties. One may then conclude that in the material
world no one can be completely free from the contamination of material
nature. This example of fire and smoke is very appropriate in this connection.
When in wintertime one takes a stone from the fire, sometimes smoke disturbs
the eyes and other parts of the body, but still one must make use of the
fire despite disturbing conditions. Similarly, one should not give up his
natural occupation because there are some disturbing elements. Rather,
one should be determined to serve the Supreme Lord by his occupational
duty in Krsna consciousness. That is the perfectional point. When a particular
type of occupation is performed for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord,
all the defects in that particular occupation are purified. When the results
of work are purified, when connected with devotional service, one becomes
perfect in seeing the self within, and that is self-realization.
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