Spiritual upliftment of the common householders is the
prime aim of the religious teachings of Guru Harideva. In their day to day life all householders are bound to
perform various types of duties. Those
duties are related with both religious and material activities. In scriptural
language those activities are called Nitya Karma and those are to be constantly
performed every day. Daily prayer, worship and all other household activities come under
the category of Nitya Karma or daily
duties. In addition to that certain special duties involving religious and
material activities are performed by the householders on appearance of certain
special occasion. In scriptural language those activities are called Naimittik
Karma. Performance of certain types of penance, sacrifices and worship on some special
days of the year, performance of certain
familial and social functions like marriage of children, last rites of the dead and some other
types of social and familial activities occasionally performed by the householders come under the category of Naimittik Karma. The
above two types of activities are performed by most of the householders with the intention of gaining some benefits in terms of personal, familial and social comforts of material nature. So in
scriptural terms those activities are called Kamya Karma or activities performed for the purpose of gaining material
benefits. Now, if we think for a while then it can be understood that there is
end of results or comforts earned by such endeavors after certain time period. In our life time
we see huge material assets like land,
building, bank balance etc earned and owned by people . Similarly we also witness destruction of such assets due to natural calamities , political
unrest and so many other reasons. Moreover, as soon as there is end or death of the body,
that is, when the soul abandons the body we lose
the ownership and control over all material possessions of the present life. In
this context Guru Harideva says that it is not possible for any householder to keep himself away from performance of the Nitya and Naimittika Kamya karma and
enjoyment of the fruits generated by those activities. But it is essential for
a spiritual aspirant to realize the fact that the material comforts generated by the above activities
are temporary . Hence it is the duty of
a spiritual master to bring the above facts to the notice of his disciples . It is
also said that while making spiritual practices in parallel with the performance of
householders’ duties a disciple should keep the above facts in their mind . ( to be continued)
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