Mantra Two
21
harm in becoming a family man, an altruist, socialist, communist, nationalist, or humanitarian—provided all such activities are executed in relation with  īśāvāsya , the God-centered conception.
God-centered activities are evaluated in the  Bhagavad-gītā  as being so rich that even a little bit of them can save one from the greatest danger. The greatest danger of life is to glide down again into the evolutionary cycle of birth and death. If some way or other a man misses the spiritual opportunity offered by his human form of life, and thus glides down again into the evolutionary cycle, it must be considered the most regrettable incidence, although foolish man cannot see this, due to his defective senses.  Śrī Īśopaniṣad  advises us, therefore, to exert our energy in the  īśāvāsya  spirit, and in that engagement we may wish to live for many, many years. Otherwise, one's long life is no better than that of a tree, which is also a living being, and which lives for hundreds and hundreds of years. There is no point in living a long time like the trees, or breathing like the bellows, or begetting children like the hog and the dog, or eating like the camel. Even a humble life, with God-centered activities, is more valuable than the colossal hoax of so-called altruism or socialism without any relation to God.
When activities such as altruism are executed in the spirit of  Śrī Īśopaniṣad , every one of them becomes a form of  karma-yoga , as is recommended in the  Bhagavad-gītā . And that guarantees the executor against the dangers of the evolutionary process of birth and death. Such God-centered activities, even though half-finished, are still good for the executor, because they will guarantee him the human form of life in his next birth. In this way he can have another chance to improve his position on the path of liberation.