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THE PATH OF PERFECTION
devotees by giving them what they lack and preserving what they have. People are very fond of saying that God helps those who help themselves, but they do not understand that helping yourself means putting yourself under Krṣṇa's protection. If one thinks, "Oh, I can help myself. I can protect myself," one is thinking foolishly. As long as my finger is attached to my body, it is useful, and I may spend thousands of dollars to preserve it. But if this finger is cut off, it is useless and is thrown away. Similarly, we are part and parcel of Krṣṇa, and helping ourselves means putting ourselves in our proper position as His parts and parcels. Otherwise we are only fit to be cast away. The finger can help itself only when situated properly on the hand and working on behalf of the entire body. If the finger thinks, "I will separate myself from this body and simply help myself," that finger will be cast away and will die. As soon as we think, "I shall live independently of Krṣṇa," that is our spiritual death, and as soon as we engage in Krṣṇa's service, as His part and parcel, that is our spiritual life. Therefore, helping oneself means knowing one's actual position and working accordingly. It is not possible to help oneself without knowing one's position.
Service means activity, for when we serve someone, we are acting. When we serve Krṣṇa, we are preaching Krṣṇa consciousness, or cooking, or cleansing the temple, or distributing books about Krṣṇa, or writing about Him, or shopping for foodstuff to offer Him. There are so many ways to serve. Helping Krṣṇa means acting for Him, not sitting down in one place and artificially meditating. Krṣṇa consciousness means activity. Whatever assets we have should be utilized for Krṣṇa. That is the process of  bhakti-yoga . Krṣṇa has given us a mind, and we must utilize this mind to think of Krṣṇa. We have been given these hands, and we must use them to wash the temple or cook for Krṣṇa. We have been given these legs, and we should use them to go to the temple of Krṣṇa. We have been given a nose, and we should use it to smell the flowers that have been offered to Krṣṇa. Through the process of  bhakti-yoga , we engage all these senses in the service of Krṣṇa, and in this way the senses are spiritualized.
In  Bhagavad-gītā , Arjuna was refusing to act, and Krṣṇa was in-
Yoga as Action
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spiring him to engage in activity. The entire  Bhagavad-gītā  is an inspiration to work, to engage in Krṣṇa consciousness, to act on Krṣṇa's behalf. Krṣṇa never tells Arjuna, "My dear friend Arjuna, don't concern yourself with this war. Just sit down and meditate upon Me." This is not the message of  Bhagavad-gītā . We are not to refrain from all activity, but only from those activities that impede our consciousness of Krṣṇa. Meditation means stopping all nonsensical activity. Those who are advanced in Krṣṇa consciousness are constantly working for Krṣṇa.
A mother tells only her bad child to sit down and do nothing. If a child can do nothing but disturb his mother, the mother says, "My dear child, just sit down here and keep quiet." But if the child can work nicely, the mother says, "My dear child, will you please help me do this? Will you go over there and do that?" Sitting still in one place is just for those who do not know how to work sensibly. As long as the child sits in one place, he does not raise havoc. Sitting still means negating nonsense; it is not positive activity. In negation, there is no life. Positive activities constitute life, and positive activity is the message of  Bhagavad-gītā . Spiritual life is not "Don't do this." Spiritual life is "Do this!" In order to act properly, there are certain things that one must know not to do; therefore certain activities are forbidden. The whole  Bhagavad-gītā , however, is "do." Krṣṇa says, "Fight for Me." At the beginning of  Bhagavad-gītā , when Arjuna told Krṣṇa, "I will not fight," Śrī Krṣṇa said,
kutas tvā kaśmalam idaṁ viṣame samupashitam anārya-juṣṭam asvargyaṁ akīrti-karam arjuna
"My dear Arjuna, how have these impurities come upon you? They are not at all befitting a man who knows the progressive values of life. They lead not to higher planets, but to infamy." (Bg. 2.2) Krṣṇa directly tells Arjuna that he is speaking like a non-Aryan—that is, like one who does not know the spiritual values of life. So Krṣṇa consciousness does not mean sitting down idly.