Advice to the Indian Aristocracy/Chapter 2
DUTY.
Duty means what is owing or due to be done either by natural, moral, or legal obligation. It is of two kinds*[1] :—
1. The Duty that devolves upon us by Nature, and
2. The Duty that is due from . us to others or that is self-imposed.
The Sanskrit names for these are Daivika Duty and Powrusha Duty. If you perform your duty in both ways, you will certainly please God.
Belief in God and the worship of Him also come under the first heading, because He is the Creator of us all. The duties under the first heading are : —
1. The duties of parents to children, and of children to parents.
2. The duty between brothers and sisters.
3. The duty between the King and the subjects.
4. The duty between teacher and pupils.
5. The duty between husband and wife.
6. The duty between man and man, and so forth.
As for the duties between you and your relatives, you should obey your elders in everything lawful, and you should love those that are younger than you.
But as regards the duty between husband and wife the general principle of the younger obeying the elder which I have stated above applies equally well to all classes of Hindus, among whom, as a rule. the husband is older than the wife. But amongst the Mahommedans and Christians there is no age limit in marriages; and consequently the principle is not applicable. Now again the duty between man and man does not exactly come under the above principle. Here you must 'do to others what you would they should do to you' and wish for your fellow human beings what you wish to have for yourselves. Don't be selfish ; help, if you can, when your neighbours are in distress. And you should also be kind to all living creatures.
The second class of duties are those that you have to perform in matters that are entrusted to you by others, such as employment brings with it, or such as you yourselves undertake to do. Whatever the duty may be, if you perform it, God will certainly be pleased with you, and help you.
The above duties are general ones. But you as holders of estates have to perform other duties, which also are included under the first heading. Instead of performing those duties, some of us spend most of our time in indulging ourselves in such employments or amusements as prayers, music, travelling, shooting or foolishly shutting ourselves up in the Zenana. Of course one may devote some time to such pursuits and pastimes, only bearing in mind that they do not form the chief part of one's duty. Your duties are then the following : —
You must manage your estate to the best possible advantage, improve not only it but such other kinds of your property as you may possess as much as you can, treat your ryots, servants, and relatives with kindness, and help the deserving. It is also your duty to observe punctuality in all your engagements.
- ↑ * In this classification, I differ from some philosophers, who have also divided duty into two kinds, but differently, namely (1) Duty to God, (2) Duty to man. Our duties to God which I have included under Daivika duty, are stated by them as a separate class of duties; and all the rest of our duties are included by them under duties to man.