From Bhagavad-gītā, Eighteenth Chapter, verse number 42 to 45.
- sve sve karmaṇy abhirataḥ
- saṁsiddhiṁ labhate naraḥ
- svakarma-nirataḥ siddhiṁ
- yathā vindati tac chṛṇu
- (BG 18.45)
Sva-karma or sva-dharma, the same thing. The word dharma, as it is explained in the English dictionary, "a kind of faith," actually dharma does not mean that. Dharma means your occupational duty, the characteristic. Everything has got characteristic. Just like this microphone: the characteristic of microphone is to vibrate the sound loudly. This is dharma. If the simply the microphone is there and it does not act to produce the sound loudly, then it is out of his dharma, or out of order. Try to understand what is dharma. There are many other examples. Just like water: Water is liquid, everyone knows. But sometimes water becomes solid, ice, under certain circumstances. That is not his dharma. To remain liquid is dharma. Therefore, sometimes water, even it is transformed into solid ice, it melts, again wants to become water. This is dharma.
So what is our dharma, we human being? There is no question of any sect, any nation or any party, no, as human being. As human being or living being, what is our dharma? Dharma is to render service. Every one of us is rendering service. As a family man, he is rendering service, as a society man, as a national—everyone is, whatever . . . or occupation. As a medical man, you are also offering your service. As engineer, you are offering your service, or any other, businessman, you are also. Sometimes businessmen, they hang the signboard, "Our first business is to offer you service." So everyone is engaged in giving service to somebody else. This is called dharma, basic principle of dharma. So what is our dharma, living entity? Our dharma is to render service. But we are rendering service? But no. We are rendering service not rightly, but wrongly. Therefore you are not satisfied.