Dharma or Religious Principles: Prescribed Duties

Q. As a householder we do not have to give up our job, but change our consciousness in doing it. One way of doing it is to donate a portion of the income coming from the job for Lord Shri Krishna's service and use the rest to maintain and raise the family in Krishna consciousness.

Q. How would you explain the concept of "isavasya" given in Isopanisad?

I am not sure if you have some specific angle or point of clarification on this. The basic idea of 'isavasya' is to recognize the Lord's proprietorship over everything, since everything in the universe including all spirit souls (us!) are emanations from Him, and therefore conducting our life accordingly.

Q. Part 1: If at work, whether in business, education, or the military, etc., one is told to do something dishonest, is it the worker's responsibility to refuse an order or does the responsibility for that action fall upon the superior?

Q. 1. What exactly is prescribed duty?  Is it also sanatana dharma?

Human life is a life of responsibility, which means our activities cannot be whimsical. Vedic scriptures prescribe activities to guide how each individual should conduct their life -- these constitute prescribed duties. As the term indicates, prescribed duty is to be assigned by superior authorities, not self-created.

Srila Prabhupada elaborates on prescribed duty in BG 2.32 purport as follows:

Q. In the Ekalavya pastime, it is mentioned that one should perform duties according to one's propensity and capability. However, Lord Krishna declares that it is not the prerogative of only the Brahmanas to indulge in sacred activities such as reading scriptures etc.; rather any one who can raise himself to the platform of bhakti is eligible for this. Are these not contradictory?

Q. Even if a woman keeps serving her husband and family to the best of her ability, still she will not be protected by them at the time of need (as I felt from the story of Draupadi and Sita Devi from Mahabharata and Ramayana.) Then, why and how should I do my duties? What lesson I should take from these stories for my spiritual endeavors?

Q. Recently I am applying for jobs. Unfortunately I am not able to link "WORKING" (i.e. getting a job) with Krishna. I tried many different analogies: like working to buy new clothes for Krishna, working to make food for Krishna, working to keep the home clean for Krishna...but I think that my husband's earnings are enough to do these things. I grew up with a very strong academic background. My mind cannot even think of being a staying-at-home mom. But if I just try to get a job for my satisfaction, I am not at peace. My mind is only at peace when I can do things for Krishna.

Q. In his purport to BG 2.27 Srila Prabhupada discusses that Arjuna had no reason to lament the results of discharging his Ksatriya duties because the Battle of Kuruksetra was inevitable and duties must be properly discharged even in such unfortunate circumstances. 

Q. In one recent Question and Answer session with another devotee, you mentioned the importance of honesty. How can one who has no honesty like me get this quality? I feel the natural tendency to make others feel everything is good, that I am good and expert. The mind is always seeking for ways to get attention and appreciation from others. I even don’t have to do it purposely, it is rooted so deep in me, and just happens even without notice most of the time. I am such a pretender. How can I uproot this anartha?

Q. I have been struggling for some time with questions such as: Is everything pre-determined? Do we have to accept that everything is pre-determined and occupy ourselves with devotional service while still performing our duties? Or do we have to strive toward a goal (even if that means being competitive) while still performing devotional service?