[Advaita-l] nitya karma and job

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

[was Re: [Advaita-l] Advaita-l Digest, Vol 61, Issue 27]

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On Wed, 28 May 2008, pravin tewari wrote:

>
> Hari Om! I would like to know under which catagory "the job/ employment" 
> comes? nitya, namittik karma????

Possibly one, both, or neither.

Until recently most people had a hereditary occupation but even in the 
"good old days" this was not hard and fast.  One should look to the 
historical practices of ones ancestors to see what they regarded as 
obligatory and what they were flexible about.  For instance, my surname 
indicates  a kathakara (of Bhagavata, Ramayana etc.)  However for atleast 
the last century or more, the Vyas family have been schoolteachers or 
minor bureaucrats.  Yet they were always careful to keep up practices such 
as sandhyavandana, shravana masa shiva puja etc.  So I would conclude that 
the latter items are what I should follow as nitya naimittika karma not 
the former.  (Though as a matter of fact I have publically said 
bhagavata katha.)

-- 
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>