Do not slip into inaction!
By Swami Chidananda
Upanishads may talk of self-development but their ultimate message is ‘ending of the separate self,’ and not its improvement. In order that this highest goal is reached, it is important that we remember, amidst all our actions, that everything that we possess, achieve or enjoy has to come to an end.
..likewise, the worlds (like heaven), earned through meritorious deeds, also perish!
evamevāmutra punyajito lokah ksheeyate
Chāndogya Upanishad, 8.1.6 (chapter 8, khanda 1, mantra 6)
[There is no question of the Vedānta asking us to become idle or lazy. That chapter of tamas is over long back. We move on, passing rajas also and beginning to operate in sattva. Amidst such balanced dynamism, we reflect on the impermanence of all possessions.]