Definition
“ Duty is a thing that is due, and must be paid by every one who would avoid present discredit and eventual moral insolvency. It is an obligation, a debt – which can only be discharged by voluntary effort and resolute actions in the affairs of life,” says Dr. Smiles. Every man or woman has his or her duties in life from the highest to the lowest. No one in this world can be irresponsible and say that he has no duty to perform. From the day we are born till the day we die, each one of us, whether a king or a beggar, has duties to perform. This is the real significance of the couplet:
“Honour and shame from no condition rise,
Act well your part there all the honour lies”.
Sphere
Duty begins at home where the child has a duty towards its parents-obedience. As a man lesser restrictions are placed upon his outward life because he has become an individual and the inward sense should be his guide. As a man his duties are manifold. First he has his duties towards his family; secondly towards the society in which he lives and moves and last but not least he has his duties as a citizen towards the nation. While lower animals only work for the satisfaction of their physical wants, a man has his duties to his God, to himself, to his family, to his country and to the humanity at large. From the richest to the poorest everyone has duties to discharge. The king looks after his subjects, the teacher imparts sound training to his pupils, children obey their parents and parents take care of their offspring. The sphere of duty is unlimited. We are bound to each other by chain of obligations and duties. Every post imposes certain functions.
Impediment and Effects
Duty may not always be sweet. In many cases it demands self sacrifice. Sometimes it is monotonous and irksome. The dull monotony of duty may not find beauty in daily life but there is no escape from it. The factors that stand in the way of true performance of duty are in resolution, weakness of purpose and in decision. On one hand the knowledge of good and evil are the great factor, conscience and on the other love of pleasure and passion, indolence and selfishness fight for mastery over each other. In the long run the sense of duty must prevail. As Wordsworth beautifully says:
“Stern daughter of the voice of God,
O, Duty! If that name thou love,
Who art a light to guide, a rod
To check the erring, and reprove”.
If a man does not realise that his duty is a worship he remains selfish and indolent; he becomes the slave of his passion, he looses his individuality of character and nobody respects him. He stands denounced and degraded.
Call of Duty
First of all duty calls for the exercise of will in consonance with the dictates of conscience. It overcomes and triumphs over baser nature and lower impulses. To be dutiful moral discipline and courage are essential. It is not at all easy to fight evil thoughts, selfishness and the baser and meaner passions . It is all a question of the individual’s power to exercise self control. He must stand firm by his own independent efforts, avoid falsehood and be truthful, avoid sensualism and be contented and should be benevolent and forgiving. All these , however,are simple things, are well within the scope of individual efforts and can be achieved by rigorous self-discipline. In short it calls for the best in man-regularity, self – sacrifice, preservance and honesty. Many have sacrificed their lives at the sacred call of duty. It may not always be easy to stick to one’s duty. Some times we feel like casting off our nobler nature and falling an easy prey to the dictates of evil. But eventually it lets us down and we feel we have erred in our decision. The better the execution of duty, the greater is the joy. The frisk, the leap, the jump in the air, the throwing of one’s cad and the popular applause- all these make one forget all the pains. The announcement of prize i itself is a bliss, a joy, a pleasure to the victor, the prize winner, the successful man, who finds himself transported to a new heaven of delight. He finds himself in a new world and every step seems to be a step towards heaven. Duty is religion as it is an obligation and its fulfilments is heartening and delightful.
Duty is Truth
Duty is closely allied to truth. The dutiful man has to be truthful in his thoughts, words and deeds.He has to speak and do the right thing, in the right way and at the right time. Untruthfulness is a vicious habit that must be curbed by one who means to do his duty faithfully. Untruthfulness shows itself in many forms; reticence, exaggeration, concealment, making promises which are never to be made good, professing outward concurrence with another man’s views and making unjust claims about one’s own powers and capabilities, etc. One can justify one’s existence only by the truest discharge of one’s obligation. The philosophy of Holy Quran is that one should keep on discharging one’s duties and obligations without waiting to think of the results. Actions are man’s pursuits. Their results are in the hand of . faithful performance of duties brings happiness and success in life. Every station, every sphere, every phase of life imposes conditions. With the growth of age and responsibility, our duties grow more and more comprehensive, complex and burdensome. Let not a person be found napping, wanting and slothful in the performance of his duties, as otherwise the moment lost for once is lost for good. Time never repeats itself and if we fail to catch opportunity the forelock it is a permanent and grievous loss.
Reliance on our moral courage and self denial, a lofty sense of duty, the will to overcome difficulties and to steer clear of all hazards, the determination to fight temptation in the face-this is the glory of life.
Illustrations
As in the teaching of Holy Quran , duty and action should play a major role in life. Duty should not be prompted by any ulterior motive. It should be done only for the sake of duty and for no other objective. That is the best of religion.
Lives of great men provide us with so many other examples. Look at our own history. Quaid -e -Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah did not care for his health and worked day and night for the creation of Pakistan . he fought the war of principles with two nations all alone and won . Our soldiers are giving their lives for the integrity and defence of this country. This is the call of duty. They forget their love, their families, and even their lives for the call of duty. Casabianca stuck to his post of duty even at the risk of his life Saint John was burnt alive. Latimer went to the stake because he knew he was right. Florence Nightingale renounced love and domestic pleasure at the call of duty.
The life of George Washington is a great lesson to us. Washington’s chief motive power was his sense of duty. It was the regal and commanding element in his character which gave it unity, compactness and vigor. When he clearly saw his duty before him, he did it with all hazards and with inflexible integrity. He did not do it for the effect; nor did he think of glory or fame and its rewards but of the right to be done, and the best way of doing it.
Conclusion
Many times duty may come into conflict with conscience. Obedience may not tally with the dictates of our inner voice. Temptation may prove to be too strong for one’s sense of duty. But a wise man should be able to analyse a situation, distinguish between good and evil and act strictly according to the sense of of duty by which he is bound to God. Performance of one’s duty, righteously and unselfishly, possessing a benevolent and forgiving nature, remaining true and loyal to one’s own self in the eyes of the world are laudable virtues. They bring honour and glory and make man immortal. Therefore one can perform no better duty to God than performing one’s duty in this world.
That is character, true morality as well as best of services to God:
“ I slept and dreamt that life was beauty,
I woke and found that life was duty.
Was thy dream then a shadowy lie?
Toil on, poor heart, unceasingly,
And thou shalt find thy dream to be
A truth and noonday light to thee”.
