Adherence to Dharma fetches the highest good
Having been born a human, one must realize the temporal nature of life and engage in good deeds. We have no guarantee that we will get a human life immediately after this lifetime. This human life of ours has been acquired by expending a lot of Punyam (merit). The human body is compared to a boat that has been bought using the money called Punyam. The boat of the human body is to be used to cross the ocean of Samsara before it develops a cracks and sinks i.e. before the human body dies —
महता पुण्यपण्येन क्रीतेयं कायनौस्त्वया ॥
पारं दुःखोदधेर्गन्तुं तर यावन्न भिद्यते ॥॥
mahatā puṇyapaṇyena krīteyaṃ kāyanaustvayā .
pāraṃ duḥkhodadhergantuṃ tara yāvanna bhidyate ..
When we have to engage in worldly activities, we must do so with focus and complete them. Likewise, when we engage in Puja or Japa or Anushthaanam, we must not let the mind waver. Some have the habit of feeling sorry for not being able to do Anushthaanam when engaged in worldly actions, and keep thinking of worldly actions when sitting to engage in Puja or performing Japa. Those with such a habit must give it up, realise the importance of Svadharma, engage in worldly activities as necessary, and perform Anushthaanam with faith and sincerity.
It is a must to possess Aachara or noble conduct as enjoined in the Vedas. It has been pointed out that even the Vedas cannot purify one who does not have Aachaara – आचारहीनं न पुनन्ति वेदाः ācārahīnaṃ na punanti vedāḥ
We must remember that our ancestors have enjoined certain regulations to ensure our noble conduct for our life keeping in mind our higher good. Some people mistakenly think that such regulations were put in place for convenience or for selfish interests. However, when we look at the regulatory conduct that goes by the name Aachaara, we realise that most of them are not for our convenience – be it getting up early in the morning during Brahma Muhurta, or the dutiful performance of Trikaala Sandhyavandanam.