Liberation means all of us, not me alone - Bhagavad Gita ch3:29

What is the use of casting your pearls before swine? You can take a horse to water but you can't make it drink.

Most humans are no better than polished animals. Like animals, we are driven primarily by our instinctive pursuit of eating, sleeping, mating and defending. Chasing profit is nothing more than the pursuit of better eating, sleeping, etc.

We can live our entire lives under the influence of our instincts, perhaps even outlive others, only to die in ignorance, having wasted this rare human form of life and it's opportunity to launch the eternal spirit soul out of the clutches of this material existence and it's illusory allure, like a rocket propels itself to escape velocity and breaks away from the clutches of gravity.

Or we can see the way that humans are entrapped by the bewildering influence of their human life, and silently walk away from it all. Some seekers who glimpse a higher truth or follow a higher calling may retire to the forest, mountain cave or secluded monastery or ashram.

There it may be possible to escape the allure of the sense objects and become peaceful. One may be able to focus more directly on one's practice and meditation. One may be able to succeed in advancing on the path of enlightenment or liberation.

And that is a noble pursuit. It is the real goal of life after all, beyond the mere shallow life of the polished animals.

However, what use is there in relishing the goal alone when a rest of humanity continues to suffer like dogs, hogs, camels and asses? A truly self-realized soul may be faced with this dilemma.

On one hand it's not recommended to disturb those who have built their psychological foundation or construct upon a lie or illusion by ripping away that illusion. It may lead to an existential crisis, or worse, to nihilism.

Some people are not able to take the red pill, and are better left alone... for now.

Yet on the other hand, compassion for those who are suffering under severe illusion may make it impossible for one to simply watch and do nothing, or to walk away and retreat to the sanctuary while the vast majority struggle.

Therefore, the wise soul knows how to administer the medicine in a way that is palatable to the sick patient, so that they will accept it for the sake of their healing.

A spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down, as the song says. The "acharya" is one who knows how to translate the ancient truth into the modern parlance. They know how to deliver the eternal truth in such a way that the modern youth can comprehend it, appreciate it and gain a higher taste as a result.

Such a teacher does not merely work on their own liberation from illusion but also actively works to liberate as many others on the way too, by providing understandable guidance, as well as personal example as a role model.

And that is the perfection of life. No one is left behind. We never leave a fallen comrade on the battlefield if possible. All for one and one for all. Where we go one, we go all.

Bhagavad Gita ch3:29

prakṛter guṇa-sammūḍhāḥ
sajjante guṇa-karmasu
tān akṛtsna-vido mandān
kṛtsna-vin na vicālayet

SYNONYMS
prakṛteḥ—impelled by the material modes; guṇa-saṁmūḍhāḥ—befooled by material identification; sajjante—become engaged; guṇa-karmasu—in material activities; tān—all those; akṛtsna-vidaḥ—persons with a poor fund of knowledge; mandān—lazy to understand self-realization; kṛtsna-vit—one who is in factual knowledge; na—may not; vicālayet—try to agitate

TRANSLATION
Bewildered by the modes of material nature, the ignorant fully engage themselves in material activities and become attached. But the wise should not unsettle them, although these duties are inferior due to the performers' lack of knowledge.

PURPORT
Persons who are unknowledgeable falsely identify with gross material consciousness and are full of material designations. This body is a gift of the material nature, and one who is too much attached to the bodily consciousness is called mandān, or a lazy person without understanding of spirit soul. Ignorant men think of the body as the self; bodily connections with others are accepted as kinsmanship; the land in which the body is obtained is the object of worship; and the formalities of religious rituals are considered ends in themselves. Social work, nationalism, and altruism are some of the activities for such materially designated persons. Under the spell of such designations, they are always busy in the material field; for them spiritual realization is a myth, and so they are not interested. Such bewildered persons may even be engaged in such primary moral principles of life as nonviolence and similar materially benevolent work. Those who are, however, enlightened in spiritual life, should not try to agitate such materially engrossed persons. Better to prosecute one's own spiritual activities silently.
Men who are ignorant cannot appreciate activities in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and therefore Lord Kṛṣṇa advises us not to disturb them and simply waste valuable time. But the devotees of the Lord are more kind than the Lord because they understand the purpose of the Lord. Consequently they undertake all kinds of risks, even to the point of approaching ignorant men to try to engage them in the acts of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which are absolutely necessary for the human being.

Reference: Bhagavad Gita As It Is, translation and commentary by Swami A C Bhaktivedanta, original MacMillan 1972 edition. Freely available at prabhupadabooks.com.

Image: https://pixabay.com/photos/woman-human-water-sea-climate-4153484/

Edited and published from my mobile device onto the Hive blockchain as a service to the previous acharyas and future seekers.