Thus Spake the Divine - Personality – Defective and Virtuous

Thus Spake the Divine

Personality – Defective and Virtuous

In the coming chapters, Poojyasri Maha Periyava guides devotees in inculcating virtuous characteristics by way of strictly adhering to the Codes of Dharma.

If human beings born into this world want to lead a disciplined life as per rules of Dharma, they have to necessarily and strictly adhere to the stipulated rules and regulations of the society. It is also very important that to get the desired results, they should voluntarily come forward to abide by rules and regulations without any force or compulsion. All religious systems (Sampradaya) have been in vogue since generations and people have been abiding by them on their own will.

None of the rules of Sampradaya is available in any written or legal format. Once it is in a legal format, it becomes a compulsion. There is an ancestral saying, “Say thousands of things verbally or orally; never write even one rule and make its adherence compulsory”. However, nowadays, we see a lot of “dos and don’ts” written on bill boards and notices everywhere. Even in this Mutt, in my own pooja room, there are bill boards stating, ‘Don’t make noise’ ‘Remove your shirts’ and so on. If I forcefully tell you not to do something, then I myself will be violating what I just told you “Don’t force anyone to do anything by compulsion”.

Please don’t exaggerate the faults that you see in anyone, irrespective of what they could be. On the other hand, if you find a good quality in a person, however insignificant it is, please highlight it to all and celebrate it. This precisely was the practice of our ancestors. In short, we should not highlight one’s defects; we should only focus on their good qualities. This can be understood from Lord Shiva. Though the moon has a tendency to wane, He still places it on His head in praise. Similarly, Lord Shiva has kept the deadly poison (Aalakala Visham) unnoticeable under His throat.

Nowadays, people are so impatient that they exaggerate even the smallest fault of others. This is more so in case of the so-called ‘educated’. The duty of scholars is only to identify mistakes or faults of others, but not publicise or exaggerate them. We can speak in kind words to those who have committed some mistakes. They will correct the same on their own will.

In case we want to point out the defect of an individual right on his face, we must be competent enough to do that. We ourselves are filled with a number of culpabilities. If we still preach others, it will not have any impact. May be, it might trigger them into committing more of the same mistake again and again. If we are confident that we are competent enough to highlight the mistakes, only then can we advise such people.

If we highlight the good qualities of an individual, we motivate that person to improve on his good qualities. But remember, certain norms must be followed even when praising. We should set some limit to our praise. Otherwise, it will be like flattering that person. That will only make that person arrogant. Other such norms are: Praise God and Guru in their presence; Don’t praise relatives on their face, convey your praise to third parties known to them; Praise employees or staff after they complete the assigned task (like patting the horse after its successful ride); Never praise your own son, though you can highlight his mistakes.

Now I am convinced that I can highlight your faults as per the norms underlined above. That must be way of highlighting anybody’s good or bad qualities!

This article is a snippet from the Book Thus Spake the Divine, is available online at www.giri.in and across Giri Trading Agency Private Limited, A chain of Speciality Stores dealing in all kinds of products needed in Indian Culture and Tradition.