Hatred
T N Dhar Kundan
A divine person is described as ‘adroha’ or without any hatred. Even in our daily prayers, one of the main points which we pray for is ‘Ma Vidvishavahai’, let us not hate anyone. Coming to think of it, hatred harms more the person who hates rather than the one he hates
I was in a pensive mood when a question flashed through my mind, why do we hate. I pondered over this question and tried to find an answer. I figured out that human nature is a complex matter. It comprises so many traits, some of which are diametrically opposite. On the one hand a human being likes somethings and some persons but then he dislikes many other things and persons. He is full of love for his chosen things and persons but hates some persons and some things. He is attracted to some things and runs away from many others. There are things which he respects and things that he disrespects. That is true of persons too in whose contact he comes during his lifetime. It is, therefore, by his nature that a person hates just as he loves. I think that argument would be too simplistic. The question here is that there can be a person or a thing or a matter that he loves or likes. If there is a person or a thing or a matter that he does not love or like, let him not but where is the question of hate or dislike?
The situation suggests that in stead of two possibilities there are many other possibilities. A person does not necessarily hate what he does not love nor dislike what he does not like. He loves somethings and hates somethings. He likes somethings and dislikes somethings. There are things which he does not love but does not hate either. Similarly, there can be things which he does not like but does not dislike altogether. He can be indifferent to some people and some situations. This suggests that one does not hate by nature but by design. So, there must be either a rationale behind this hatred that justifies it or the person having hatred is blame-worthy. No wonder there are people who are loved and respected by some while many others hate and disrespect them. Same is the case with many things that are liked by some and disliked by some. In this backdrop one can understand love and liking, where one can be choosy. We know some people like sweet things, others like savoury ones. Some are interested in games, some in music. There are people who love to watch pictures while others love to see dramas in a theatre. We are choosy in the matter of vegetables and other consumable items including tea, coffee, milk etc. Some of us are fond of non-vegetarian food while others like pure vegetarian dishes. Similarly, people are choosy about dresses. Some people are crazy about Indian dresses, but some people are crazy about Indian dresses, but some others prefer western attire. Even in a family some children are more attracted towards their mother while some are towards their father. All this is understandable because we have our likings, our tastes, our preferences and our choices that make us love and like some people and some things in preference to the rest. But why hate someone or something. Let us take the latter first. For example, a person got a severe cough and bad throat after eating some pickle. It may have been a mere coincidence, or his system may be allergic to pickles. Having thus suffered by consuming pickle the person develops a dislike for it. Sometimes a superstition also makes us hate something or someone. People often are very particular to see the face of an auspicious person or thing, in the morning and while embarking on some important work. If by seeing the face of someone or something on these occasions one does not get the desired result or confronts failure, he is bound to harbour some hatred towards that person or thing. Someone or something may turn to be auspicious for some and inauspicious for others. Another factor for hatred seems to be envy. We do not tolerate prosperity, riches, success, name and fame of someone. We harbour envy and prejudice against him or her and that turns into hatred. This also is of two kinds. One is where we find this person having all these luxuries, comforts, riches, success and popularity whereas we do not have the same. We find him much ahead of us and more privileged and, therefore, feel envious and jealous and that makes us hate him. Another situation is where we too have all these facilities and privileges, name and fame but even then, we envy the otherperson for having the same achievements. Our reasoning is if we have it how can the other person have the same and come up to our level. How dear he equal, our status. We are arrogant enough to believe that we deserve all these good things, but the other person does not. This thinking and attitude makes us hate him. We do not let any occasion slip by without passing derogatory comments on him and trying to prove that he has got it by fluke as he does not deserve it for he does not have the qualities and qualifications that we have. We often see that at workplaces there is a lot of competition. Everyone is eager to be one step ahead so that he is in the good books of the bosses. Work is done more to impress and show off and less with commitment for the assigned duty. This leads to a tendency where each one wants to downgrade his competitor, rather than upgrade his own performance. If every worker performs his duty with commitment and sincerity, with no ill will for other colleagues, the overall result will certainly be far better and there will be cooperation and coordination rather than hatred and brinkmanship. Any unhealthy competition leads to animosity and hatred, which is not good for the overall functioning of the establishment or organisation. Hatred works like a swarm in the infested grain and must beuprooted right in the beginning before it infests the entire set up. In Shrimad Bhagavad Gita two types of qualities of a human being have been detailed, divine and demonic. It is enjoined upon us that we should adopt divine qualities so that we are pious in thought, word and deed. As far as possible we should shun the demonic traits, which include hatred. A divine person is described as 'Adroha' or without any hatred. Even in our daily prayers, one of the main points which we pray for is 'Ma vidvishavahai',let us not hate anyone. Coming to think of it, hatred harms more the person who hates rather than the one he hates. At times, the other person may not even know that he is hated unless it is shown by the treatment he gets or the way he is addressed. The one who bears hatred and ill will against someone creates negativity in his own mind. It burns like smokeless fire and damages him psychologically and mentally, which eventually affects his physical health as well.
Sages and wise men have advised us to hate the sin not the sinner. Sinner could have taken to a sin due to some reasons, ignorance, bad company, allurement, threatening and the like. So, he needs to be advised, educated and guided and thereby put on the right path so that he desists from the path of sin. There are no doubt things to be hated; untruth, injury and harm to others, stealing, ill will, disrespect, arrogance, pride, attachment to sense objects and the like as also the hatred itself. Hatred to these things is justified as it puts us on the path of purity and piety. It lifts us from animality to divinity. But, hatred towards any body cannot be justified and condoned. We may not like a person. We may not love him either, but we are in no way and under no circumstances justified in hating or disliking him. Let us see the Divine in everyone and then love him and respect him. Shri Gita tells us, 'Vasudevahsarvamitisa mahatma sudurlabhah - That divine person is hard to find, who realizes that the Lord is all that there is'. The answer lies in being detached, above love and hatred.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Author’s personal views and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing."
Courtesy: T N Dhar Kundan and June 2020, Spade A Spade
Hatred
T N Dhar Kundan
|
A divine person is described as ‘adroha’ or without any hatred. Even in our daily prayers, one of the main points which we pray for is ‘Ma Vidvishavahai’, let us not hate anyone. Coming to think of it, hatred harms more the person who hates rather than the one he hates |
I was in a pensive mood when a question flashed through my mind, why do we hate. I pondered over this question and tried to find an answer. I figured out that human nature is a complex matter. It comprises so many traits, some of which are diametrically opposite. On the one hand a human being likes somethings and some persons but then he dislikes many other things and persons. He is full of love for his chosen things and persons but hates some persons and some things. He is attracted to some things and runs away from many others. There are things which he respects and things that he disrespects. That is true of persons too in whose contact he comes during his lifetime. It is, therefore, by his nature that a person hates just as he loves. I think that argument would be too simplistic. The question here is that there can be a person or a thing or a matter that he loves or likes. If there is a person or a thing or a matter that he does not love or like, let him not but where is the question of hate or dislike?
The situation suggests that in stead of two possibilities there are many other possibilities. A person does not necessarily hate what he does not love nor dislike what he does not like. He loves somethings and hates somethings. He likes somethings and dislikes somethings. There are things which he does not love but does not hate either. Similarly, there can be things which he does not like but does not dislike altogether. He can be indifferent to some people and some situations. This suggests that one does not hate by nature but by design. So, there must be either a rationale behind this hatred that justifies it or the person having hatred is blame-worthy. No wonder there are people who are loved and respected by some while many others hate and disrespect them. Same is the case with many things that are liked by some and disliked by some. In this backdrop one can understand love and liking, where one can be choosy. We know some people like sweet things, others like savoury ones. Some are interested in games, some in music. There are people who love to watch pictures while others love to see dramas in a theatre. We are choosy in the matter of vegetables and other consumable items including tea, coffee, milk etc. Some of us are fond of non-vegetarian food while others like pure vegetarian dishes. Similarly, people are choosy about dresses. Some people are crazy about Indian dresses, but some people are crazy about Indian dresses, but some others prefer western attire. Even in a family some children are more attracted towards their mother while some are towards their father. All this is understandable because we have our likings, our tastes, our preferences and our choices that make us love and like some people and some things in preference to the rest. But why hate someone or something. Let us take the latter first. For example, a person got a severe cough and bad throat after eating some pickle. It may have been a mere coincidence, or his system may be allergic to pickles. Having thus suffered by consuming pickle the person develops a dislike for it. Sometimes a superstition also makes us hate something or someone. People often are very particular to see the face of an auspicious person or thing, in the morning and while embarking on some important work. If by seeing the face of someone or something on these occasions one does not get the desired result or confronts failure, he is bound to harbour some hatred towards that person or thing. Someone or something may turn to be auspicious for some and inauspicious for others. Another factor for hatred seems to be envy. We do not tolerate prosperity, riches, success, name and fame of someone. We harbour envy and prejudice against him or her and that turns into hatred. This also is of two kinds. One is where we find this person having all these luxuries, comforts, riches, success and popularity whereas we do not have the same. We find him much ahead of us and more privileged and, therefore, feel envious and jealous and that makes us hate him. Another situation is where we too have all these facilities and privileges, name and fame but even then, we envy the otherperson for having the same achievements. Our reasoning is if we have it how can the other person have the same and come up to our level. How dear he equal, our status. We are arrogant enough to believe that we deserve all these good things, but the other person does not. This thinking and attitude makes us hate him. We do not let any occasion slip by without passing derogatory comments on him and trying to prove that he has got it by fluke as he does not deserve it for he does not have the qualities and qualifications that we have. We often see that at workplaces there is a lot of competition. Everyone is eager to be one step ahead so that he is in the good books of the bosses. Work is done more to impress and show off and less with commitment for the assigned duty. This leads to a tendency where each one wants to downgrade his competitor, rather than upgrade his own performance. If every worker performs his duty with commitment and sincerity, with no ill will for other colleagues, the overall result will certainly be far better and there will be cooperation and coordination rather than hatred and brinkmanship. Any unhealthy competition leads to animosity and hatred, which is not good for the overall functioning of the establishment or organisation. Hatred works like a swarm in the infested grain and must beuprooted right in the beginning before it infests the entire set up. In Shrimad Bhagavad Gita two types of qualities of a human being have been detailed, divine and demonic. It is enjoined upon us that we should adopt divine qualities so that we are pious in thought, word and deed. As far as possible we should shun the demonic traits, which include hatred. A divine person is described as 'Adroha' or without any hatred. Even in our daily prayers, one of the main points which we pray for is 'Ma vidvishavahai',let us not hate anyone. Coming to think of it, hatred harms more the person who hates rather than the one he hates. At times, the other person may not even know that he is hated unless it is shown by the treatment he gets or the way he is addressed. The one who bears hatred and ill will against someone creates negativity in his own mind. It burns like smokeless fire and damages him psychologically and mentally, which eventually affects his physical health as well.
Sages and wise men have advised us to hate the sin not the sinner. Sinner could have taken to a sin due to some reasons, ignorance, bad company, allurement, threatening and the like. So, he needs to be advised, educated and guided and thereby put on the right path so that he desists from the path of sin. There are no doubt things to be hated; untruth, injury and harm to others, stealing, ill will, disrespect, arrogance, pride, attachment to sense objects and the like as also the hatred itself. Hatred to these things is justified as it puts us on the path of purity and piety. It lifts us from animality to divinity. But, hatred towards any body cannot be justified and condoned. We may not like a person. We may not love him either, but we are in no way and under no circumstances justified in hating or disliking him. Let us see the Divine in everyone and then love him and respect him. Shri Gita tells us, 'Vasudevahsarvamitisa mahatma sudurlabhah - That divine person is hard to find, who realizes that the Lord is all that there is'. The answer lies in being detached, above love and hatred.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Author’s personal views and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing."
Courtesy: T N Dhar Kundan and June 2020, Spade A Spade