Manapamanayostulya–GITA.
Why should we be equal in honour as well as in
disgrace? What could honour and disgrace mean? How do they affect our life and
soul? These and such other questions naturally arise in the reasoning mind
looking at the sentence from the Gita. And the reasoning mind will
arrive at a rather vague conclusion that equality, samata, is the
essential thing we should have in order to liberate our spirit out of the
trammels of the external Nature, and equality in honour and disgrace is only a
particular application of the general equality and is nothing more. This
conclusion is in its essence correct and logical and is to a certain extent
justified by spiritual experience. For we know that equality of soul everything
and every event, does eventually lead to a peace of mind at a cessation of all
our attractions and repulsions. Such an equality necessity for the outflowering
of peace and calm.
But this is not all. This sentence contains in
itself much more meaning than what appears on the surface. If we look deeper
into the nature of honour and disgrace we shall find that they arise out of the
dealings of one individual with mankind in general, and in particular with the
society, class and family to which that individual belongs. It is quite
apparent that Robinson Crusoe living solitary on a far, far island could have
nothing to do with honour and disgrace. It is only when one individual comes
into contact with others that such a consideration arises. Now the ordinary
social, domestic man is governed in all his actions towards himself as well as
others by the three fold mental, vital, physical ego and by desire. And this is
the natural state of affairs for the mentalised physical and vital being that
man is. This action, arising out of ego and desire, would have become the most
dominant factor in an individual life, had he not been controlled by an
evolving moral sense which would have him pay due regard to the claims and
conveniences, as well as the rights, of other individuals. It is this evolving
moral sense that is at the root of the conception of honour and disgrace. In
order better and more easily to satisfy the pressing demands of his ego and
desires, and in or bring about a working compromise between these things, on
the one and the growing sense of morality in him, and the other, he has got
considerate regarding the claims of others. He has to tame down and modify his
own ego and desires, and, that too, for his own ultimate good. This utilitarian
compromise between his ego and that of the others brings about a system of
checks and balances for the smooth working of society, the breaking or
disturbing of which by the individual would invite the anger of society and the
proper maintaining of which would result in a general good feeling in the minds
of others. As society grows and increases in having power over the individuals
constituting it, these two things, society and its power, determine disgrace
and honour. The growth of society brings about a certain kind of unwritten code
of social rules governing the conduct and behaviour of the individuals, and
these rules are generally termed customs. The social honour or disgrace is the
sanction which enforces these customs or rules of conduct on the individual.
The individual is tempted by society to obey its customs with the reward of
social honour which it lays before him, and is threatened into obeying them
with the punishment of disgrace and calumny.
Thus we can see that in their very inception,
honour and disgrace are purely egoistic products it may be that it is a higher
kind of egoism, toned down, as it is, by the increasing moral and social sense;
but still egoism it is; and egoism in any form whatever is inconsistent with
any real spiritual progress. When once an individual gives up egoistic motives
in his actions and rises higher and higher into the consciousness of pure
personality, this sanction of honour and disgrace loses all its meaning for
him, for that sanction is meant to subdue the vehemence of desire and egoism
for the sake of creating a harmonious system among the conflicting rights and
interests of the many individuals that constitute the society. Egoism thus
subdued and suppressed might well allow the bringing about of a mentalised
vital system, but that cannot be the final aim or goal of the whole process of
evolution.
One who aspires to go beyond this intermediate
Poise of an ordered and harmonised egoistic compromise, can have nothing to do
with this kind of social honour or disgrace. Being free from the egoistic urge
of mind, vital and physical, he is not governed in his actions by any of the
lower motive and higher powers take their place. Hence the actions of such a
person are beyond the judgment of the vital mentality of society in general. It
may be that his actions are quite in keeping the ideas of society as a whole,
if the Divine so wills, and then he will incur no disgrace or will deserve no
honour from society. But it may also be that his actions are contrary to the
generally accepted notions, and here too, if the Divine so wills, for he is
free from all egoistic motives which could interfere with His Will and has no
desires or demands, to make. In this case also, he need not fear the disgrace
nor desire the honour of society. The centre of his actions being raised, he
knows fully well that the action which is done by the Divine Will through
himself as Its mute, willing instrument, cannot be affected favourably or
otherwise by the honour or disgrace shown by society. And, hence, it is this
raising of the centre of our activity from egoism to pure Impersonality, that
should precede the equality to honour and disgrace. Before we can get rid of
egoism and make our self-surrender to the Divine, this kind of social sanction
is a good check on our egoism and desires. But after this transformation is
effected, the society, being based on some sort of egoistic compromise, cannot
judge the correctness or otherwise of a pure impersonal action and hence cannot
rightly reward or punish the individual; who has gone beyond all the existing
social standards of action. Hence the honor or disgrace shown by society should
not at all be taken into account by such an individual.
That is the meaning of manapamanayostulya.