6.7. The concept of Dhairya (steadfastness)

[Full title: Human values: A mirror to Indian culture (7): Dhairya]

To remain firm in the face of adversity is a trait of character that is key to success in life. Mostly inborn, it can be cultivated also under advice from the wise or through the sheer force of circumstances. There do come moments in life when a person finds himself on the verge of losing self-control. Were he to collect himself at that moment, he may be able to chart for himself a new course. Though easier said than done, he has to be firm and not go under the pressure of emotions, sentiments and feelings. That is the purport of the advice of Vasistha to Aja not attending to the affairs of the State, as goes the story in Raghuvamsa of Kalidasa, on account of the grievous loss of his beloved wife Indumati: drumasanumatoh kim antaram yadi vayau dvitaye 'pi te calah¹, "what distinction would be there between a tree and a mountain if they both were to shake under the impact of wind". One has to continue standing up against all odds and not to wilter. That is the sign of true conduct. It is the quality of steadfastness that occupies the first place among the indications, O laksanas, of right conduct: dhrith ksama damo 'steyam saucam indriyanigrahahi dhir vidya satyam akrodho dasakam dharmalaksanam²11 It is dhrti which is most important. It is this which enables one to accomplish the most difficult of the things in the most adverse of the circumstances in life with equanimity which wins appreciation all round. After the anointment of Rama as Heir Apparent had been announced he was called into his presence by

his father through Sumantra, the chariteer completely oblivious of the goings on in the Palace. As he in high spirits noticing the joy of the people was face to face with his father Dasaratha who with Kaikeyi by his side did not greet him as usual being completely down and out, Kaikeyi told him of the episode of the two boons promised by the latter (Dasaratha) which she had asked for the boons being coronation of Bharata as king and his (Rama's) exile in the forest for fourteen years. This sudden turn of events against him did have no impact on him. Neither did he, the noble one, feel sad, nor shaken: fox na caiva ramah pravivesa sokam.³ There was no disturbance in his mind in his proceeding to the forest and leaving the earth (the kingdom) as it would be in the case of the one who is emancipated: na vanam gantukamasya tyajatas ca vasundharami sarvalokatigasyeva laksyate cittavikriya 411 Rama seemed to lose dhairya when he found the cottage bereft of Sita on coming back to it after killing Marica but collected himself after some time, formed an alliance with the monkeys and the bears and after a fight with their help with all powerful Ravana recovered Sita. It is ingrained in the very nature of the great souls to remain steady even in adversity and maintain their cool. As says the Hitopadesa: vipadi dhairyam athabhyudaye ksama sadasi vakpatuta yudhi vikramahi yasasi cabhirucir vyasanam srutau prakrtisiddham idam hi mahatmanam$11 "Fortitude in adversity, forbearance in prosperity, eloquence in an assembly, valour in battlefield, a liking for fame and a strong attachment to study-these are the natural possessions of magnanimous". When he picked up struggle against the British, Mahatma Gandhi was not unaware of the strength of the mighty British empire, nor was Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose in raising the tia

Dhairya 159 Indian National Army with practically no resources. Still they carried on. Sheer persistence paid and they were able to restore the country to freedom. The same is true of the countless freedom fighters who braved unflinchingly the atrocities of the foreign rulers and did not lose heart. They continued to be in high spirits till the last moment: prarabhyate na khalu vighnabhayena nicaih prarabhya vighnavihata viramanti madhyahi vighnaih punah punar api pratihanyamanah prarabhya cottamaguna na parityajantin 6 The sane advice is that one should not give up steadiness and fortitude even if time is not favourable: tyajyam na dhairyam vidhure 'pi kale." If one could control oneself, the possibility is that one may succeed: dhairyat kadacid gatim apnuyat sah.8 Even if there is shipwreck, a brave person would not flinch from taking to swimming. History furnishes instances when people actually swam the ocean. The classic example is that Veer Savarkar who had jumped into the sea in the icy cold winter near Paris. If one were to look for the criterion for steadfastness, its definition in simple understandable terms, one has to turn to Kalidasa: vikarahetau sati vikriyante yesam na cetamsi ta eva dhirah.' "They alone are self-controlled whose minds are not affected, even if the cause thereof is present." Another definition of steadfastness could be "to maintain uniformity in both adversity and prosperity: sampattau ca vipattau ca mahatam ekarupatal udayan savita rakto rakta evastam eti can¹o "The great remain the same both in prosperity and adversity. The sun is red when it rises, it is red when it sets." True it is that such people are rare in this world: sampadi yesam na harso vipadi visado rane ca bhirutvami

] of 160 Society and Culture tam bhuvanatrayatilakam janayati janani sutam viralami "A mother rarely gives birth to a son, an ornament of the three worlds, who does not rejoice in prosperity nor does feel sorrow in adversity and is firm in battle." Such a person who has made fortitude or forbearance natural to him would never give it up even if he were to be oppressed (by adversity). The flame of fire even when overturned never proceeds downward: kadarthitasyapi hi dhairyavrtter na sakyate dhairyagunah pramarstumi adhomukhasyapi krtasya vahner nadhah sikha yati kadacid eval|12 The people endowed with steadiness never allow their minds to waver or to lose their clarity. That is their forte. Were they to do so, they would not be steadfast then. It is these people who once taken a resolve would not budge even when faced with myriad problems: krcchre pi na calaty eva dhiranam niscalam manah. Obstacles would look too small before their will power. The earth would give to them the look of the house courtyard, the ocean of a canal, the nether world of a patch of land and Sumeru an anthill: anganavedi vasudha kulya jaladhih sthali ca patalami valmikas ca suneruh krtapratijnasya dhirsayal 13 Many of the explorations and inventions owe themselves to such people. Who knows how many years they spent in deep impenetrable forests to study the wild life or in the oceans to explore the marine life exposing themselves to all sorts of risks. Many of them even sacrificed their lives. It needed a Stein to discover manuscripts in Gobi desert and a Rahul Sankrityayan to find them in Tibet and an S.R. Rao to discover the submerged Dwaraka, an Edmund Hillary and a Sherpa Tenzing to conquer Mount Everest and a host of astronauts to conquer space with a

Dhairya 161 landing on the moon and the Mars. It is to such people, the human dynamos, that humanity owes much of its progress. Once they chart a course for themselves, there is no going back for them. They would not stop till they achieve their objective: na niscitarthad viramanti dhirah. 14 No amount of inducements or the scare of something untoward happening to them would deflect them from their course. As says Bhartrhari in support of his assertion that the steady ones do not rest till they achieve their mission; the gods did not rest content (while churning the milk ocean) by hitting upon valued gems, nor did they get scared with deadly poison. 15 They did not rest till they had laid their hands on nectar. Further on he terms that person to be steadfast in real sense whom the arrows of the side-glances of the damsels do not pierce, nor does the heat of the fire of anger singe his mind, nor pull towards him the manifold sense objects with nooses of greed. Such a person conquers all the three worlds: kantakataksavisikha na tudanti yasya cittam na nirdahati kopakrsanutapahi karsanti bhurivisayas ca na lobhapasair lokatrayam jayati krtsnam idam sa dhirahn 16 J The same Bhartrhari asserts at still another place that the dhiras, the people firm in their resolve, do not step away from the righteous path, nyayyat pathah, unmindful of the fact whether those versed in polity speak well or ill of them, whether Dame prosperity comes to them or leaves them, whether they die that very day or in another aeon.17 Nothing can change their mind resolutely fixed on desired objects like water flowing on a downward course: ka ipsitarthasthiraniscayam manah payas ca nimnabhimukham pratipayet. 18 For such people personal comfort or discomfort have no meaning: manasvi karyarthi na ganayati duhkham na ca sukham. 19 These people whatever they undertake, they carry out relentlessly. A reference may be made here to the classic episode of King Hariscandra recorded in the Puranas. He was assigned the duty of collecting tax for the cremation ground. He did not spare even his wife reduced to utmost penury and made her part with a part of her sari when she had repaired to it to say

? 162 Society and Culture final goodbye to her son. Rana Pratap of Mewar having made up his mind not to surrender his freedom to the mighty emperor Akbar wandered in the jungles with no food for himself and the members of his family for days on end. He literally had to eat grass but kept his head high. Such people are dhiras, the embodiment of the quality of dhairya and have carved a niche for themselves in the annals of the world. If one can maintain one's equanimity and is not too much perturbed by adversity or financial troubles, one can find a way out of one's difficulties. For, with equanimity the mind does not lose clarity and with clarity one can find a way to solve one's problems however intractable they may be. There is always light at the end of the tunnel, as goes the saying. But then one must have the stamina to go up to the end and not get perished in the tunnel itself. For, what are needed are patience, perseverance and strong will which is all that the word dhairya connotes. REFERENCES 1. 8.90 2. 6.92 3. Ramayana, II. 18.41. 4. ibid, II. 19.33 5. I. 31. 6. Nitisataka, 27 r. J 7. Pancatantra, (Mitrabnida), 216. 8. ibid. Mitrabhfida), 9. Kumarasambhava, 1.59. 10. Pancatantra, II, 7. 11. Hippadesa, 1. 32. 12. ibid, 2.69. 13. Subhasitavali, 227. t 14. Nitisataka, 81 15. ibid. 16. ibid, 107. 17. Nititataka, 84. 18. Kumarasambhava, 5.5 19. Nitisataka, 82. CC-0. Prof. Satya at Shastri Collection, New Delhi. Digitized by eGangotri