Equality in Honour and Disgrace

BY RAJANIKANT MODY, Bombay

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.