RENUNCIATION OF ENMITY
(Giving up enmity)
Sahridayam
samanasyamavidwesham krinomi wah. Anyo anyamabhi haryata watsam jatmiwaghnya.
Atharva
Ved 3.30.1.
Meaning: God
instructs that the heart and mind of all people should be similar and without
any ill-will. Human beings should interact with one another in a manner similar
to the love shown by the cow to its new born calf.
This verse instructs us that our
sentiments in our hearts be the same, our thoughts be the same and that there be
no enmity amongst one another. God has instructed every human being
accordingly. The Vedas explain to humans that you should have love for one
another by giving the beautiful example of the cow loving her new born calf.
It is only possible to appreciate one
another’s happiness and sorrow and have unity of mind when we are friends. But
when we are enemies of one another then we do not see the sorrows and happiness
of others. The feeling of enmity destroys the individual, the family, the
society, country and the whole world.
The Vedas have strongly emphasized the
need to be free from enmity.
Are
deva dwesho asmadyuyotana.
Rig Ved 10.63.12.
O learned persons!
Remove enmity from us.
Yosman
dweshti yam vayam dwishmastam vo jambhe dadmaha.
Those who offend us
and those whom we offend, we place them, O Lord! In your jaws of justice.
In this way the Vedas have in many
places given advice to humans to avoid enmity. There are two paths in this world
- one is the ordinary path and the other - special. The ordinary path is the one
in which one adopts a ‘tit for tat’ policy, i.e., if someone does good to you,
you also do the same and when someone does bad to you, you do likewise to
him/her. The special path is the one where one responds to a bad action with a
good action. Ordinary people, follow the ordinary path, but special people
follow the special path. The special path is as follows-
Those who plant thorns for you, you
plant flowers for them, because the flowers planted by you will blossom as
flowers for you and thorns planted by the enemy will grow as thorns for your
enemy.
Human beings should win over anger
with peace, evil with virtue, miserliness with charity and untruth with truth.
If we are to win anger with anger, evil with evil, miserliness with miserliness
and untruth with untruth, then there is nothing special about it.
But there is one matter that needs
special attention. Responding to an evil act of someone with a virtuous act, is
only relevant with individuals. It is not appropriate with respect to national
duties, community, society and organizations. In so far as national duty is
concerned, if the enemy attacks the nation then it is the duty of the nation to
defend itself and destroy the enemy. If this is not done then the nation will
fall under the grips of the enemy and become their servant.
In so far as enemies of the society are
concerned, they must be punished. If such persons are not punished then there
will be no law and order. Therefore thieves, bandits and tyrants have to be
punished, otherwise the society cannot exist.
The issue of forgiveness arises only
between one individual and another. For example if someone does something bad to
me, then instead of doing bad to him/her I should cultivate a relationship of
friendship with the person. To do so is not easy. It requires a lot of strength
and courage. Remember those who do bad will get bad results and those who do
good will get good in return.
It is well known that a person who
does not cause any harm to anyone will have a feeling of distress against the
one who causes harm. Because of this the aggrieved person talks ill of the
other person. The person would not even appreciate his good qualities. By
criticizing the person causing the grief, the aggrieved person wants to bring
peace of mind to himself/herself. But his/her mind becomes even more restless.
He/she continues to suffer with the feeling of revenge.
When people become enemies of good
persons, the good persons do not pay attention to their evils, they forget their
bad deeds. There is no effect on them of the bad deeds done to them. They do
not even remember that someone had done bad to them. This is the greatness of
such people. They regard even their enemies as their own people. In their mind
every one is same. It is very difficult for an ordinary person to achieve this
state of mind. Regular practice is essential for this.
A poet has said “I have heard that
those who follow the path of God do not even disturb the hearts of their
enemies. Where will you find this state of mind? Your fight is with your own
friends.”
Examples of great persons on this
subject matter show how they had won over enmity. What was their reaction
towards their enemies?
The great King Ram was exiled because
of Kekai. Shree Ram accepted the exile as a blessing. Even greater than this
was the fact that he held no malice against Kekai. He did not utter any bad
words against her. This is a fine example of not keeping enmity.
The great yogi of the nineteenth
century Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati was a very forgiving person. At the end of
the debate at Kashi, he received a lot of insults. People threw bricks, cow
dung and shoes at him and cursed him. A saint named Pandit Ishwar Singh used to
live in Kashi. He saw people saying bad things about Dayanand. He felt like
meeting Dayanand to find out how he was facing such severe abuse and criticism.
If Dayanand still remained unaffected by all the insults then he would truly be
a learned person and a great soul.
With this thought saint Ishwar Singh
went to Dayanand. Rishi Dayanand smiled and welcomed him respectfully. They
discussed the subject of God and soul at length. During this long discussion
Ishwar Singh did not see any signs of dejection on his face. Dayanand made no
reference to the injustice and oppression of the people on him.
When Ishwar Singh saw that even after
such great insults and injustice hurled at him Rishi Dayanand did not utter even
one bad word, he touched Dayanand’s feet and said “Maharaj! I had thought
until today that you are a person learned in Vedas only, but people have done so
many evil things to you, even then you have no ill-feeling against them. I am
now fully convinced that you are a great soul and a yogi.”
Remember
such persons were real yogis. Forgiveness was their religion. They had removed
enmity from their heart through practice and experience. Perhaps we are thinking
that ordinary persons like us cannot do so. To some extent this is true, but if
we are to achieve happiness then we have to adopt the same path that was
followed by the great people in the past. If happiness and peace is wanted in
this world then we must all renounce enmity. We have to look at one another with
a feeling of love.
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