Sadgunagala vikriti, Aberrations of good behaviour

One more very good reference about how ones own actions can make or break a person is in Shanti Parva of Mahabharata. Here Bhishma repents about all the mistakes that he had made throughout his life, which has led to many disasters. How his blind respect to his father made him take up a wrong oath, in an attempt to win over and get Amba and Ambalika married to his brothers, he had disappointed Amba and created his own death trap. Later Amba took a new birth as Shikandi and ensured his death. His own good behaviour had become his own enemy.

In Kannada, they call this - Sadgunagala vikriti, aberrations of good behaviour. If somebody is too much sharing and caring, others can misuse it. In Ramayana war, Rama and Ravana had come face to face at the end of the day; Ravana was tired and had no arms. He thought that's the end, Rama would attack and kill him. To his surprise, Rama let him go because he was unarmed and the sun was just about to set.

On the contrary, when Karna's chariot was stuck in the battle field and he was unarmed, Krishna advises Arjuna to shoot and kill him. Though Arjuna hesitates, Krishna insisted that he should shoot him at that moment, because Karna was part of a team which mercilessly killed Abhimanyu, disrobed Draupadi and did all inhumane things. Krishna never gave mercy to either Bhishma or Dronacharya.

Every time Mohammed Ghori invaded India, Prithviraj Chauhan defeated him, showed mercy and let him go. This goodness of Prithviraj came back haunting him in the final war, when Ghori defeated and captured him. Again reinforcing the message that one's own goodness can become one's enemy at times.

There are four strategies suggested in Mahabharata;

·         Sama (by convincing),

·         Dana (by invoking positive desires, by giving incentives),

·         Bedha (by creating healthy competition, by comparison, by departing) and

·         Danda (by invoking moral fear, by punishing, by demolishing).

Mercy is to be given to people who deserve it and not to everybody blindly.

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To summarize,

·         my own good qualities can become my enemies,

·         my own bad qualities can become my enemies,

·         my wrong interpretations of values can lead to destruction.

The solution is to cleanse the mind using Yoga, maintain body, mind and intellect in a good condition and use above four strategies appropriately. Then these qualities themselves become our friends, virtues and protect us all the time.

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