Ethics Series1: Character is Destiny:

In School days we are taught “If wealth is lost nothing is lost, If Health is lost something is lost and If Character is lost everything is lost” This is one of my favorite probably because of the simple words it contains and the rhyming associated with them. It too k me years together to realize true meaning of these simple words and how important they are for a person. Wealth surely can be recovered if one puts effort. Health is difficult to recover but not impossible. Character once lost is something that cannot be recovered in this life no matter how much one tries to. Do we really put so much “price tag” on that item called Character today? I seriously doubt.

What is character? I would say it is sum total of all the behavior that puts us in line with the rules defined for humans. Why rules are defined only for humans? VivekaChudamani says “Jantunam Nara Janma Durlabham” which means out of all animals getting life of human is difficult. So it classifies man also as an animal. Science also says humans belongs to class called mammals and thus puts us along side animals. But what is the difference between humans and animals? No difference if we do not adhere to the established rules or Dharma.

An animal does not have to perform certain actions like brushing teeth, cleaning body and puja( a process that attempts to purify the mind) before consuming food. As soon as it finds it self hungry it can eat what ever is available to it. It is said that a tiger and snake consume its own cub/egg after giving birth, if they cannot find themselves a suitable prey to sustain itself. A human on the contrary has to identify the food that is suitable to him as per the rules defined by his birth and also needs to have the food cooked before consuming. Similarly animal when it finds a mate and has the urge to mate need not refer to Dharma Shastra for mating. A human on the contrary cannot mate with any other human he encounters. He/She has to confine him/herself to the institution named marriage. These are the very things that define and differentiate a human from other animals. If these rules are not followed such a human is no different from animal.

Does character really define destiny? It is not so easy to conclude in one’s life as the destiny is more of a long term scenario and we people cannot easily understand the consequence that is spread across in time dimension over years. Also it is not easy to relate the cause and effect by intuition when we there are so many events that appear to us like the cause. A corrupt officer would have assimilated a fortune by leading a life of parasite on common people. He could not easily draw conclusion that his arrogant, worthless kid was the destiny for the character he has exhibited in his life, isn’t it? He would attribute it to his son’s bad friend who corrupted him.

Character stuff looks very complex to understand for average person, some might say. There are thumb rules that give pointers to living with character.
Matruvat Para Dareshu -- Treat women other than one’s wife as mother
Para Dravyani Lostavat -- Treat money/belongings of other as mere stones
Atma Vat Sarva Bhuteshu – Treat other person as one treats oneself