Right and Wrong

Ø What is right?

Every individual would have his own definition, some of you would say it is what “god likes” while some of you would not agree to the fact and say it is what does not harm anyone.

If I put righteousness into my own ideas I would say it depends on you what you think is right must be right.

In the battlefield of Kurukshetra , Arjuna felt it was not “right” on his part to fight with his own brothers…….Shri Krishna steps in and showed him the way to righteousness….he explains him the idea of Dharma or universal harmony or duty. He begins with the tenet that the soul is immortal and eternal and that the war would involve only the bloodshed, while the spirit of his near and dear ones still remains. It would remain in this universe and follow its path in the chakra or cycle of life and death. In short…… lord made Arjuna understand that this decision of his (Arjuna) to abandon the war was incorrect and that he should do his “duties” by fighting the war.

>I still remember when I was a kid, how my mum drew a line between what is right and what is wrong?

--- She said what most of your mother’s must have when you were a child; here are few of them that I can recall:

RIGHTS

>> To help others

>> To respect your elders

>> To obey your elders

Well, now I would elaborate each one of the “rights” and” wrongs”, according to my own views, positioning them in the life of a child,( with all the respect to the mothers…especially mine…maa please don’t mind):

# TO HELP OTHERS:

The first thing is helping others …does it give a child an inner sense of peace…well for some of them it surely would, but for most of them ……the little mind just out of a playschool or struggling to write an “A” in his own handwriting would hardly understand what it would mean helping others and in fact even how to do it, for that matter.

Now positioning the same theory into our own life……well that does not help although I mean in the kind of world we are living does anyone bothers who helped whom……I know many of my friends would say “yes it surely does” and would give me hundreds of examples.

In that case I guess I need to write another blog “helping others- the true means”…

# TO RESPECT YOUR ELDERS & TO OBEY YOUR ELDERS

The second thing is to respect your elders, well every child would! But the next moment if a small child listens to his mum’s word so seriously that he addresses Raju- the thief as “Raju uncle”.

Or rather adds an “uncle” to the name of some well known and chased for terrorist by the FBI, it would surely irritate us.

Now the third theory needs no elaboration I guess, if a child obeys an elder who would lead him to the dark (side of life) it would surely say such an elder ( brother or sister) who would teach him to cheat, steal or fight, then does this theory of righteousness stand right or wrong?

Ø What is wrong?

Something that you feel is bad or rather that does not give you a good feeling or puts you into trouble or that harms you?

Well by now, those who would agree to my views on righteousness would agree that “wrong” is the opposite of what you think is “right” or rather it is what you think is not right. But that is not all and not always.

Same as “right”, “wrong” is what you feel is “wrong” for you at the moment!

Taking an extramarital affair as an example, for the suffering spouse his/her , wife/husband is doing “wrong” by cheating him/her, but that is what keeps the “cheating partner” happy, and that what is “wrong’ for his/her husband/ wife is “right” for him / her !!

Now, elaborating on my mother’s list of WRONGS:

WRONGS

>> To steal

>> Telling a lie

>> To fight

#TO STEAL:

Remember the days when you used to steal mangoes form the neighborhood aunt’s mango trees, or flowers from your school garden?? Even if you were ever thrashed for the same reason or escaped smartly, the feeling you used to get after eating the mango or smelling the flower would surely have been sanguine!

So, if that incident, gave you a reason to smile, even now, when you are a grown up, would you categorize it as “wrong”?

# TELLING A LIE

That one of the top listed “wrongs” in most of our parents list of do’s and don’ts for us, but think of the day parents come to know that you smoke or rather drink or indulge into anything that may not be “right” for you (according to them), what consequence it would have on your parent’s life, in fact if I talk about myself, it would be seriously heartbreaking for them.

This explains what might make you happy may be a reason to be sad for your parents, so isn’t it better to conceal the truth from them, in such a case?

#TO FIGHT

Hey guys!! Remember the days back at school, when winning a fight over your “rival” earned you laurels from your friends? Well that earned laurels for you, certainly it came with some pain too, but the euphoria of “the win” almost made all your pains to vanish and your bruises to heal!!On the other hand the disparagement that the other guy suffered along with the bruises and the wounds , would either had lead him , to plan of other ways to take the revenge or to sit back and listen to mum’s words!!

In short what is right for you might be wrong for someone else, as what seems enjoyable for you might be painful to others, so nothing in this world may truly be adjudged as “right” or “wrong”. It depends upon the individual who is facing the situation.