Are We Worthy of Being Angry ?

April 9, 2006

(Discourse by : Paramacharya Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Swamy) It is customary to speak of kama(desire) and krodha(anger) together. Sri Krishna Paramatman says in the Gita that desire and anger goad a man into sinful action. When we intensely desire an object we try to get it by fair means or foul . It is a deadly enemy, desire: it eggs us on to commit sin . Equally deadly is anger . When we fail to get the object of our desire we turn our anger against the man who, we believe was an obstacle . Unfulfilled

desire becomes anger. If we throw a rubber against the wall, it bounces- in other words it returns to us . The ball thrown is desire and it is the same ball that becomes anger as it bounces . The attack we believe we make on others in our anger is actually an attack we make on ourselves - and we are hurt more than those we wanted to hurt . When we are angry our whole body shakes . Anger indeed causes pain both to the body and the mind and we make ourselves ugly when we are angry . You will know the truth of this if you see a photograph taken when you are in foul mood . Hunger is appeased by eating . But is fire assuaged in the same way ?. You keep feeding it and it keeps devouring everything . Fire is bright but it chars all that it consumes . Or, in other words, it turns everything black . That is why it is called "krsnavartman". Kama or desire is similar . It flares up like fire . The more it is fed the more it becomes hungry . Indeed kama blackens our mind . When a desire is gratified

there is joy for the moment, but soon it goes in search of more "food" and the process we lose our peace of mind and happiness and become victims of sorrow and anger . Sorrow and anger are two forms of unrequited desire . If we think that those who are a hindrance to the gratification of our desire are inferior to us, we turn our anger against them, and if we think they are superior, all we do is to grieve within ourselves . Anger is packed with more evil power than even desire . Naisadham, the story of Nala, illustrates this truth beautifully . As King Kali makes his appearance, desire and anger (kama and krodha) accompany him as his two army commanders . The herald sings their praises. "There is no place that kama cannot gain entry to . No, there is a place he cannot enter. It is the fortress in which anger resides. This fortress is the heart of Durvasas . " Durvasas does not know desire but he is subject to fits of anger. We must be extremely wary of this terrible sinner called anger . A little thought will convince us that we are not in the least qualified to be angry with anybody or to shout at anybody . We are even more guilty than those against whom we turn in our anger . We know this in

our heart of hearts . Even if we are guiltless, before we rush to find fault with someone, we must ask ourselves whether we would not have committed the offence we think he is guilty of were we placed in the same circumstances as he . Often we find ourselves angry with some person or other. Anger is provoked in two ways. When we see a man guilty of an offence we lose our temper. But we do not pause to

think whether we too are not like him . Even if we have not been guilty of sinful deeds we must have had sinful thoughts . Perhaps we have reason to think that we have sinned less than others . This must be because we are a little more mature . Even so, how difficult do we find it to correct ourselves . Would it not be more difficult for a habitual sinner to retrieve himself ?. We need not associate ourselves with him . The sastras proclaim that the first step towards Atmic improvement is to sever ourselves from evil people and to seek the company of virtuous men . But there is no point in looking upon sinners with hatred or anger . All we can and must do is to pray that they turn to the path of virtue . If, by the grace of the Lord, we acquire a little grace ourselves we must use it to take them to the right path . Our opponent is not likely to change his attitude towards us simply because we are angry with him

.. Instead, he might turn against us with greater venom . Hatred thus will be kept fuelled on either side . One must realise one's mistakes and try to reform oneself. We cannot congratulate ourselves if a person corrects himself fearing our anger . Also the change thus brought about in him will not be enduring . If we think that there is something wrong with a man we must try to correct him with love . Why do people sin?. The reason must be their mental condition and the circumstances in which they are placed . If we happen to be free from any guilt, it must be because we are more favoured by circumstances . When you see a sinner you must pray : "O Paramatman , I too might have sinned like him. But in your mercy you do not give me the occasion to do so

.. Be merciful to him in the same way." We must not be angry with a man even if he bears ill-will against us . Our innermost mind knows how far we deserve to be spoken ill of . It may be that the man who nurses bad feelings against us is doing so not because of any wrong done by us . We know, however, in our heart of hearts that the sins we have committed are indeed great . Such is our predicament that we must shed tears before Paramatman , atone for our sins and pray that they are washed away. In that way are we qualified to point accusing finger at others?. The question arises : may we direct our anger against others when we are free from all sin?. Were we

truly sinless, we would be all love and affection . Where is then the question of our being angry with anyone?. Even towards a sinner we should have then no feeling other than that of love. On the other hand, if we are guilty of wrongs ourselves we have no right to be angry with those we think are sinners . In the state of utter sinlessness we realise it all to be the sport of the Paramatman . In His sport who merits praise, who deserves blame?. Anger, in any case has no place in our life. As I said earlier, according to Sri Krishna Paramatman the two great forces inciting man to sin are desire and anger. In other words we hurt ourselves with our anger. Our opponent may ignore our anger but then we hurt ourselves with it-both our body and mind suffer. The natural dharma of man is to be loving and affectionate . And to be loving and affectionate is to be ever in bliss . We must try our best to keep anger always at a distance .

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