Personality Development
Maharashtra VyavasAya MArgadarshan Kendra, Mumbai published in April-June 2003 issue of their magazine SaptarShI my article in Marathi - व्यक्तिमत्त्व-विकासासम्बंधी गीतेतील मार्गदर्शन (vyaktimattva-vikaasaasambandhI gIteteel mArgadarshan). It comes to mind that I should make do by just translating that article. But thinking and writing afresh would bring out more, newer thoughts. So, I shall compose this post by keeping that article on hand for reference.
There are various definitions of "Personality". There is a proverb in Hindi एक नूर आदमी तो दस नूर कपड़ा If a person himself is one count, good dress will get him ten counts ! Good dress may get him an admission into an assembly of the elite. But his culture and upbringing will show him out, if he is asked to speak. There is another English proverb which says exactly this, You can take a boy out from a village. But you may not be able to take the village out of the boy ! Personality Development should bring about a cultural change.
Sanskrit word for culture is संस्कृति sanskRuti. It is derived from the verb सं + कृ (= to refine comprehensively). Possibly local dialects prevailed much before Sanskrit emerged as a refined language, maybe, refined from local dialects only. For refinements, there needs to be something raw. Steel is refined from iron ore. The refinements were possibly in terms well-defined rules of grammar and refinements by literary elements. But Sanskrit is also the language of Veda-s. Veda-s contain edicts of good, noble personal and social dispositions. Refined tongue bespeaks an elite person. In times of British rule of 190-odd years in India (On June 23rd, 1757 at Plassey, a
small village and mango grove between Calcutta and Murshidabad, the forces
of the East India Company under Robert Clive met the army of Siraj-ud-Doula,
the Nawab of Bengal. Clive won the battle "by
promoting treason and forgery". British rule in
India had "an unsavory beginning", as noted by Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru in his Discovery of India), English became the language of the elite. Since British empire spread across the world so much, that the sun never set on the British empire, English became the language of the elite all around the world and continues to be so. In terms of being a really refined language, Sanskrit should rightfully be the language of all elitist communications. That is of course beside the point.
In the context of Personality Development, a person should strive for overhaul and improvement over what one is. That does not require change of one's facial features. Personality Development demands qualitative change. The 16th chapter of गीता begins with three verses which enlist some 26 good qualities.
अभयं सत्त्वसंशुद्धिर्ज्ञानयोगव्यवस्थितिः |
दानं दमश्च यज्ञश्च स्वाध्यायस्तप आर्जवम् ||१६-१||
अहिंसा सत्यमक्रोधस्त्यागः शान्तिरपैशुनम् |
दया भूतेष्वलोलुप्त्वं मार्दवं ह्रीरचापलम् ||१६-२||
तेजः क्षमा धृतिः शौचमद्रोहो नातिमानिता |
भवन्ति संपदं दैवीमभिजातस्य भारत ||१६-३||
In गीता such list of good qualities can be seen at many places. For example,
अमानित्वमदम्भित्वमहिंसा क्षान्तिरार्जवम् |
आचार्योपासनं शौचं स्थैर्यमात्मविनिग्रहः ||१३-८||
इन्द्रियार्थेषु वैराग्यमनहंकार एव च |
जन्ममृत्युजराव्याधिदुःखदोषानुदर्शनम् ||१३-९||
असक्तिरनभिष्वङ्गः पुत्रदारगृहादिषु |
नित्यं च समचित्तत्वमिष्टानिष्टोपपत्तिषु ||१३-१०||
मयि चानन्ययोगेन भक्तिरव्यभिचारिणी |
विविक्तदेशसेवित्वमरतिर्जनसंसदि ||१३-११||
अध्यात्मज्ञाननित्यत्वं तत्त्वज्ञानार्थदर्शनम् |
एतज्ज्ञानमिति प्रोक्तमज्ञानं यदतोऽन्यथा ||१३-१२||
Here, cultivating good qualities is called as the path of Knowledge ज्ञानम्. There are repetitions in the qualities listed here and in the three verses of 16th chapter, for example अहिंसा, शौचं, नातिमानिता><अमानित्वम्, etc.
Good qualities are enlisted in a different context in 18th chapter also -
शमो दमस्तपः शौचं क्षान्तिरार्जवमेव च |
ज्ञानं विज्ञानमास्तिक्यं ब्रह्मकर्म स्वभावजम् ||१८-४२||
शौर्यं तेजो धृतिर्दाक्ष्यं युद्धे चाप्यपलायनम् |
दानमीश्वरभावश्च क्षात्रं कर्म स्वभावजम् ||१८-४३||
कृषिगौरक्ष्यवाणिज्यं वैश्यकर्म स्वभावजम् |
परिचर्यात्मकं कर्म शूद्रस्यापि स्वभावजम् ||१८-४४||
Although good qualities are enlisted here as ब्रह्मकर्म, क्षात्रं कर्म, वैश्यकर्म and शूद्रस्य कर्म these mentions of ब्राह्मण, क्षत्रिय, वैश्य, शूद्र have been sadly mistaken as divisions of society on the basis of castes. As is clear from -
ब्राह्मणक्षत्रियविशां शूद्राणां च परन्तप |
कर्माणि प्रविभक्तानि स्वभावप्रभवैर्गुणैः ||१८-४१||
the mentions here are in the context of division of labour, कर्माणि प्रविभक्तानि forthrightly on the basis of strengths of skills and aptitudes of a person, स्वभावप्रभवैर्गुणैः and not on the basis of caste of his birth. Even in 4th chapter itself it has been made clear -
तस्य कर्तारमपि मां विद्ध्यकर्तारमव्ययम् ||४-१३||
Personality Development certainly does not mean imitating others. Any such attempt or effort will not only be fruitless but may even prove fret with dire consequences, as cautioned in -
श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात् |
स्वधर्मे निधनं श्रेयः परधर्मो भयावहः ||३-३५||
The first line seems to be so important that it is repeated letter-by-letter, dot-by-dot in
श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात् |
स्वभावनियतं कर्म कुर्वन्नाप्नोति किल्बिषम् ||१८-४७||
The first line seems to lay down the approach to Personality Development - "Do not imitate, know thy self" Know what is your स्वधर्म. All people conducting Aptitude Tests should know that they and the tests should help the person to know his स्वधर्म.
When speaking of धर्म I feel sad to note that its English translation as "religion" is pathetically poor. Mention of स्वधर्म here refers to the totality of skills, aptitudes, capabilities and indulgences eminently suited to bring the best of a person for himself and for the society. Hence कर्माणि प्रविभक्तानि स्वभावप्रभवैर्गुणैः ||१८-४१|| That is the basis and purpose of चातुर्वर्ण्य, division of labour according to what job a person is best suited for गुणकर्मविभागशः.
There was possibly confusion in Arjuna's mind also, when he spoke of both वर्ण and जाति in one breath
दोषैरेतैर्कुलघ्नानां वर्णसंकरकारकैः |
उत्साद्यन्ते जातिधर्माः कुलधर्माश्च शाश्वताः ||१-४३||
Possibly one reason for Krishna telling गीता was also to dispel these confusions. वर्णसंकर does not become any malady दोष. If one has the aptitudes and skills, one is welcome to undertake ब्रह्मकर्म, क्षात्रकर्म, वैश्यकर्म whatever. Lord Krishna was on the battlefield not because he was a क्षत्रिय. In fact he had vowed that he would not wield any weapon. What गीता he narrated is proof that he was well-versed in the scriptures, more well-versed than any ब्राह्मण.
Personality Development should then mean building upon one's strengths. One builds up one's strengths by perseverance, hard work, intense studies in his chosen field. This is called as तप. How to carry on तप is very elaborately detailed in following verses -
देवद्विजगुरुप्राज्ञपूजनं शौचमार्जवम् |
ब्रह्मचर्यमहिंसा च शारीरं तप उच्यते ||१७-१४||
अनुद्वेगकरं वाक्यं सत्यं प्रियहितं च यत् |
स्वाध्यायाभ्यसनं चैव वाङ्मयं तप उच्यते ||१७-१५||
मनः प्रसादः सौम्यत्वं मौनमात्मविनिग्रहः |
भावसंशुद्धिरित्येतत्तपो मानसमुच्यते ||१७-१६||
Observance of तप is detailed here in three contexts - physical शारीरं, speech-level वाङ्मयं, mental/spiritual level मानसं.
Rishi-s and Muni-s observed तप. It comes to mind that as observing तप, they really did focused study of the subject of their choice. For example भरतमुनि is well-known for नाट्यशास्त्र, because he did focused study of नाट्यशास्त्र and his work became a reference treatise on the subject. PaNini did focused study of Sanskrit grammar and his work has become reference treatise on the subject. So तप need not mean doing harsh penance for spiritual attainment. It can result in that also !
It is pertinent to note that speech-level वाङ्मयं तप has some deeper connotation to it, because speech or वाक् is itself recognized to emanate at four levels - परा, पश्यन्ती, मध्यमा and वैखरी Observance of वाङ्मयं तप would imply its observance at all the four levels.
To focus on subject of one's choice is then observing स्वधर्म. To excel will need तप. When observing स्वधर्म and undertaking needed तप will demand cultivating right interpersonal relationships. To my mind codes of interpersonal relationships also is another meaning of the word धर्म. We shall discuss this next.
-o-O-o-
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