ON GOOD CONDUCT

Good conduct is leading a life of virtues and experiencing the same in every way and moment to realise Self. It is all about, according to Yoga-Vasistha, contentment, a society of the virtuous, ratiocination, and quietism. These are the several means for crossing over the ocean of the world by mankind. Good conduct is interlinked with wisdom and is considered essential for spiritual progress. It involves cultivating virtues like contentment, society of the virtuous, ratiocination, quietism, self-control, and compassion. Good conduct is not merely external behaviour but a reflection of inner purity and a balanced mind. Good conduct is intertwined with wisdom, asserts Yoga-Vasistha, as each complements the other. Right conduct arises from wisdom, and wisdom is enriched by good conduct. It induces harmonious correlation between interior and exterior aspects concatenated with virtues of non-duality, transparency, equanimity, detachment, and forbearance. The text prescribes that good conduct is not limited to manifest behaviour through external rituals or practices but rather goes beyond to inculcate virtues of dispassion, dispossession, discrimination, and detachment to cultivate a mindset of compassion, equanimity, and truthfulness. And of what use is the observance and performance of austerity, charity, pilgrimage, and sacrifice if the mindset is not orientated to practice virtuous ways of life? Yoga-Vasistha (2.16.28) advises practicing virtues to tame the elephantine mind gravitating through insatiable desires and impulses. The Yoga-Vasistha suggests the purifying effect of the association with the society of virtuous as it dispels inner darkness through the light of knowledge. The medicine of holy association, it says tersely, serves to allay entirely all the afflictions consequent to poverty and death and tribulations of worldly affairs. The society of the virtuous lends a light to the right path. It destroys the internal darkness of man by the rays of the sun of knowledge. The society of virtuous men, and their lives are free from passions, scruples, sins, and doubts.

1. Outline 

Good conduct does not come out on its own; rather, the practitioner must imbibe the qualities of virtuosity. The qualities are enshrined in the Srimad Bhagavad Gita (13.8-12): humbleness; freedom from hypocrisy; non-violence; forgiveness; simplicity; service of the Guru; cleanliness of body and mind; steadfastness; and self-control; dispassion toward the objects of the senses; absence of egotism; keeping in mind the evils of birth, disease, old age, and death; non-attachment; absence of clinging to spouse, children, home, and so on; even-mindedness amidst desired and undesired events in life; constant and exclusive devotion toward Me; an inclination for solitary places and an aversion for mundane society; constancy in spiritual knowledge; and philosophical pursuit of the Absolute Truth—all these are declared to be knowledge, and what is contrary to it, are called ignorance.

The society of the virtuous is everywhere of the greatest benefit to men for their crossing over the ocean of the world, proclaims Maharshi Vasistha to Sri Rama in Yoga-Vasistha (2.16.1). It is the society of the virtuous, emphasises Yoga-Vasistha (2.16.2-7), that teaches us the best mode of life, which is never impaired or obstructed by anything, and is ever full in itself. It produces the fresh blossom of discrimination, which, being cherished by high-souled men, yields to them its fruits of prosperity. It wards off all disasters, is the best improver of understanding, is the destroyer of the tree of ignorance, and is the remover of all our mental diseases. It invades the lotus beds of our hearts, makes solitude appear as company, converts a difficulty to ease, makes the evil of death as good as a festivity, and produces the light of reason. Maharshi Vasistha in Yoga-Vasistha (2.16.18-24) says contentment, society of the virtuous, ratiocination, and quietism are the several means for crossing over the ocean of the world by mankind. It is reckoned as the best gain, good company, the right course, reasoning, true knowledge, and quietism, the highest bliss. These are the four surest means to break off the trammels of the world, and whoever is practiced in these has surely passed over the erroneous waters of the terrestrial sea. The practice of one of these pure virtues leads to an assuetude of all four cardinal virtues. All prosperity attends to him who is possessed of reason, contentment, quietism, and the habit of keeping the association of the virtuous, like the fruits of the kalpa tree. These four, joined with peace and tranquillity, serve as cargo ships in the ocean of the world. Each of these four is a leader among the others; therefore, focus your efforts on one of them to achieve success with all. Make your utmost efforts (Yoga-Vasistha 2.16.28-35) to conquer the indomitable mind, and understand that you cannot advance until you have mastered one of these fundamental virtues. Once these virtues are strengthened, reemphasises Yoga-Vasistha, and made fruitful, they serve to weaken the force of the faults of an ungovernable mind. The cultivation of virtues leads to their full growth and suppression of vice, but the fostering of vice will contribute to the increase of vices and suppression of good qualities. The mind is a wilderness of errors, in which the stream of our desires is running with full force amidst its two banks of good and evil whereon we hold our stand. Try by degrees with all the exertion to turn the course of your desires towards the happy shore in the forest of your mind; and one's own disposition is as a rapid current to him, which must not be permitted to bear him away to the perilous coast.

2. Scriptures

The Scriptures abound in good conduct that has a holistic impact on the elevation of life processes. Good conduct in the Srimad Bhagavad Gita (16.1-3) encompasses several key principles, including fearlessness, purity of mind, steadfastness in knowledge, charity, self-control, sacrifice, study of scriptures, austerity, straightforwardness, non-violence, truthfulness, absence of anger, renunciation, peacefulness, and compassion. These qualities, attributed to those with a divine nature, are conducive to liberation, while their opposites lead to bondage. Inculcating good conduct is ingrained in Self-awareness, discernment, detachment, discrimination, dispassion, dispossession, humbleness, honesty, and truthfulness. By cultivating these virtues and practicing them as outlined in the scriptures, one can strive for a more fulfilling life. 

True greatness consists of quietness and other virtues, without whose knowledge it is impossible. Learning produces quiet and other qualities (Yoga-Vasistha 2.20.4) and increases the virtues of noble people, all of which are praised for their advantageous effects on the mind. The qualities of quietude and other virtues serve to increase the best knowledge (of men), as sacrifice with rice serves to produce felicitous rains for the harvest. As learning produces the qualities of quiet and the like (Yoga-Vasistha 2.20.6-7), so do these qualities lend rise to learning; thus learning is produced by right conduct as ideal conduct results from learning; thus wisdom and morality are natural helps to one another. The intelligent man, the Yoga-Vasistha (2.20.6-11) advocates, should practice wisdom and follow the ways of noble people while possessing quietude, meekness, and good conduct. Unless a person practices wisdom and good conduct equally, that person will never be successful in either. Both of these should be conjoined together like the song united with percussion, as it is done by the husbandman and his wife in sowing the seeds and driving away the birds from their fields of grain. It is by practice of wisdom and right conduct that good people are enabled to acquire both of them to an equal degree. The sage, Yoga-Vasistha (2.20.15), who has known the knowable, has his mind drawn insensibly to the blissful state; and that highest state of unbounded felicity, being once known and felt (in the mind), is hard to lose its impression at any time.

Generation after generation has passed on the adage, "As you sow, so shall you reap." It signifies that nothing comes out of nothing and everything is caused by something. The Chandogya Upanishad (5.10.7) says so, and also the Yoga-Vasistha (7.2.1.-7.2.47) one’s conduct’ seed is shown for reaping the fruits in this as well as the life to come. Among them, those who did beneficial work in this world attain a favourable birth accordingly. They are born as a brāhmin, a kṣatriya, or a vaiśya. However, individuals who performed bad deeds in this world during their past life are reborn into unfavourable circumstances, such as being born as a dog, a pig, or a casteless person. 

Fate is preordained, immutable, and merely the consequence of our past actions without any variation, asserts Yoga-Vasistha (2.6.1). It is feasible to detach from it and liberate oneself from its constraints by engaging in virtuous companionship and the study of sacred scriptures. It says (Yoga-Vasistha 2.6.18), present acts destroy those of the past life, and so also the vice versa comes to pass; but the exertions of a man are undoubtedly successful at all times.

3. Remarks 

Good conduct is an enabling and enlivening of life processes for self-experiencing moksha, or liberation in every moment. One who is away from the opposites and is on the path of dispassion, dispossession, detachment, and discrimination cannot suffer from the curse of ignorance of attachment, passion, and possession. He is within the realm of freedom, which is characterised by:

  1. Satsanga (good company) is associating with wise and spiritually evolved individuals. Spending time with those who are further along the path of self-discovery can inspire and guide one's own spiritual journey.

  2. Santi, which refers to self-control or quietness of mind, involves quieting the mind and controlling one's thoughts and emotions.

  3. Vichara (spirit of inquiry) is the practice of self-reflection and questioning both one's true nature and the nature of reality. It encourages a deep exploration of Atman, or Self, leading to a clearer understanding of one's identity beyond the body-mind-intellect complex.

  4. Santosha (contentment): a sense of satisfaction and gratitude for what one has, rather than constantly seeking more. It promotes inner peace and reduces attachment to external possessions and achievements.

The teachings in Yoga-Vasistha recommend good conduct through practicing self-experiencing and the cultivation of inner strength, wisdom, and detachment from worldly desires to achieve lasting happiness and liberation. 

-Asutosh Satpathy 




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