There will be minor differences between this English version and Tamil translation appearing elsewhere online. But overall content remains the same.
==================================================================
Aṣta Ātmaguṇas Or Eight Essential Qualities
In the last post, I wrote that Indian Philosophical
Schools / Hindu Religious Systems have the ‘person’ at the core compared to
other philosophical / religious systems across the world.
But, why? In the Hindu philosophy and religions, more
importance is given to the basic personality of a person compared to what she /
he can achieve or how to be successful in life. Especially the early systems.
In fact, it may be shocking to many from the conservative traditions from other
parts of the world that in Indian philosophical schools and religious systems
leading a dharmic life is given more importance than leading a religious or
spiritual life. One reason for this could be that if a person is basically
upright and correct, then with that as basis that person can utilize his/her
talent to the optimum levels and achieve what he/she sets out for before death.
Again I wrote earlier that Indian philosophical
schools / Hindu religious systems cater to vastly different and divergent
groups of people and their tastes. In the same way, these schools and systems
do not consider what is written in a Book as supreme, but rather, as Veda Vyasa
declares towards the end of Bhagavata Purana, what is righteous (dharma) and
what is not righteous (adharma) vary from time to time, region to region, clan
to clan, situation to situation and what is laid down in the Books is nothing
but pure guidelines. This understanding of relativity of righteousness is
prevalent not only in religious texts written in Sanskrit but among all the
schools and systems across India.
Despite this acute awareness of relativeness of
morality, most of the schools and systems of India have evolved over the period
of past 2000 years certain basic qualities that should desirably be possessed
by every individual and some schools and traditions even go to the extent of
asserting that they are mandatory for leading a quality life.
There are some interesting things which we can see
first before taking a look into what these essential qualities are.
Mention about and discussions on the desirable
qualities occur in most systems and right through history, even in tales.
Gautama, in his Dharma Sutras, has listed out eight of these qualities as most
desirable and since most of these eight are acceptable to most, these eight
qualities have been adopted. Otherwise there is no sanctity in the number.
Before and after Gautama these principles existed, but
somehow the tag ‘8 atmagunas’ stuck with Gautama, very much the same way in
which ‘Panchasheela’ stuck with Buddha though much before him we find reference
to ‘Panchasheela’ in King Parikshit. Again, Buddha and Parikshit offer evidence
to the existence of desirable qualities or dharmic principles before and after
Gautama. Even in the Vedic period we find that ṛta and satya being held above sublime philosophies.
Unlike other moral traditions and systems, we don’t
find ‘call’ to shun the enjoyments etc., nor do we find singular sticking to
middle path in Hindu religions and traditions. Everyone is encouraged to live a
full life so long as one’s life doesn’t interfere with someone else’s.
Aspirations are not to be stunted but one should guard against it turning out
to be a greed. In the ancient Hindu systems we find the realization that it is
the natural proclivity of all beings to satisfy natural cravings such as
hunger, thirst and sex and hence not much stress is laid on curbing of these.
Upanishads make a distinction between what is hita or beneficial and what is hitātama or most beneficial. Every being is encouraged to treat
another as one’s own self. A person is encouraged to indulge in that which is
most beneficial either to the individual or a family but if it is against the
Nature or society, such indulging is looked down upon. To have this perception,
the Hindu religious systems attempt to inculcate in the individuals the sense
of value of worldly things and also of those things which will aid in one’s
release from bondage. In Bhakti schools the concept of sublimating lower
impulses to a higher goal is followed.
In Hindu traditions there is a belief that every
individual must perform certain rituals beginning from birth and ending in
death and these are popularly known as Samskaras and they are widely accepted
to be 16 or 40 in number. But the very same traditions uphold the view that it
is of no use to an individual who completes all the 40 rituals but do not
possess any of the essential desirable qualities. On the other hand, if a
person who does not perform any of these rituals but possess eight qualities
which Gautama enumerates, then such a person is held in high esteem compared to
the former or the learned.
So what are these eight essential qualities or Aṣta Ātma Gunas propouned by Hindu religions and which every human being should possess
irrespective of the nationality or caste or creed or religion?
The Aṣta Ātma Gunas are
1) Dayā or love and compassion for all beings,
2) Kṣānti or forbearance,
3) Anasūyā or absence / freedom from envy,
4) Śaucā or purity of body, thought and action,
5) Anāyāsā or absence of painful exertions that arise due to
ambition and greed,
6) Maṅgalā or possessing cheerfulness, lightness and auspiciousness,
7) Akārpaṇyāor being generous and dignified and not demeaning
oneself and
8) Aspṛhā or absence of clamoring after undesirable.
Dayā
Dayā means love and compassion for all creatures. When a
person has compassion for all the creatures in the world, automatically that
person will not harm anyone even by thought. Out of this emerges a strong love
for all and this enables him/her to lead a peaceful, contented and fulfilled
life. There has been lot of debate as to whether in the place of Dayā, the concept
of Ahiṁsā or non-violence would have been more appropriate. But if a person has
love and compassion for everyone and thereby not harming any one even by
thought, he/she is naturally non-violent. So, Dayā is more fundamental and also includes Ahiṁsā. For this reason, Dayā is given a pride of a place among the essential qualities that every
person should possess as it is the foundation from which all other qualities
emerge.
Kṣānti
Kṣānti means forbearance or patience. It is not negative sense of the term
where a person has to endure patiently all the miseries one may face in life
such as disease, poverty and so on, but the positive sense of loving every one,
including those who do wrong to us by forgiving them and ignoring the pain and
trouble that may arise in the due course of such an action that has to be
understood, accepted and practiced. If a person with lots of hatred merely
endures all the miseries, then that will do more harm to him/her. So, one
should possess Dayā, a basic quality which will give a person forbearance soaked with love.
Anasūya
Anasūya means absence of Asūya or jealousy.
With compassion, one must love all and should not become jealous of another’s
wealth or fame or beauty or ability. Jealousy creates heart burning in one,
thereby spoiling the body and also removes peace of mind. When body is not well
and mind is not at peace, then such a person will automatically resort to
hatred and in extreme cases even violence. Sage Atri’s wife was called Anasūya because she
was utterly free from jealousy. When one is free from jealousy, one’s mind and
body will be in alignment and such a person can focus better and do lot of work
better than one who is afflicted with jealousy.
Śauca
Śauca means cleanliness or purity. Everyone should maintain
purity not only physically, but also in their mind. One should maintain only
clear and pure thoughts for they determine how one’s actions are going to be
exhibited. Śri Bhagavatpāda Ādi Śaṅkarācāryā maintains that āhāra means not
merely what a person eats through his/her mouth, but all that is being consumed
by our sense organs. Therefore āhāra śuddhi means not only clean food but also purity in what we
perceive through our senses. Therefore when a person, who maintains physical
purity by means of bathing, wearing clean dress and eating clean food, also
perceives only pure things through his/her senses, there will be a complete
alignment of thought, word and action in such a person.
Anāyāsa
Anāyāsa is the opposite of āyāsa which means strain, exertion, etc. Though anāyāsa is,
technically, the opposite or absence of āyāsa, it means variety of things. It means having
lightness, to take things easy, absence of strain and painful exertions. More
often than not, we see in the world, excessive ambition and greed pushes people
to labor hard for many things. Though this trait has come to be accepted as one
of modern day’s virtues, it causes endless harm to the body and mind. Such
painful exertions make persons heavy, angry, jealous, violent and so on. One of
the fundamental reasons for increased violence and intolerance in societies
across the world is the fast vanishing of these qualities. No doubt, a person
has to work hard and sincerely for anything that he/she takes up. But all labor
and exertions propelled by excessive ambition and greed make a human being
extraordinarily selfish and narrow minded. Due to the toll such a painful
endeavor takes on the body and mind, a human being seldom has time for others
or society. As the number of such selfish persons raises, it creates a society
with very little values, more intolerance, families laden with greed and lust
and in the end, brains that cannot grasp more subtle things than the given
phenomena.
Maṅgala
Maṅgala means auspiciousness. Here, it is the quality of
being happy and cheerful at all times. There is inevitably an air of
auspiciousness around a person who is happy and cheerful at all times. When a
person is cheerful, happy, contented and lively, that person also spreads the
air of happiness around. This creates the atmosphere of happiness. So maṅgala is essentially the quality of being light and
cheerful and radiating a sense of cheerfulness and happiness. So, when a person
who is full of love and compassion, who is pure, who is free from jealousy and
is cheerful always [all the qualities mentioned hitherto] does a work, it is Anāyāsa, the previously mentioned quality.
Akārpaṇya
Akārpaṇya is the opposite state of being kṛpaṇa or miser. That is, being generous. The word also means not demeaning or
abasing oneself and also behaving in a dignified manner. It is a quality of a
courageous, generous and zestful person who tackles all situations calmly, with
purity, determination and love. Miserliness shrinks and generosity expands
one’s personality. There is nothing worse in the world than losing one’s
dignity however lowly position a person finds himself/herself in.
Aspṛha
Spṛha means excessive desire and
grasping nature. Aspṛha means a state where one
does not have this grasping tendency. Though the Hindu śāstrās allow a person to indulge in enjoyments that
are not opposed to Dharma or righteousness, they encourage the people to see
the frailty and uselessness of all desires. That is why it is even being said,
“One should renounce all attachments and desires even if it is with the Lord”.
That is the highest state and everyone should lead a dhārmic life as
enjoined by the Śāstras and reach a state devoid of all desires.
May everyone in the world have all these eight qualities of the soul!
May all beings live in harmony and peace!
May all prosper with health, happiness and wealth!
Those who are interested in reading more about Aṣta Ātma Gunas can consult the following works:
J. Patrick Olivelle. The Dharmasutras of
Apastamba, Gautama, Baudhayana and Vasishta, (Sanskrit and annotated
translations), In Sources of Indian Law, 2000, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
P.V. Kane. History of Dharma Shastras, 5
vols, 1962-1975, Pune: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute.
