Tremendous changes have taken place since the time of creation. Civilizations have changed and man lives in comfort. He has conquered even Nature to a certain extent. He has exterminated his outer enemies with the help of science and technology. But it is a pity that he has not been able to conquer the basic animosities and tendencies that are ingrained in him from the time of his birth!
Since the very purpose of Man's existence is to realize himself and seek the path of salvation, Providence has placed certain obstacles which Man has to overcome during his life time! He has meticulously concealed and camouflaged the obstacles in the human heart and mind. They are the hidden band of adversaries to Man's spiritual and material progress.They take full control of Man's mind and nature and bring him down to his destruction. Unless he controls these inner enemies,he cannot think of any spiritual advancement. So far humanity has not been able to exercise total control over these very mischievous tendencies that keep Man on tenter hooks!
What are these latent and hidden enemies of Man? They are called " arishadvarga". Ari means enemy. Shat means six and Varga means a band. Each is capable of working havoc in the life of Man! They are (!) Kama-Desire (2) Krodha-Anger (3) Lobha- Miserliness (4) Moha-Attachment, infatuation (5) Mada- Arrogance,pride ((6) Matscharya-Envy or jealousy. Entire humanity is subjected to the influence of these traits which Man cannot conquer however much he may try!
Kama is desire in the general sense. Directed to good things like Dharma it ennobles man. Without desire there is no existence at all. But misused, it develops into lust and attachment and destroys the individual. Desire can be for money, renown, achievement and others. It should not deteriorate into lust! Kama is one of the ' Purusharthas'. Through money earned by righteous means one should satisfy his desires. The second enemy Krodha or Anger is extremely dangerous and destroys the person in a second! Lord Krishna tells Arjuna in the Bhagavadgita that Desire and Anger are inveterate enemies of Man.They are caused by Rajo guna and insatiable. They force Man to commit more sins. Anger is the result of baffled desires.This causes imbalance of mind resulting in senseless action as a result of emotional outburst irrespective of its consequences! Sage Durvasa was humiliated because of his anger against the King Ambarisha, a great devotee of Sri Hari. When he invoked a spirit to destroy the king, Sudarsana chakra of the Lord killed the spirit and chased the sage! Though he appealed to all the Trinity, they redirected him to seek pardon from the great bhakta! Sage Durvasa did so and was saved!
The third enemy is Lobha- miserliness-the quality of accumulating money endlesly and deriving pleasure out of it This is like dog in the manger policy Neither the man enjoys it himself nor does he allow others to enjoy! Like the snakes that enter the anthill some one else enjoys the benefits of. accumulation! The fourth enemy is Moha- attachment, infatuation,or lust a desire to possess the spouse of some one else. Many renowned persons, great sages and even the Devas have fallen victims to this wicked enemy. Indra, king of gods had to lose his manliness due to his infatuation for Ahalya, the beautiful wife of the great sage Gautama! Ravana,the king of Lanka, a great devotee of Lord Siva came to his doom and destruction as he aspired for Sita the spouse of Sri Rama! Sage VIswamitra,who gave us the mahamantra Gayatri had to lose all the power of his penance charmed and tempted by the wiles of the divine damsel Menaka! Here desire is diverted to illegal and forbidden ends! The Fifth adversary is Mada- Arrogance of power, pelf,education,knowledge and others. " power corrupts; Absolute power corrupts absolutely" Adi Sankara in his ' Bhajagovindam' warns ' ma kurudhana jana yauvana garvam harathi nimeshath kalam sarvam" King Parikshit invited death by his arrogance and pride by putting a dead snake in the neck of the sage Sameeka!! King Nahusha though qualified for the post of Indra, king of gods, lost it because of his arrogance! While being carried by the sages in a palanquin, anxious to reach quickly, he prodded one of the sages with his foot saying' sarpa, sarpa'. The sage cursed him to become a snake and he turned into a python in stead of becoming Indra!!
The sixth destructive enemy is Matscharya-Envy or Jealousy. The jealous can never be happy. He envies the happiness of others, their riches, possessions,and qualities and what not. The Kauravas can be cited as an example. They envied the Pandavas for all their good qualities and tried to kill them by various means but were decimated by the Pandavas! So it is the bounden duty of Man to be conscious of the might of these inner adversaries and as far as possible try to free himself from their influence. It is only then that he can tread the real spiritual path towards salvation!
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