Man is the victim of all the inner enemies embedded in his nature! They are invisible but inherent in man. Kama is the first adversary that bowls him out! With multiple insatiable desires that plague him he struggles to carry on his existence. Disappointment in the fulfilment of his desires makes him angry and lose his balance of mind. Krodha- anger makes him almost a beast. He becomes covetous and is attached to his wife, children and property in this illusory world. Moha or attachment pulls him down preventing him to scale spiritual heights. The next terrible enemy that torments man is arrogance or mada! It is a quality that makes one think that none is equal to or greater than him! In other words man becomes egocentric and refuses to believe that anyone can equal him. Man is thus mercilessly treated by these ‘Arishadvargas’ and there is no escape for man from these invincible secret enemies!
It is to remind man of the perennial danger from these adversaries that Sankara speaks of a few types of arrogance or ‘mada’. “ makuru dhanajana yauvana garvam” counsels the philosopher.The first type of arrogance is that caused by money! Man does not care for anybody when endowed with huge money or wealth! He thinks he can achieve everything with the money he has! He doesn't realize that money is highly unstable and changes hands frequently. It is said that money is as unstable as the bubble on the water of the wave! Multimillionaires have been reduced to paupers in their lives while the poor in penury have become millionaires! It is foolish to be arrogant because of money alone! The second cause of arrogance is “Jana"- your people, parents, wife, children, kith and kin. It is doubtful if they will stand by you in your difficult times. They love and care for you as long as you earn money for them! When the robber questioned his wife if she shared the sin of his robberies, she replied in the negative! Later, the highway robber performed tapas repeating the name 'Rama’ and became the sage Valmiki who wrote the famous epic the Ramayana. None can come to your rescue in your critical times. Wife, children, wealth and property have to be left behind willy nilly! Your good and bad karma follows you and nothing else!
The third instigator for arrogance is youth or ‘yauvana’ when you are robust in health and youth. You have abundant strength to achieve many things. But how long will youth last? Surely not till the end of life. The old order changes yielding place to new! “ All the world's a stage and all men and women merely players” Childhood, boyhood and youth give place to old age and senility! Age obscures senses and you can no longer see or hear or think properly! You are in the evening of your life and wait to quit the world through nature to eternity! Under the impact of arrogance of power man does many bad things. It was the great king Nahusha being carried by the saptarishis in a palanquin to be crowned as the king of heaven. In his anxiety and arrogance he prodded one of the sages carrying him, by his foot saying “sarpa sarpa”! He wanted the sages to move quickly. But the sage who was prodded grew angry at the arrogance of King Nahusha and cursed him to be a serpent in the forest! The word ‘sarpa’ means serpent! Thus arrogance brings forth the downfall of man! So Sankara warns mankind of the evil influence of arrogance and pride that create many difficulties as well as dangers.
“ Harathi nimeshath Kalam sarvam”--Sankara points out that your ‘dhana, jana and yauvana' are after all temporary! When man’s life itself is not permanent how can these attachments and qualities be permanent? Time swallows up everything in its eternal roll! “Kalo jagad bhakshakaha!” Our life itself is like a flash of lightning- sudden brightness for a second and total darkness at the end! The world in which we live is illusory. It is a make believe. Things real appear unreal. Those unreal appear real because of illusion. Like the illusion of the serpent in the rope entire world is in the grip of ‘Maya’ or Illusion! It is very difficult to come out of Maya! Lord Krishna speaks of His Maya as, “mama maya duratyaya”- it is very difficult to overcome! “ Maya mayamida makhilam-- The entire world is enveloped in Maya or illusion! It is the duty of every Individual to recognize this factor and be not misled by its wiles and fascination. Sankara advises man to understand the phenomenon of Maya and attempt to enter into the field of the Brahman or the Absolute reality “ Brahma padan twam pravisa viditwa”.
Our experience at the theater is an example of how we look at the world! We know we are in the theater and it is the silver screen! We know it is a make believe. But for a period of two to two and half hours we forget ourselves and laugh with the comedians, weep with the sufferings of the heroine and hate the villains on the screen! There is thus a conspicuous suspension of disbelief! Similarly in spite of our knowledge of this illusory world we think every thing, experience, joy and sorrow are real and react accordingly! Sankara counsels us to realize the true nature of this Maya and keep away from it by serious effort to reach the Brahman!
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