THE GOOD MAN

 Who is a good person? It is an interesting question. Every one considers himself or herself as good! But it is the other individual who should say whether the concerned person is good or bad. What makes a person good or bad? Is the one with property good? Is the rich and affluent a good person? Is the one with character a good individual? Is their any hard and fast rule that declares an individual as good or bad? It is surprising to note that no individual considers himself as bad! Man is a combination of good and bad, right and wrong, divine and asurac qualities! No human being is totally good or bad! When good qualities predominate he is called good! That does not mean the person has no bad qualities! When evil qualities dominate, the person is called evil or bad! But that does not mean he is devoid of good qualities! The full moon which is cool and bright has a dark spot on it! The butcher who is so cruel to animals and kills them mercilessly is kind and affectionate to his wife and children! Our society is thus  a great cluster of diverse variety of people who generally think that are all good! It is their actions, conduct and character towards their fellow beings that reveal their goodness or evil nature!

“ Love for God; fear of sin and morality in society, these are the qualities that you have to develop. Then only you will be called a good person. Be good, do good and see good” declares Bhagawan Sri Sri Satya Sai Baba! We can consider these principles as the criteria for judging people and decide if they are good or bad. Our society has progressed to such an extent that it denies the existence of God! Many have become atheists and agnostics! Scientific advancement and technological explosion have made man think that he is God! He lands on the moon and visits Mars and tries to settle there! His success in science and technology has made him arrogant and over confident! Where is the question of “ Love for God.” Idols are stolen, smuggled for profit in foreign nations and temple lands are encroached upon systematically! Debates go on to establish whether God exists or not! That is the nature of the present society! But still a small section of society is religious, full of faith in God, His Omnipresence, Omnipotence and Omniscience! They are a small minority!

 Absence of love for God has led to loss of fear for sin! People consider all their actions as right! All the religions they profess have not helped them in following the path of righteousness or Dharma. The mandate of the Vedas “ Satyam Vada Dharmam Chara”—speak the Truth, act according to Dharma or righteousness is more practiced in the breach than in the observance! Bhagawan has repeatedly insisted on these two things in every man's life. “ Bhagavath Preethi and Papa Bheethi.” ie love for God and fear of Sin. But unfortunately man has no love for God while he has, absolutely, no fear of Sin!! Again and again he commits sin with impunity! What is this sin or 'Papa?' According to the great sage Sri Vedavyasa helping others is a holy act or ' Punya' and troubling others is Sin or ' Papa. Man has grown so selfish that he is prepared to go to any extent to satisfy his wants through devious ways. His wants being limitless he deceives others, cheats them, speaks untruth, abuses others, commits fraud, strays from the righteous path and worst of all commits murder to realize his desire! There is nothing that he doesn’t do for attaining his desires and wants! He totally forgets the purpose for which God has created him!

When there is no love for God and no fear of committing sin, it is impossible to expect morality from modern man! Society is totally marred by the immorality of its people! A country's greatness is based on the morality of its society! Our ancient civilizations were noted for the morality and prosperity of the people! But today the picture is totally different! Rapes, frauds, forgeries, loots, and murders are reported daily! We have fugitives like Mallya who after defrauding banks seeks asylum in England!  Nirav Modi and Choksi emulate Mallya and try to protect themselves! Our Government is trying its best to bring then back to face law! Younger generation are adrift and do not have proper direction! Women are no longer safe in many states! Women themselves have lost their moors and become more independent than necessary! They do not care for our great tradition and are carried away by modern trends of fashion in dress and costume! Where will these trends lead us to?

Religion, instead of uniting people, has divided them. There is religious fanaticism among Muslims and language fanaticism in the South! Hindi is disliked in the South even as Sanskrit is hated! We are all children of God and the same God dwells in all hearts! This simple Truth is not realized by people and there is no proper understanding between them! Man has conquered almost everything but it is a tragedy that he has not conquered himself! He is the victim of the inner adversaries that egg him on to commit do several misdeeds and accumulate maximum sin! Love of God shall make man pious and religious! He will understand that God is manifest in all the human beings, animals and creatures and nature! By loving God he will love all creatures and understand them all! He will be afraid of Sin that shall doom him eternally! This love for God and the universe shall put him in the path of Dharma or righteousness! He will be morally strong and hate to stray away from Dharma! In other words he earns the name of being a GOOD MAN!!