Moral Conduct
When people live together in the world, it often happens that one person comes into contact with another. This happens both inside the home and outside the home. At such times, treating others with decency and justice is good character, and dealing with them through cruelty and injustice is bad character.
The very first sign of good character is that you should be a well-wisher for others from your heart. You should always wish good for others. You should have love in your heart for others, not hatred. Seeing others progress should not make you feel jealous, and seeing others in a bad situation should not make you look down on them. If you hear something about someone and you don’t know the truth, you should take it in a good way. Because of it, you should not become suspicious of others.
What is the sign of being a well-wisher for others? A simple sign of this is that you begin to like for others what you like for yourself. If you want other people to acknowledge you, then you should also acknowledge them in the same way. If you don’t like others to insult you, then you too should never insult others. If you don’t want anyone to take your wealth unjustly, then you should also completely avoid taking anyone’s wealth unjustly. In this world, when a person deals with others, it can happen that he may have a complaint against someone. In such situations, the only condition to stay on the path of good manners is that you should have the habit of ignoring and forgiving.
If someone speaks to you harshly, do not respond with harshness. If someone hurts you, avoid holding onto feelings of revenge. Even if someone is ignoring you, do not withdraw from them. In this world, remaining true to good character means treating even those of poor character with kindness—and responding to wrong with virtue.
Good and bad character are closely connected to one’s speech. Harsh words indicate poor character, while kind and gentle speech show good manners. A few words spoken can turn someone into an enemy—and the effect can be just as powerful in the opposite direction, with a few other words turning the listener into a close friend.
An important trait of good character is having a spirit of generosity and openness towards others. If someone speaks to you harshly, you respond patiently and speak kindly in return. Even if someone causes you harm, you still seek to benefit them. Even when you receive nothing from someone, you still try to offer something to them. And if someone tries to provoke you, you keep your composure and respond with dignity, without being provoked.
Character means that kind of good behaviour in which there is the spirit of decency, well-wishing, and open-heartedness. A person with good character is someone in whose life there are qualities like the light of the sun and the fragrance of flowers.
The thing that is most needed to build a good society is people with good character. A society whose people have good character, who live with one another while fulfilling the demands of morality and humanity—that society will surely be a better society.
A better moral society is another name for a better human society. If you want to uplift society, then uplift the morals and character of the people living in it. If you want to improve society, then morally improve the character of its people. This is the only sure way to build a better society. There is no other way apart from this.
All India Radio, New Delhi,
on 4 February 1993.
