Marvellous Mahābhārata Morals - X

Character makes the man

Education imparts discretion. Discretion makes a man know what is right and what is wrong. Discretion prompts noble thoughts. Noble thoughts give birth to correct words. Correct words guide right action. Repeated right actions create right habits. Repeated right habits makes right character. Steadfast devotion to right character results in the right destiny. Therefore, character makes the man. Śrī Kṛṣṇa teaches Arjuna that due to lust and greed, man commits sins and becomes impure. Lust and greed makes a man succumb to temptations, and his power of thinking is temporarily lost. Thus, he behaves like an intoxicated man who does not have control over his mind and body. His actions are all guided towards the fulfillment of his lust and greed. He stoops low and invites calamities and dangers upon himself. If he does not correct his actions soon enough, then he may even be killed by his twin foes - lust and greed. Both these foes are very strong, and even great sages are known to have fallen for lust, for the guiles and charms of women. Thus, one should be very careful with women and besides one wedded wife, one should look at every other female as his mother, sister, or daughter. A glowing example of such impeccable behaviour is Śrī Rāma, who besides Sītā never desired any other woman in his whole life.

The Mahābhārata gives numerous illustrative examples of how character makes a man. Nahuśā was an illustrious emperor who due to strict adherence to religious principles elevated himself to the highest position. He was offered the position of the Head of the Celestials in Heaven, but he was enamored of the charms of the apsarās. His lust for the apsarās angered the Gods and a sage cursed him to go back to the world and live as a python. Nahuśā repented and thus his curse was a bit relaxed. He would find his deliverance when the Pāndavas would visit him and Yudhiśṭira would answer his question. Subsequently, when the Pāndavas were in the forest, they chanced upon this python and the python asked that when would a man's knowledge, fame and riches prove of no use? Yudhiśṭira replied that whatever a man acquired in this world or the next, be it knowledge, fame, name, or wealth, all were of no use and would prove very futile, if the man was without any character. Character was the only index of a man's greatness and thus it should be preserved at all times. Hearing this wise and correct answer from Yudhiśṭira, the python became Nahuśā and obtained deliverance from the curse.