Talk:The Forty Saṁskāras:The Eight Qualities

By Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Swami

The eight guṇas or qualities are: dayā, kṣānti, anasūyā, śauca, anāyāsa, maṅgala, akārpaṇya, aspṛhā.

Dayā implies love for all creatures, such love being the very fulfilment of life. There is indeed no greater happiness than that derived by loving others. Dayā is the backbone of all qualities.

Kṣānti is patience. One kind of kṣānti is patiently suffering disease, poverty, misfortune and so on. The second is forgiveness and it implies loving a person even if he causes us pain and trouble.

Anasūyā, you know, is the name of the sage Atri's wife. She was utterly free from jealousy: that is how she got the name which means non-jealousy. Heart-burning caused by another man's prosperity or status is jealousy. We ought to have love and compassion for all and ought to be patient and forgiving even towards those who do us wrong. We must not envy people their higher status even if they be less deserving of it than we are and, at the same time, must be mature enough to regard their better position as the reward they earned by doing good in their previous life.

Śauca is derived from śuci, meaning cleanliness. Purity is to be maintained in all matters such as bathing, dress, and food. There is a saying often quoted even by the unlettered: "Cleanliness makes you happy and it even appeases your hunger". To see a clean person is to feel ourselves clean.

In Manu's listing of dharmas that are applicable to all, ahiṃsā or nonviolence comes first, followed by satya (truthfulness), asteya (non-covetousness; non-stealing is the direct meaning), śauca (cleanliness) and indriya-nigraha (subduing the senses or even obliterating them).

The fifth ātmaguṇa is anāyāsa. It is the opposite of āyāsa which denotes effort, exertion, etc. Anāyāsa means to have a feeling of lightness, to take things easy.

One must not keep a long face, wear a scowl or keep lamenting one's hardships. If you lose your cool, you will be a burden to yourself as well as to others. Anāyāsa is a great virtue. In many of our rituals, there is much bodily exertion. When we perform a śrāddha we have to remain without food until 2 or 3 in the afternoon. There is no end to the physical effort we have to put in to conduct a yajña. Here anāyāsa means not to feel any mental strain. Obstacles, inevitable to any work or enterprise, must not cause you any mental strain. You must not feel any duty to be a burden and must develop the attitude that everything happens according to the will of the Lord.

What do we mean when we remark that the musician we listened to yesterday touched the tāra-sthāyī so effortlessly? Does it mean that he performed a difficult musical exercise with ease? Similarly, we must learn to make light of all the hardships that we encounter in life.

What is maṅgala, the sixth guṇa? Well, maṅgala is maṅgala. There is maṅgala or an auspicious air about happiness that is characterised by dignity and purity. One must be cheerful all the time and not keep growling at people on the slightest pretext. This itself is extremely helpful, to radiate happiness wherever we go and exude auspiciousness. It is better than making lavish gifts and throwing money about.

To do a job with a feeling of lightness is anāyāsa. To be light ourselves, creating joy wherever we go, is maṅgala. We must be like a lamp spreading light and should never give cause for people to say, "Oh! He has come to find fault with everything". Wherever we go we must create a sense of happiness. We must live auspiciously and make sure that there is happiness brimming over everywhere.

Akārpaṇya is the next guṇa. Miserliness is the quality of a kṛpaṇa or miser. Akārpaṇya is the opposite of miserliness. We must give generously and whole-heartedly. At Kurukṣetra, Arjuna felt dejected and refused to wage war with his own kin. In doing so, according to the Gītā, he was guilty of kārpaṇya doṣa. It means, contextually, that he abased himself to a woeful state; he became "miserly" about himself. Akārpaṇya is the quality of a courageous and zestful person who can face problems determinedly.

Aspṛhā is the last of the eight qualities. Spṛhā means desire; a grasping nature. Aspṛhā is the opposite, being without desire. Desire is at the root of all trouble, all evil and, all through the ages, it has been the cause of misfortunes. But to eradicate it from the mind of men seems an almost impossible task. By performing rites again and again and by constantly endeavouring to acquire the ātmic qualities one will eventually become desireless.

Says Valluvar:

Paṟṟuga paṟṟāṟṟan paṟṟinai apparai paṟṟuga paṟṟu viṭarku

Tirumūlar goes a step further. "It is not enough,” he says, "to be attached to Īśvara who is without attachment and be free from other attachments. You must be able to sever yourself from the attachment to Īśvara himself."

Āśai arumiṅkaḷ, āśai arumiṅkaḷ Īśanōṭaiyum āśai arumiṅkaḷ

The Buddha calls desire thirst. Intense desire for an object is tṛṣṇā (The Buddha calls it taṇhā in Prākṛt). His chief teaching is the conquest of desire.

Desirelessness is the last of the eight qualities. The first one, dayā, is the life-breath of Christianity. Each religion lays emphasis on a particular quality, though all qualities are included in the teachings of Buddha, Jesus Christ, the Prophet Mohammed, Guru Nānak, Zoroaster, Confucius and the founders of all other religions. Even if these qualities may not have been pointedly mentioned in their teachings, it is certain that none of them would regard people lacking them with approval.