The Ethical Values

Ethics is concerned with the norms of human social behaviour. "it is that study of human behaviour which propounds the supreme good of human life and which formulates the judgements of right and wrong and good and evil." It is also called moral philosophy. The word 'ethic,' itself is derived from the Greek 'ethos' meaning customs, usages or habits, or more comprehensively 'character'. The word 'right' has a Latin origin ('rectus') which means 'straight' or 'according to rule'. Ethics is thus specifically concerned with the principles or rules which make our conduct right or straight. The Latin word 'mores' from which is derived the English 'moral' is not much different from the Greek 'ethos' which means habits or customs (as stated earlier). The word 'good' comes of the German 'gut', meaning anything useful or serviceable for some end or purpose.

Ethics as a science or body of knowledge is not so much concerned with what an individual considers as good for himself as with the ultimate good of the society as a whole. It is a science of values as distinguished from a science of facts such as physics or chemistry. It is by applying these values that judgements of human conduct are formed. According to ethics, good conduct is an intrinsic value. The two great concepts, which have a bearing on Indian ethics, contained in the Vedas, are the Rta, the law of good or the Eternal Law, and Satya, truth. God is Ritavaan, the upholder of the Eternal Order, and He is Satya-dhama, the One for whom truth is the law of being. Anyone who acts in accordance with the law of truth and the law of Eternal Order is 'good'.

Dr. Radhakrishnan sums up the Vedic idea of moral life thus: "Prayers are to be offered to the Gods. Rites are to be performed... The life of man has to be led under the very eye of God. Apart from the duties owed to Gods there are also duties to man. Kindness to all is enjoined; hospitality is reckoned a great virtue. 'The riches of one who gives do not diminish. He who possessed of food hardens his heart against the feeble man craving nourishment, against the sufferer coming to him (for help), and pursues (his own enjoyment even) before him, that man finds no consoler.' Sorcery, witchraft, seduction and adultery are condemned as vicious. Gambling is denounced. Virtue is conformity to the law of God, which includes love of man. Vice is disobedience to this law."

The Upanishads presuppose ethical excellence on the part of the student set on a study of spiritual knowledge. They do not, therefore, discuss elaborately the principles of ethics though, here and there, they do contain teachings about morals.

The Brthadaranyaka Upanishad sums up a whole ethical philosophy in three words: Daammyat, datta and dayadhvam - self-control, charity and compassion. (These are the three D's which T.S. Eliot uses in his poem 'The Wasteland' as the message from the ancient world to the conflict-ridden modern world.)

In the Taittiriya Upanishad the teacher exhorts the pupil to speak the truth, practise virtue, not to be negligent of virtue, welfare and prosperity, to honour the parents and the teacher and so on. The Chhandogya instructs the spiritual aspirant not to cause injury to any living creature. It stresses austerities, charity, truth-speaking, straight forwardness among others.

The Maitrayani Upanishad, one of the minor Upanishads, speaks of anger, jealousy, meanness, cruelty and rashness, among others, as vices to be avoided. The Upanishads also stress virtues such as chastity, austerity and silence.

Manu and Yajnavalkya, among the Hindu law-givers, stress the importance of `Achara' or conduct. Dharma, which is traceable to the Vedic Rta, is exalted. Manusmriti proclaims: "Self-possession, patience, self-control, integrity, purity, restraint, intelligence, truthfulness, absence of anger -- these ten are the marks of Dharma." Manu points out that non-injury to other beings and truthfulness, among others, represent the essence of Dharma.

The whole of Dharma, says Yajnavalkya, consists of truthfulness, non-stealing, absence of anger, modesty, purity, intelligence, self-possession, self-control, restraint of the sense and learning.

Manu lists the virtues expected of the student, the house-holder, the renunciand, the priestly class and the ruling class. Respect for elders as one of the cardinal virtues is held up by him. Women, he says, must be honoured and mutual fidelity between husband and wife must continue till death (of both).