Unit-III

Living in Harmony with Family and society

Understanding Harmony in the family:

Some of the findings for understanding harmony in family:

There is a relationship that exists b/w the self(I) and other Self(I)

There is a feeling of relationship that exists b/w self(I) and other self(I)

There is unambiguous feeling in self (I) that can be identified with exactness.

Identifying and fulfilling these feelings may lead to mutual happiness in relationship.

In today’s very busy and stressful life, parents are not getting adequate time to live with their
children. Both husband and wife are engaged in earning to fulfill the daily requirements of the family.
The responsibility to keeping their child with maid servants or the other member of family and hence
children are not getting adequate affection of their parents. Children are not getting time outside the
house so their suitable development does not take place and suffer with some sorts of ill feeling and
abrupt behavior and we feel incompetent generation.

As per the research today is to keep child with themselves, keeping abreast to parents, showing
affection and allowing to pass time outside the house. This is affecting the relationship b/w I and
family. Relationship with family is automatically established just after taking birth in a family.
Similarly family always exists naturally as a part of social interdependency. Thus we are embedded
with relationship and need to recognize them.

Understanding the values in Human Relationship (Nyay, Tripti, Vishwas, Respect)

We can understand that these relationships are based upon the understanding that relationship in a
family is not created rather gets developed automatically. It will be natural to have a right feeling
(values) in these relationships. These feelings are definite and can be recognized with certainty.
Having the feelings in relationship is an activity of self (I) and not of the body. It becomes he clear
relationship with self (I) and other self(I) and the feelings are also b/w these Is. Mutual fulfillment is
the natural outcome of a relation correctly recognized and maintained.

NYAY (Justice): Justice is the recognition of values (the definite feelings) in relationship, their
fulfillment, the right evaluation of the fulfillment in mutual happiness ( Ubhay-Tripti). So, there are
four elements of justice; recognition of values, fulfillment of values (feelings), evaluation the
fulfillment of value and mutual happiness.

Feelings (Values in relationship): Trust (Vishwas), Respect (Samman), Affection (Sneh), Care
(Mamta), Guidance (Vatsalya), Reverence (Shraddha), Glory (Gaurav), Gratitude (Kritagyata), Love
(Prema)

Trust (Vishwas) is the foundational value in relationship and this is defined as to be assured that each
human being inherently wants oneself and others to be happy and prosperous. This can be achieved
by understanding Intention and Competence. Intention is what one aspires for(natural acceptance)
and competence is the ability to fulfill aspirations. We need to correctly examine both elements. Most
of the people work or assess on the basis of intention and nobody like to blame their own intention
because they have the illusion that they are very much correct in their aspirations, thought process
and their innate ability, rather they need to look at their own competence level and also the
competence level of others and based on that they should frame their natural acceptance and do the
justice with their family, society and others.

Respect (Samman) means right evaluation. Usually we make mistake in our evaluation in three ways;
over Evaluation( Adhi Mulyankan), Under evaluation (Up mulyankan), Otherwise evaluation(a-
mulyankan). The respect means right evaluation and then we can be sensitive in relationship. Right
evaluation of a human being is on the basis of acceptance of co existence of self and body and when
the basis of respect is human being this will lead to mutual happiness and prosperity.

Affection (Sneha): Affection is the feeling of being related to the other. It comes when I recognize
that we both want to make each other happy and both of us are similar and hence for the first time one
feels that he is related with the others and the other is a relative of him.

Care (Mamta): The feeling of care is the feeling to nurture and protect the body of our relative. We
understand that human being is the co existence of self and body and the body is the instrument of I
and based on this understanding we should take care of nurturing and protecting body of our relatives,

Guidance (Vatsalya): The feeling of ensuring right understanding and feeling in others is called
guidance or vatsalya. We need our self for right understanding and feeling. Right understanding and
feeling is also a need of the other and the other is related to me and hence it is the responsibility to
help others to make them aware and guide the right path for right understanding in terms of desire,
thought and expectation.

Reverence (Shraddha): The feeling of acceptance of excellence in other is called Reverence. We

understand that we aspire for continuous happiness and to realize it and hence we need to understand
harmony at all the levels of our living. If we see some one has attained the level of harmony at such a
level that or all levels of living ensures continuity of happness, we have a feeling of reverence for
him. This is searching of excellence in others and feeling of accepting of excellence is called
reverence (shraddha).

Glory (Gaurav): Each of us have similar faculty of natural acceptance and want to live with
continuous happiness and prosperity and have the same goal and program and we have the same
potential to realize this. Glory is the felling for someone who has made efforts for excellence. We
find that there have been people in history who are investing their time and energy and their
belongings to achieve excellence (to understand and to live in harmony at all levels of living beings),
to make others excellent. This gives the feeling of glory of them.

Gratitude (Kritagyata): Gratitude is the feeling of acceptance for those who have made efforts for my
excellence and existence. We are helped and guided by others that have the right understanding.
When we understand this and begin to recognize, salute and appreciate the feelings in ourselves, we
feel gratitude in our relationship.
Love (Prema): The feeling of being related to all is love or prema. This feeling or value is called the
complete value (Sampoorna Mulya), since this is the relatedness to all human beings. It starts with
identifying that one is related to the other human beings and slowly it expands to the feeling of being
related to all human beings and this feeling of love leads to an undivided society, it starts with a
family and gradually comprises the world family it its circumpherence.

Difference b/w Intention and competence: Intention is basically wanting to our natural acceptance
and the competence is the ability to do things or the ability to fulfill the aspirations. Competence level
is generally adjudged at three levels of the individual, i.e. desire, thought process and expectation.

Difference b/w respect and differentiation: today we are differentiating respect on the basis of their
body,wealth , possession, their beliefs or respecting someone in terms of superiority or speciality and
in that case there is no feeling of relationship, only of the differentiation.

Understanding Harmony in Society: this can be ensured by samadhan, samridhi, abhay and sah
astitwa. Right understanding arises through insights. With right understanding people become free
from moral conditioning. Right understanding is to be developed through reflection. We need to
establish full conscious awareness of things. Prosperity is defined as the state of being successful,
thriving or wealthy. It is a state of being contented with what you desire. The societal prosperity can
be evaluated in terms of stable economy, entrepreneurship and opportunity, governance, education,
health, safety and security, personal freedom and social capital. There is infinite power in human
being, but despite such power, people do not have faith in themselves. The reason being they feel
separate and believe that they are different from divinity, but of course they are inside as very core.
The same divinity pervades entire universe.

Lack of understanding of harmony has led astray our programs and we are not able to work for
fulfilling comprehensive human goal today. The programs to fulfill the human goals include five
dimension of society: Education- Right living( shiksha-sanskar), Health- Self Regulation(swasthya-
sanyam), Justice-Preservation(nyay-suraksha), Production-work (utpadan-karya), Exchange-
Storage(vinimay-kosha).

Education is to understand harmony at all levels of existence and right living is the commitment and
preparedness to live in harmony at all levels. Self regulation is the feeling of responsibility for
nurturing, protecting and rightly utilizing your body. Health (swasthya) is the state of body when it is
fit to act according to the needs of the self and there is harmony among the parts of the body. Justice
(nyay) is the recognition, fulfillment and evaluation of values in human relations leading to mutual
happiness. Preservation is the recognition, fulfillment and evaluation of values in humen and rest of
the nature leading to mutual prosperity (Enrichment, protection and right utilization of nature).
Production is the physical facility obtained out of work and contains two issues: What to produce and
how to produce (process).Exchange relates to exchanging of produce for mutual fulfillment not for
madness of profit. Storage relates storing of produce after fulfillment of needs with a view to right
utilization in future not for hoarding.

Visualising a universal harmony in society ( Akhand samaj and sarvabhoum samaj)

 Harmony is an integral value that includes and determines all set of values. This comprises peaceful
cohabitation, natural law, unity of opposites, justice, wholeness, holism, unity in diversity, beauty,
common good, perfection, virtue, humanism, and proportionality, all round development, steadiness,
completeness of feeling, love, health etc. Its opposites are disharmony, antagonism, violence, war,
defectiveness, disorder, illness, evil and so on.

The vision of undivided society is living in harmony. Man can do different types of work for their
livelihood but we need to understand common need of peace, tranquility, happiness and prosperity
amongst all types of people in society and for this purpose we need to establish harmonious order in
community. The root cause of conflict and dispute is variation in culture, civility, norms, systems and
expansionist approach. Every community assumes their superiority in their own jurisdictions than
others but these set of thoughts will not facilitate happiness and prosperity. Right understanding is
only the tool that can bring uniformity, mutual happiness and mutual prosperity.

Universal order is a platform which seeks to unite humanity through core principles in all societies. The
intent is to unite all people to form a global social order which has key supranational institutions capable
of defending the dignity, right and lives of all people. It is the time for the world people to unite and push
back against the onslaught environmental catastrophes, political atrocities and petty conflicts that divide
and degrade quality of life. A family is a domestic group of people affiliated by birth or marriage or by
comparable legal relationship as adoption. Throughout the history family has been central to human
society and a key indicator of societies’ wellbeing. The family is the fundamental unit of society and is
entitled to protection by society and state. Moral virtues, empathy and good human relationship weaves
the entire world in a family system.

Q There are many problems manifest today at the level of individual, family, society and the nature.
Identify some of these problems humans suffer from. (UPTU 2010 – 11) ANS. Today we are generally
trying to achieve happiness and prosperity by maximizing accumulation and consumption of physical
facilities. This effort is giving rise to many problems manifest today at the level of individual, family,
society and the nature. These problems are: At the level of individual– Rising problems of depression,
anxiety, suicides, stress, insecurity, increasing health problems, lack of confidence and conviction etc.
At the level of family– Breaking up of joint families, mistrust and disharmony in relationships, divorce,
generation gap, dowry deaths, neglect of older people etc. At the level of society– Growing incidences
of terrorism, violence, communalism, racial and ethnic struggle, corruption, adulteration, sex-crimes
exploitation, wars between nations, proliferation of lethal weapons etc. At the level of nature– Global
warming, weather imbalances, depletion of mineral and energy resources, deforestation, soil
degradation etc. Al the problems are a direct outcome of an incorrect understanding, our wrong notion
about happiness and prosperity and their continuity. At the level of nature – Global warming, water,
air, soil, noise, etc. pollution, resource depletion of minerals and mineral oils, sizeable deforestations,
loss of fertility of soil. It therefore, calls for an urgent need for human beings to correctly understand
happiness and prosperity as well as the sustainable way to achieve these.

Q. Riight understanding + Relationship = Mutual fulfilment; Right understanding + Physical facilities =

Mutual prosperity.” Illustrate the above with two examples for each. How do right understanding,
relationships and physical facilities help in fulfilling the aspirations of human beings? Ans. Our basic
aspirations are happiness (mutual fulfillment) and prosperity (mutual prosperity). Happiness is ensured
by the relationships with other human beings and prosperity is ensured by working on physical facilities.
Relationship refers to the interpersonal relationships that a person builds in his/her life – at home, at
the workplace and in society. Physical Facilities includes the physiological needs of individuals and
indicates the necessities as well as the comforts of life. It means the feeling of having or being able to
have more physical facilities than is needed. Today we are unable to have fulfilling relationships al the
time: in family, outside family, and as a society– in the world at large. If there is a problem in
relationship, we feel uneasy, it bothers us. Even if we are interacting with someone, and something we
said or did of ends them, it makes us uneasy; i.e. we want mutual fulfillment in relationship. Similarly,
we want to feel prosperous, but end up working only for accumulation of wealth. We want to enrich
nature, but are exploiting it, destroying it. But our natural acceptance is that we want to live in harmony
with nature. The reason behind these problems is that we have to focus on one more aspect, i.e. right
understanding. Right Understanding refers to higher order human skills – the need to learn and utilize
our intelligence most effectively. In order to resolve the issues in human relationships, we need to
understand them first, and this would come from ‘right understanding of relationship’. Similarly in order
to be prosperous and to enrich nature, we need to have the ‘right understanding’. The ‘right
understanding’ will enable us to work out our requirements for physical facilities and hence correctly
distinguish the difference between wealth and prosperity. With nature as well, we need to understand
the harmony in nature, and how we can complement this harmony.

UNIT 3

Q. Define love.

or

How can you say that love is the complete value?

Ans: Love is called the complete value since this is the feeling of relatedness to all human beings. It is the
emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In other words, love is a feeling of warm personal
attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend. It starts with identifying that one is related
to the other human being (the feeling of affection) and it slowly expands to the feeling of being related
to all human beings.

The word love can refer to a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes, ranging from generic
pleasure ("I loved that meal") to intense interpersonal attraction ("I love my wife"). "Love" can also refer
specifically to the passionate desire and intimacy of romantic love, to the sexual love of Eros (cf. Greek
words for love), to the emotional closeness of familial love, or to the platonic love that defines
friendship, to the profound oneness or devotion of religious love. This diversity of uses and meanings,
combined with the complexity of the feelings involved, makes love unusually difficult to consistently
define, even compared to other emotional states.
This feeling or value is also called the complete value since this is the feeling of relatedness to all human
beings. It starts with identifying that one is related to the other human being (the feeling of affection)
and it slowly expands to the feeling of being related to all human beings. The feeling of love leads to an
undivided society, it starts from a family and slowly expands to the world family in the form of love.

Q. What is meaning of justice in human relationships? How does it follow from family to world family?
(UPTU 2009-10)

or

What is ‘justice’? What are its four elements? Is it a continuous or a temporary need?

or

What is justice? How does it lead to mutual happiness? (UPTU 2011 – 12)

Ans: Justice is the recognition of values (the definite feelings) in relationship, their fulfilment, the right
evaluation of the fulfilment resulting in mutual happiness. Justice concerns itself with the proper
ordering of things and people within a society. There are four elements: Recognition of values,
fulfilment, evaluation and mutual happiness ensured. When all the four are ensured, justice is ensured.
Mutual fulfilment is the hallmark of justice. And justice is essential in all relationships. Justice starts from
family and slowly expands to the world family. The child gets the understanding of justice in the family.
With this understanding, he goes out in the society and interacts with people.

If the understanding of justice is ensured in the family, there will be justice in all the interactions we
have in the world at large. If we do not understand the values in relationships, we are governed by our
petty prejudices and conditionings. We may treat people as high or low based on their body (particular
caste, or sex or race or tribe), on the basis of wealth one possesses or the belief systems that one
follows. All this is source of injustice and leads to fragmented society while our natural acceptance is for
an undivided society and universal human order. Having explored the harmony in the human beings, we
are able to explore the harmony in the family. This enables us to understand the harmony at the level of
society and nature/existence. And this is the way, the harmony in our living grows. We slowly get the
competence to live in harmony with all human beings.
Q. How do we differentiate in relationships on the basis of body, physical facilities, or beliefs? What
problems do we face because of such differentiation?

or

How have we differentiated people on the basis of body and beliefs?

or

What is the meaning of respect? How do we disrespect others due to lack of right understanding of this
feeling? (UPTU 2010–11)

or

How do we come to differentiate between human beings on the basis of body? Explain. What are its
consequences? (MTU 2011–12)

ANS. Respect means accepting individuality and doing right evaluation (to be evaluated as I am). Our
basis for respect today is largely quite contrary to our discussion above. Instead of respect being a basis
of similarity or one of right evaluation, we have made it into something on the basis of which we
differentiate i.e. by respecting you mean you are doing something special, because you are special or
have something special or are in some special position. Thus, all of us are running around seeking
respect from one another by trying to become something special.

Today, we are differentiating in the name of respect. We either differentiate people on the basis of their
body, on the basis of their wealth and possessions or on the basis of their beliefs. There is no notion of
respect in terms of right evaluation. Thus, there is no real feeling of relationship, only one of
differentiation.

On the basis of body

Ø  Sex/gender: We ignore the fact that being male or female is an attribute of the body, and not an
attribute at the level of ‘I’. And differentiate in giving respect on the basis of gender called male and
females. In many countries, people even prefer a male child to a female child, and in some other
societies, the other way round.

Ø  Race: If the person is of the same race as oneself, then we treat them differently. For example, we
differentiate on the basis of skin colour – white, brown, black etc. or on the basis of whether the person
is of Aryan race, Mongolian race etc. or on the basis of caste. Again here, we don’t do the evaluation on
the basis of ‘I’, but on the basis of the body

Ø  Age: We have notions such as ‘one must respect elders’. There is no such notion as respect
youngsters. Here, we see that we are again evaluating at the level of the body – age is related to the
body, and not to ‘I’.

Ø  Physical strength: If someone is stronger, we again treat him/her differently. This is again at the level
of the body. In fact, we think that we are respecting the other while it is fear; the fear that if we do not
treat them like this, we will be harmed.

On the basis of physical facilities

Ø  Wealth: We differentiate people because some have wealth than others. What we term as a “rich
person” gets idolized. We don’t even bother to find out whether such people are feeling prosperous, or
if they just have wealth. This way, we are over-evaluating physical facilities first, which are just meant to
fulfil the needs of the body, and then on this basis, we are wrongly identifying our relationship.

Ø  Post: We try to respect on the basis of a person’s position. The post is wrongly evaluated as the mark
of a person’s excellence and differentiation sets in. The post is considered important either on the basis
that it gives more physical facilities or on the basis that certain positions are assumed to be important.
In our education, we are trained directly or indirectly to earn posts for us to fetch respect.

On the basis of beliefs

Ø  ‘Isms’: ‘Ism’ means any belief in terms of a ‘thought-system’ that we have, or that we have adopted.
There are also many modern ‘isms’ such as capitalism, socialism, communism, etc. The people following
these sets of beliefs are called capitalists, socialists, communists, and so on. The people that have
adopted them or are following them have been exposed to them since childhood. Believing theirs to be
the right belief. However, all beliefs, as we have seen are at the level of desires, thoughts and
expectations (selections) in ‘I’. There is no definiteness at this level, and hence, this becomes a cause for
differentiation.

Ø  Sects: People of one sect only consider those with a similar belief system to be their ‘own’ and worthy
of respect. Following a particular tradition, or what we call as religion, becomes the basis of respect and
disrespect in relationship.

Q. ‘Discrimination leads to acrimony in relationships’. Explain. What problems are created when we
discriminate? (UPTU 2010–11)

or

Explain the problems faced due to differentiation in relationship.

Ans: Differentiation based on sex/gender: Issue of women’s rights, and women protesting and
demanding for equality in education, in jobs, and in peoples’ representation. People are insecure and
afraid of one another based on their gender.

Differentiation based on race: there are many movements and protect against racial discrimination and
demands for equality, racial attacks, movements against cast discrimination has people living in fear of
such racism, racist attacks, casticism and discrimination.

Differentiation based on age: Protests and movements demanding for equal rights for children on the
one hand and for rights for elderly people on the other, generation gap

Differentiation based on wealth: Class struggle and movements to do away with class-differentiation.
Many people suffering from a lack of self-esteem and some even committing suicide,

Differentiation based on post: Protests against high handed government officials. At the level of the
individual, leads to depression, etc.

Differentiation based on ’isms: Fights, turmoil, terrorism and war, people converting from one Ism to
another in order to be able to get more respect.

Differentiation based on sects: Countless religions and sects and each sect has its own movement to
ensure that there is no discrimination against people of their belief. Demands for special provisions in
jobs and in education.

Q. Difference between respect and differentiation.

or

What is the difference between respect and disrespect? Which of the two is naturally acceptable to
you? (UPTU 2009-10, 2011–12)

Ans: Difference between respect and differentiation

Respect Differentiation

1. Respect is right evaluation. 1. Differentiation is lack of understanding of respect.

2. Respect for others is generated by the 2. This differentiation can take the form of:
right evaluation and understanding which
leads to fulfilment in relationships. This o   Gender bias
further creates a sense of respect among o   Generation gap
people
o   Caste struggle

o   Power play and domination

o   Communal violence

o   Clash of race, religion, etc.

o   class struggle,

  3. This leads to the escalation in the problems of society

which further lowers the respect shown to others in
society.

.Q. What do you understand by trust? Differentiate between intention and competence with examples.

or

How do you differentiate between intention and competence, when you have to judge the other? Why
is it important?

or

How do you differentiate between intention and competence when you have to judge the other? Why is
it important? (MTU 2010–11)

Ans: Trust or vishwas is the foundational value in relationship. “To be assured that each human being
inherently wants oneself and the other to be happy and prosperous” is known as trust. Mutual trust is a
shared belief that we can depend on each other to achieve a common purpose. Trust is the expectation
of people that they can rely on our word. It is built through integrity and consistency in relationships.
There are two aspects in trust:

1.      Intention (wanting to – our natural acceptance)

2.      Competence (being able to do)

Both intention and competence are the aspects of trust. Intention is what one aspires for (our natural
acceptance) and competence is the ability to fulfil the aspiration. In intention every human being wants
to do what is right, only the competence may be lacking which needs to be developed through proper
understanding and practice. But what we are doing today is that when we are judging ourself we are
judging on the basis of our intention, whereas, when we are judging the other we are judging him on the
basis of his competence.

We trust our own intention while we are not ready to trust the others intention. It is the same for other
as well. We find that while we look at our intention, we are sure of it, we are not sure of the other’s
intention. We are actually seeing their competence, and making a conclusion on their intention. Hence,
mistrust is born and we deny the relationship. We seldom look at our competence and other’s intention.

It is very important to differentiate between intention and competence. If we have trust on intention,
we have a feeling of being related to the other and we start helping the other to improve his
competence, if he does not have enough.

Q. Enumerate some of the important values which lie at the base of good relationships. (UPTU 2010–11)

or

What are the foundational values of relationships? How can they be used to ensure strong and mutually
relationships?

or

Name the values which are called as “foundation value” and “complete value”. Define both these values.
(UPTU 2010–11)

or

List down the foundation value and the complete value in human relationship. Explain each with one
example. (MTU 2011–12)

Ans: There are certain basic and important values in maintaining relationship. These values, we all know,
are the backbone of health and happy family relations. The feelings, emotions, sentiments and respect
all are of real importance. These values lead to elimination of friction and establishment of total
harmony in relationship on long term basis. Values that are important in any relationship are
1.      Trust: Trust or vishwas is the foundational value in relationship. “To be assured that each human
being inherently wants oneself and the other to be happy and prosperous.” If we have trust in the other,
we are able to see the other as a relative and not as an adversary.

2.      Respect: Respect means individuality. The sense of individuality is prime object. This is the first
basic step towards respect (sammana). Once we realized that we are individual then only we can see our
self different from others. In other words, respect means right evaluation, to be evaluated as I am.

3.      Affection: Affection is the feeling of being related to the other. Affection comes when I recognize
that we both want to make each other happy and both of us are similar.

4.      Care: The feeling of care is the feeling to nurture and protect the body of our relative. Or in other
words a state of mind in which one is troubled; worry, anxiety, or concern is called care.

5.      Guidance: The feeling of ensuring right understanding and feelings in the other (my relative) is
called guidance. We understand the need of self (‘I’) for right understanding and feelings. We also
understand that the other is similar to me in his/her faculty of natural acceptance, desire of wanting
continuous happiness and the program of living in harmony at all the four levels.

6.      Reverence: The feeling of acceptance of excellence in the other is called reverence. When we see
that the other has achieved this excellence- which means to understand and to live in harmony at all the
levels of living ensuring continuity of happiness, we have a feeling of reverence for him/her.

7.      Glory: Each one of us wants to live with continuous happiness and prosperity. Each one of us has
the similar faculty of natural acceptance, has the same goal and program and we have the same
potential to realize this. Glory is the feeling for someone who has made efforts for excellence.

8.      Gratitude: Gratitude is the feeling of acceptance for those who have made efforts for my
excellence. Gratitude is an emotion that occurs after people receive help, depending on how they
interpret the situation.

9.      Love: Love is the emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In other words, love is a
feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend. This feeling or
value is also called the complete value since this is the feeling of relatedness to all human beings. It
starts with identifying that one is related to the other human being (the feeling of affection) and it
slowly expands to the feeling of being related to all human beings.

The above mentioned values are the core of all relations. One has to follow all to gain on the day to day
problems. These values are intrinsic and available in every person. We need to find out in ourselves and
implement. Without implementation, one cannot think of a strong family relation.

Q. “When we are assured of the intention of the other and find that the competence is lacking, we
become a help to the other. When we doubt the intention of the other, we get into opposition.” Explain.

or
In our behaviour, we generally observe our intention and others’ lack of competence. Does it lead to
mutual happiness? What is the alternative? Explain with the help of an example. (UPTU 2010–11)

Ans: We trust our own intention while we are not ready to trust the other’s intention. It is the same for
the others as well. They would also have the same answers as we, to the table above.  While the other
trusts his/her own intentions, he/she does not trust mine. Hence, mistrust is born and we deny the
relationship. When we are judging our self we are judging on the basis of our intention, whereas, when
we are judging the other we are judging him on the basis of his competence. We are sure in point 2 a)
that we want to make the other happy, but in point 4 a) we are not sure that the other wants to make
us happy. We find that while we look at our intention, we are sure of it, we are not sure of the other’s
intention. We are actually seeing their competence, and making a conclusion on their intention, we say
“I wanted to do well, but I could not”. But for the other, we say “He did not want to do well”. “Wanting
to”, is the intention, “could not”, is the lack of competence.

We can see that as we are not able to fulfil our intentions in terms of our competence at all times. It is
the same for the other as well. We want to be related to the other, and we want the other to be related
to us, irrespective of who this other is. If we have trust in the other, we are able to see the other as a
relative and not as an adversary. We then become ready to become a help to the other. Intentions are
always correct; it is only the competence that is lacking, which can be improved by right understanding.

Q There is a common saying; if you trust everybody, people will take undue advantage of you.

or

What is the basic error in this statement? Explain. (MTU 2011–12)

Ans: The basic error is that if we trust everybody people will not take undue advantage of me. On the
contrary, it gives us inner strength and we become far more effective in interacting with and “dealing
with different people”. This is simply because, we already are sitting with the knowledge of what the
person truly wants, truly intends, even though the person may not know this himself/herself! Hence, our
ability to interact with people becomes far more effective and in the process, we don’t get hurt, we
don’t get disturbed, we end up becoming an aid to the other. In other words, becoming aware, having
the right understanding, living with the assurance in relationship does not mean becoming “stupid”! It
only makes us, more competent. Further, what is being said here is that we have trust on the intention
of everyone, but, when it comes to making a program with someone, I evaluate my competence, I
evaluate his competence and make the program accordingly. This makes me more effective.

Q. Write the program to attain comprehensive human goal. Give examples also.

or
What are the five dimensions of human endeavour in society conducive to ‘manaviya vyavastha’?

or

What are the five dimensions of Human Endeavour? How are they helpful in achieving the

Comprehensive human goal?

or

What are the programs needed to achieve the comprehensive human goal? List and define each briefly.
(MTU 2011–12)

Ans: Comprehensive human goals are right understanding, prosperity, fearlessness and co-existence. 
Programs needed to achieve the comprehensive human goals are:

1.      Education – Right Living (Siksha – Sanskar)

2.      Health – Self Regulation (Svasthya – Sanyam)

3.      Justice – Preservation (Nyaya – Suraksha)

4.      Production – Work (Utpadan – Kriya)

5.      Exchange – Storage (Vinimaya – Kosh)

Education – Right Living: Education refers to understanding hormony at all four levels of living. While
right living refers to commitment and preparedness to live in harmony at all four levels of living.

Health – Self Regulation: Sanyama refers to a feeling of responsibility for nurturing, protecting and
rightly utilizing the body. When the body is fit to act according to the needs of the self (‘I’), and, there is
harmony among the parts of the body, it is referred to as health or svasthya.

Justice – Preservation: Justice (nyaya) refers to harmony in the relationship between human beings,
while preservation (suraksha) refers to harmony in the relationship between human being and the rest
of nature.

Exchange – Storage: Exchange (vinimaya) refers to the exchange of physical facilities between the
members of the society, while storage (kosa) refers to the storage of physical facilities that is left after
fulfilling the needs of the family.

We can now see how these five dimensions of humanistic society are able to ensure the human goal:

Education – Right living       leads to           Right understanding

* Having the process of education and right living leads to right understanding in the individual.
Health – Self-regulation        leads to           Prosperity

* Having the program for health and sanyam leads to well-being of the body, nad identification of need
for physical facilities which along with production ensures feeling of prosperity in the family.

Justice – Preservation           leads to           Fearlessness and Co-existence (respectively)

* Ensuring justice in relationship, or mutual fulfilment in relationship on the basis of values like Trust,
Respect, etc leads to fearlessness in society, while Suraksha of nature – via enrichment, protection and
right utilization leads to co-existence in nature.

Production – Work               leads to           Prosperity and Co-existence

* Production and work are for physical facilities, and this leads to a feeling of prosperity in the family.
Production is done in harmony with nature, and hence, this also leads to co-existence with nature.

Exchange – Storage              leads to           Prosperity and Fearlessness

* When we store and exchange for mutual fulfilment and not for exploitation, then it leads to
fearlessness (trust) in society.

Q. Explain the comprehensive human goal. How does fearlessness follow from right understanding and
prosperity? (UPTU 2009-10)

or

What do you mean by comprehensive human goal? Explain. How is it related to your goal in life? (MTU
2011–12)

Ans: In order to facilitate the fulfilment of the basic aspirations of all human beings in the society, the
following human goal needs to be understood in a comprehensive manner:
1.      When one does not have the right understanding, one remains disturbed and also acts in a manner
so as to create disharmony with other human being as well as with rest of nature.

2.      Prosperity in the family means that the family is able to identify its needs and is able to produce/
achieve more than its requirements.

3.      Trust in society means every member of society feels related to everyone else and therefore there
is trust and fearlessness.

4.      Co-existence in nature means there is a relationship and complementarity among all the entities in
nature including human beings.

Abhaya means fearlessness; it is a permanent state where there is no question of ever experiencing any
fear. A person with abhaya is continuously aware if his own reality; for him to become subject to fear
would be impossible. We should not consider this quality of abhaya as just the absence of fear. The
fearlessness in the society begins from the individual. We need to ensure right understanding in the
individual as the foundation of harmony in the society. With right understanding, the need for physical
facilities in the family can be ascertained. By assessing our needs correctly and by producing more than
required the family can be prosperous. Assurance of right understanding in the individuals and
prosperity in the families, understanding of human relationships leads to harmony and trust
(fearlessness) in the society. When every individual is able to live harmoniously in relationship, and the
needs of all the families are ensured, fearlessness (mutual trust) in society will naturally follow. Thus the
state of absence of fear at society level will only be achieved when we have right understanding at
individual level and prosperity at the level of family.

Q. Right understanding in the individuals is the basis for harmony in the family, which is the building
block for harmony in the society. Give your comments.
Ans: Right understanding in the individuals is the basis for harmony in the family, which is the building
block for harmony in the society.

1.      The harmony in the society begins from the individual. We need to ensure right understanding in
the individual as the foundation of harmony in the society.

.      With right understanding, the need for physical facilities in the family can be ascertained. By
assessing our needs correctly and by producing more than required the family can be prosperous.

3.      Assurance of right understanding in the individuals and prosperity in the families, understanding of
human relationships leads to harmony and trust (fearlessness) in the society. When every individual is
able to live harmoniously in relationship, and the needs of all the families are ensured, fearlessness
(mutual trust) in society will naturally follow.

4.      When human beings with right understanding interact with nature, it will be in consonance with
the coexistence and will be mutually enriching.

We may also understand it in the following sequence.

1. Right understanding  ®  2. Prosperity  ®  3. Fearlessness (trust)  ®  4. Co-existence

Q. Explain how production activities can be enriching to all the orders of nature. Give any two examples.
(UPTU 2009-10)

Ans: In nature, there are four different kinds of entities. One of entity includes materials, the other kind
is plants, herbs, etc., the third kind has animals and birds and the fourth kind includes human beings.
When we look at their interrelationship, we find that the materials, plants and animals are enriching for
the others including human beings. There is cyclic and enriching process in nature, and based on this
process production is naturally taking place in the nature. Humans only have to understand this feature
of nature. The purpose of science and technology is to facilitate the cyclic processes in nature and make
human beings more and more fulfilling to the other entities. But we will find that human beings are
neither enriching (fulfilling) for humans nor for the other three kinds of entities. If only we understand
the processes in nature, we can design our production systems through application of science and
technology in such a way that this fulfilment is better ensured, rather than disturbing it.
 Thus we can say that when we use right understanding with relationships it gives us mutual fulfillment
because if we have right understanding, then we can be happy in ourselves and work to have fulfilling
relationships with humans and mutual prosperity with nature. If we do not have the right
understanding, then we have problems. Thus, our happiness depends on the fulfillment of these three
basic requirements. Right understanding + Relationship = Mutual fulfillment. Right understanding +
Physical facilities = Mutual prosperity.