Mera Bharat Mahan 14: Never hurt the ego of a person three times in a row

Dr K K Aggarwal

स होवाच पितरं तत कस्मै मां दास्यसीति ।
द्वितीयं तृतीयं तँ होवाच मृत्यवे त्वा ददामीति ॥

sa hovāca pitaraṃ tata kasmai māṃ dāsyasīti ।
vitīyaṃ tṛtīyaṃ tam̐ hovāca mṛtyave tvā dadāmīti ॥

"Dear father, to whom will you give me away?"
He said it a second, and then a third time.
The father, seized by anger, replied: "To Death, I give you away."

— Nachiketa, Katha Upanishad, 1.1.4

Commentary

One must learn to manage and control the ego. Controlled ego is the need but an uncontrolled ego can cause devastating effect on the body and the environment.

In Katha Upanishad, when Nachiketa hurts the ego of his father for the third time in a row, his (father’s) ego went out of control.

The Vedic message is if someone’s ego gets hurt just say sorry or change the topic and come out. Even if you hurt the ego twice it may still be ok but not the third time in a row.

Anger is like benign postural vertigo, which lasts only for few seconds for up to a minute (average 10 seconds). If you can control your anger for 10 seconds you can control your ego.

In Sunder Kanda, when Hanuman meets Sursa (ego) on his way to Lanka, he wins her by humility (becomes small) and not by confronting her.

Dr KK Aggarwal

Padma Shri Awardee

President Elect Confederation of Medical Associations in Asia and Oceania (CMAAO)

Group Editor-in-Chief IJCP Publications

President Heart Care Foundation of India

Past National President IMA