What is morality? A dictionary definition defines morality as principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behaviour. Morality is a particular system of values and principles of conduct. So the question that comes up is – Do norms of morality have a purpose? Why should we be moral? Is being moral a natural state of being or is it to be acquired? If morality has no purpose, why should we be moral and if it has a purpose, what is the purpose?

Let us understand this idea by means of a small fictional story.

Four brothers used to stay in a village town. They were quarrelsome since they were kids. They always used to find ways to gain one one-upmanship in securing more for themselves. There was a cow at their backyard which used to give milk for the whole family. Till their parents were around, they used to command the kids into behaving properly. The brothers were forced to share food and milk with one another all the time. While they hated this, they did not have the courage to go against their parents. Therefore, while each brother was still always looking for an opportunity to score or gain something over another brother, there was order in the family till the parents were around. And life went on with the brothers quarreling continuously with one another all the time when parents were not at home but behaving orderly with parents at home. Order in life was thus enforced externally by parents.

Amidst immorality within people, external imposition of rules of right and wrong so that each person within a society gets their fair share of what is due to them is morality here. Morality here thus serves the purpose of imposition of order in society. It is not purpose-less.

And one day, the parents left them. Hell broke loose at home. The brothers kept on fighting for everything. Everyone snatched food from another, there was always a fight as to who will use the bathroom first, money was snatched from the other, etc. Life went on with this fighting and things in the house in terms of conduct became quite ugly. One morning, one brother went to the cowshed to get milk from the cow. And as he brought the milk to the kitchen and was about to drink, other brothers came into the kitchen and as usual, a fight ensued. As they kept on snatching the milk container from the other, the inevitable happened. The milk spilled over and everything got wasted. The boys remained hungry that morning. And while all became quiet and unhappy and angry with one another, the youngest among them came out with a statement – let us all split everything from today. The food that we eat must be split equally, the money at home must be spent equally, clothes must be purchased equally and milk at home must be shared equally. All brothers agreed to get into a bond that each promised to adhere to at all times. While they still quarreled with one another and never really developed love for one another, they strictly adhered to their “sharing” code. Morality of sharing thus came about based on experience of loss and thus based on self-interest.

Every company has some rules for conduct. Every nation has a Constitution. What is the purpose of this code? The code of the Constitution is the enforce law and order in the country. Why is law and order necessary in a society? It is necessary so that there is peace in society. Why should there be peace in a society? So that each gets to do what he or she wants to do. And if each wants to do what he or she wants to do, this is nothing else but a selfish expression of personal wants. Therefore, it we take a society to be a cow, each wants to draw out as much milk from the cow as possible and drink as much as possible. Thus, morality enforced by Constitution is nothing else but a code that has as its core purpose maximum extraction of milk from the cow – and nothing else.

 Life went on as usual. One day, the cow died. As usual, they shared the cow meat among themselves in an honourable manner. But they had to buy a new cow and it turned out to be expensive. But given that milk is a necessity and there was no provider in milk in their village, they saved money and purchased another cow that was milked by them daily. And life went on as usual. But one day, one brother came home with a news – he came to know that the cow in their neighbour’s house gave two containers of milk daily unlike their cow which was giving only a single container. The brothers were upset and went over to quarrel with the seller asking him whether they got a bad deal. The seller replied that the same brand of cow was sold on the same day to them as well as their neighbor. So they went over to the neighbor to find out the reason for higher supply of milk. The neighbor took them to his cowshed and showed them the cow. The brothers saw that the neighbor fed the cow with fresh green grass and that the cowshed also had more room for the cow to walk around unlike their own home. The neighbor told them that if the cow is given better quality of food and living space, the cow tends to be happier and gives more milk. The brothers came home and immediately changed the diet of the cow and also created a good living space in their cowshed. Much to their pleasant surprise, in no time, their cow too started yielding higher quantity of milk. The brothers were shocked but they also learnt something new. The brothers upgraded their code to include a few lines about good quality of food to be shared with the cow for greater prosperity. Morality of sharing even with animals came about in their minds though this good behavior was also based on self-interest (viz higher yield from the cow).

Sharing is noble. And while sharing among humans is itself seen as a virtue, sharing with animals definitely appears nobler. But here too, there is self-interest. All the modern arguments about environmentalism are of this type of thought. Protect the nature or else nature will destroy. Plants trees so that ozone layer is protected. Abandon fossil fuels so that pollution is brought down, and our health is enhanced. Amidst noble sounding words, at a core level, self-interest remains primary. There is no real expansion of connection with plants, animals and human beings but a gross intent of self-interest remains at the core the upgraded morality. Morality again here is not purposes-less but a purposeful conduct towards greater self-interest.

The brothers had become calmer. Thanking to the code of sharing, fights between brothers came down. With more food available at home, the health of the brothers improved. The house started looking good and the world at large noticed the change. Wherever the brothers went, the world praised them for their good conduct with one another. The brothers too were happy that the code between them has led to a lot of benefit and they too respected the code at all times. The code was their religious document and they strictly adhered to it at all times. They were often invited for talks and they shared their experience of prosperity they achieved by giving allegiance to the code. Then the day arrived when the cow in their cowshed became old and stopped yielding milk. Like the last time, they killed it and shared the meat equally. And a new cow came home. But this time, it came with its calf. The calf looked innocent and the brothers fell an attraction towards it. But they had a strange new experience. The calf went for milk every morning before they could milk the cow. While they continued to feed healthy grass to both the cow and calf, they wondered if they were being deprived of more milk. So they tied to calf to a post and went over to milk the mother cow. And the mother cow refused to give the milk that day while the calf started crying. This crying amazed the brothers – they never thought animals too had such feelings. Not knowing what to do, one of the brothers released the calf. Once the calf was fed, the brothers took their share of milk but to their shock, the quantum of milk remained same as before. Since that day, they had a new partner to share the milk with – the calf. And they absolutely feel in love with the calf as it went about its tantrums on a daily basis. And through the calf, they started looking at the cow too with love. And for the first time, they fell in love with the animals in their cowshed and started treating them very well. In fact, they stopped tying the cow which used to move about the cowshed freely. On many occasions, the cow and calf even entered the home. These were happy days and the brothers kept on feeding both the cow and calf along with them on a daily basis. The yield of the cow remained bountiful beyond all their previous experience.

But their happy days came to an end one day. The cow died. And along with the calf, tears came streaming down the eyes of the brothers. They could not explain why. They kept on crying that day. And none could even think of eating the flesh of the cow. They cremated it and came back home dejected. They were unhappy for days. Remarked a brother – they never cried when the earlier cows had died but they are crying now – he was not sure why. So they turned to their code which read as – “Give good quality food to the cow daily and share food equally among brothers”. The code seemed inadequate. They did not get the answer to their question as to why they were crying. One brother remarked – We had been not just giving good food to the animals but we were actually sharing food with her many times together with them. He said that they actually went beyond the code. And they were very happy in that they not only followed the code but they went better than the code and this brought them a lot of joy.

“Joy comes from sharing” – this line became real for the brothers. But they were not sure why did they experience this joy. So they decide to upgrade their code to read as – “Share food with all and one will be joyful”. Once again, there is an outcome in the form of joy that they loved to experience and the code was written to regain the same feeling of joy again and again. The moral act of sharing thus remains purposeful and there is again a self-interest that propelled the brothers to adopt the code. At one end, it may seem contradictory in the sense that to gain something, they are actually giving to others but they learnt that gaining of joy has far greater value than giving physical objects and thus gaining of joy became the driver in their lives. Physical belongings started to matter less and less and to remain joyful became more important as a state of mind to cultivate.

Is seeking joy for oneself selfish? This became a key question for them. And they spoke to a lot of people asking them as to why one should be moral? Why does one seek joy? Some people replied that God will be happy if they are moral but they did not get an answer to the question as to why will the God be happy. Some said morality will take them to heaven and immorality takes them to hell. So is not seeking heaven and hell selfish too? Is pursuit of morality a pursuit of selfishness? As these questions gave no answers, one day, they were asked to approach a Guru and here is how the conversation went along:

Brothers: Should we be moral?

Guru: What is morality?

Brothers: Over years, we have been sharing equally among ourselves. Later, we started expanding our sharing habit to animals. Over time, we went beyond our home and shared with neighbours too. So, in our opinion, to share with others is morality.

Guru: So why do you indulge in this act of sharing?

Brothers: Because it gives us joy.

Guru: Very good! So if you are already joyful, what made you approach me?

Brothers: Is pursuit of joyfulness selfish?

Guru: So what is the problem with being selfish?

Brothers: While we are experiencing joy, the point being made that this is after all a selfish pursuit unsettles us.

Guru: Why does it unsettle you?

Brothers: It unsettles us because pursuit of selfishness and experience of joy from selfishness makes us feel small.

Guru: If you are unsettled, why do you not revert back to your early behavior?

Brothers: That is impossible. Life was chaotic, unhappy, angry, etc to a significant extent. Having tasted the nectar of joy, why will we seek to revert to our earlier life?

Guru: So what do you want from me?

Brothers: Tell us whether pursuit of joy is a selfish pursuit?

Guru: Of course not!! To be joyful is your real nature. You are the source of joy and bliss anyway. That is your identity.

Brothers: Sorry – what do you mean by the statement that being joyful is our real nature?

Guru: Have you seen a small child?

Brothers: Yes of course.

Guru: What happens when a child giggles?

Brothers: Everyone around cuddles the child and giggles along with the child.

Guru: What then happens when a child cries?

Brothers: Everyone around the child become uncomfortable and they keep on figuring out various ways – by playing music, giving food, signing, etc hoping that the child will become calm.

Guru: So why are people uncomfortable when a kid is crying?

Brothers: To cry is not natural, it is only when the child is peaceful that the world is also relaxed and happy.

Guru: That is the answer to your question.

Brothers: Sorry! Do not understand.

Guru: You said that to be joyful is natural and to not be joyful is unnatural.

Brothers: So what?

Guru: Think about it!! When you are joyful, it is not a selfish pursuit. It is your natural state. If you are therefore seeking joy, you are merely trying to regain your original state.

Brothers: But is there not a contradiction? We are giving something and only then we are being joyful. Something is going away from us while giving and as an outcome, joy comes to us. There is a give and take here too and our experience of joy is a selfish pursuit for this reason. Is it not?

Guru: Fine – let us take another analogy. Have you ever taken a holiday from work?

Brothers: Yes of course. And we loved our holidays.

Guru: What is it that you had liked about your holidays?

Brothers: We liked the hotel where we had stayed, we loved the landscape, we loved the people and many other things.

Guru: How long are your holidays?

Brothers: 10-15 days post which we return home.

Guru: Why do you return home? You love the place you had gone to. So why not move to this place instead of returning home?

Brothers: How is that possible? Home is where our heart is. Home belongs to us and our base is at our home.

Guru: This means that no matter how good your holiday locale is, you will still return home. Is returning to our homes a selfish pursuit?

Brothers: Returning to our home is a natural expression of ourselves. How can returning home from a holiday be seen as selfish? In fact, pursuit of a holiday is for personal happiness and thereby a selfish expression. However, returning home is a natural expression of our longing to be at our place.

Guru: Perfect! Exactly like this, to be joyful is a natural expression. It is not a far removed reality that can be achieved only by gaining something other than what you really are. When you gain happiness, you experience a bit of yourself only. However, this happiness may be temporary and may not last. However, if you crack the code of life, you will be eternally in a state of joyfulness of bliss. And all cultivation of virtue or morality has its ultimate purpose of enabling us to regain our original state of joy.

Morality is not a purposeless endeavor. Morality has a purpose. Depending on our state of evolution, we cultivate a certain moral trait or traits to seek something. Progressively, our state of morality is enhanced for a certain purpose of gaining greater joy than what we had been experiencing earlier. And the ultimate purpose of morality is to achieve the highest state of Ananda. And this Ananda is not some external gain – it is our home, it is our true nature, it is us and us only. And once we reach this state, we are one with the One, we are one with ALL.

Om Tat Sat