Dr Viyatprajna Acharya
Professor, Biochemistry
What is anger?
Most of us would probably say, “I get angry when things don’t happen the way I want them to.” Or, “I get angry because I did not get what I deserved.” Others may say, “What that person said hurt me deeply.”
At its core, however, all these expressions point to one thing: my ego has been hurt.
Things did not unfold according to my calculations. Ah! As though I alone know the right way! Is there only one method to accomplish a task? Perhaps, had it been done differently, the outcome might have been even better. Many of our finest recipes, discoveries, and innovations have, after all, emerged from such unexpected deviations.
Let us assume that nothing positive came out of it and the result was simply disappointing. Even then, did it not teach us something? If the Supreme Director orchestrates everything, why should we not accept even that as His will and wait with patience? Have we not all experienced moments when, looking back, we realized, “What did not happen was actually for the best”? Yet, in that very moment, our ego completely veils our inner consciousness, and that veil manifests itself as anger.
At other times, anger arises because our desires remain unfulfilled. I must have this. I deserve that. But who declared so? Certainly, we should strive for prosperity and aspire to live a better life. Yet, from where does the notion arise that something belongs exclusively to me? More often than not, desire arrives hand in hand with anger.
“What that person said hurt me deeply.” Ah! Here the blow has landed directly upon the ego.
Is there, then, any exception?
Perhaps just one.
The privilege of anger truly belongs only to three: the mother, the father, and the Guru. When their anger springs solely from a desire for the welfare of their children or disciples—or, in a broader sense, for the well-being of society, the nation, and the world—it ceases to be a personal reaction. Anger, in such hands, becomes concentrated energy. At times, it can bring about profound transformation, alter the course of a person’s life in an instant, or even herald the birth of a new order.
The inevitable question then arises: How does one gain mastery over anger?
Reflect for a moment.
The Lord has repeatedly declared that He alone is the true Doer; we are merely instruments. If we can surrender our ego at His lotus feet, relinquish the sense of personal doership, recognize our Svadharma, and walk steadfastly upon the path of Dharma, perhaps anger will find no space within us.
When His will gradually becomes our will, the restlessness and the feeling of lack begin to dissolve. The mind slowly settles into serenity.
Ask yourself just one question:
“Who am I, after all?”
That single inquiry is often enough for sorrow and anger to quietly disappear.
Shubhamastu.