Hindu value
#2: Humility and willingness to learn
Last we saw how debate is important to Hindu values. Similarly, it
is considered good to be humble and willing to learn from anyone. For example,
when Ravana, the demon king and the villain of the epic Ramayana lay dying,
Lord Rama went himself to his feet to request the enemy he had mortally wounded
to kindly teach him something about statecraft!
This is unheard of in any other culture. Ravana was a villain, but
he had a heroic side as well. He knew all the scriptures by heart, was a mighty
warrior, an excellent musician, an able dancer, a genius poet, a staunch Shiva
devotee, and a shrewd ruler. His subjects worshipped him. Rama saw no shame in
learning from him, even though Ravana had abducted his wife and they had fought
a bitter war over it. Rama had slain several of Ravana's kin and children. Yet
he went and asked respectfully for knowledge from the mighty demon. And Ravana
consented to teach. Such honour, such large mindedness in both the hero and the
villain.
There is another corollary to this: Hinduism has no concept of
devil. The light and dark dance in a delicate balance. They oppose and complement
each other. Without the dark the light has no value, and vice versa. A good
story is incomplete without a good hero and
a good villain. It is all deemed a play and display of one consciousness.
As a prism splits the light into seven colours, the consciousness expresses
itself in infinite ways. Diversity is the nature of the world, yet everything
is but one.
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