Dancing with Śiva

What Is the Meaning of Good Conduct?

ŚLOKA 61

Good conduct is right thought, right speech and right action. It is virtuous deeds in harmony with divine law, reflecting the soul’s innate purity. As a staff is used to climb a mountain, so must virtue be used in life. Aum.§

BHĀSHYA

Good conduct, sadāchāra, determines our behav­ior in day-to-day life. We should be uplifting to our fellow man, not critical or injurious. We should be loving and kind, not hate­ful or mean. We should express the soul’s beautiful qual­ities of self-control, modesty and honesty. We should be a good example to others and a joy to be around, not a person to be avoided. Good con­duct is the sum of spir­itual living and comes through keeping good company. When heart and mind are freed of baseness, when desires have been tempered and excesses avoided, dhar­ma is known and followed, and good conduct naturally arises. The Hindu fosters humility and shuns ar­rogance, seeks to assist, never to hinder, finds good in others and forgets their faults. There is no other way to be called a true devotee, but to conduct ourself properly with­in ourself and among our fellow men. The Vedas say, “Let there be no neglect of Truth. Let there be no neglect of dharma. Let there be no neglect of welfare. Let there be no neglect of prosperity. Let there be no ne­glect of study and teaching. Let there be no neglect of the du­ties to the Gods and the ancestors.” Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.§