We live in an age when people become popular by highlighting the failings of others rather than through their own achievements. We have heads of elected governments who care less about governance and more about blaming other leaders of corruption and other crimes. An ordinary person who takes a casual look at the newspaper is drowned in news of heinous crimes which fuel their “righteous” indignation. Deploring a crime and rebuking its perpetrator gives us a sense of satisfaction from feeling that we are better than many others. However, Bhagavatam tells us that feeling such a satisfaction puts at at the same level as these criminals!

When Dharma in the form of a bull was being beaten and tortured by Kali in human form, King Pareekshit asks Dharma who caused him so much suffering. Instead of pointing a finger at Kali, Dharma notes that there are different views among philosophers – with some of the opinion that we reap the fruits of our own actions, others ascribing it to heavens, fate or destiny, others to nature, etc. Dharma continues to note that there are still others who believe that the cause of suffering cannot be ascertained or be expressed, and so it is for the King to decide for himself. Pareekshit, impressed by the impeccable reply of the bull, says:

Now, this might sound strange. How can one who point out a crime be considered at the same level as the criminal he brought to light? While I cannot claim to know what Pareekshit had in mind when he said so, I do have my thoughts on what his reason might have been. The main reason could be that to recognize evil in others, we need to have (at least) a spark of that evil in ourselves. The more indignation we feel, the more true this is. When I feel bad and angry at an act of cruelty by another, what I really feel bad about and ashamed of is that trace of cruelty within myself – and by decrying the perpetrator of this crime, I am just trying to hide the ugliness in myself (perhaps unconsciously).

The King perhaps also meant that whatever suffering we undergo is deserved through our own actions, and is nobody else’s fault. If we deserve to suffer, who can save us? And if we do not deserve, then who can put us through suffering? As Sri Krishna observes in this sloka from Bhagavatam, not even Indra, the lord of Devas, can change this rule. What, then, is to be said about the petty politicians.

Whenever we blame others for our problems or for the evil that is around us, we are missing the real problem that is within ourselves. If we were to fix ourselves, our world would also get fixed. We all have so much to fix in ourselves rather than go and find faults with others. This is what Kabir conveys through his doha

As true as this is in our personal lives, I believe this should also be the model we follow in politics. The level of our society and politics cannot be elevated by more negativism and by reemphasizing its shortcomings. Exposes, sting operations, creating list of corrupt politicians, and other ways of tainting opponents should give way to more introspection and setting righteous examples set in good governance.