OBEDIENCE
Obedience is the quality of being
obedient, that is, doing faithfully whatever a person is asked to do, even if
the command given to him is not to his liking and he finds it is faulty.
In every society, private and
public, the people at the helm of affair want strict obedience. That is why in
their letters the concluding words before their names are: Your most obediently.
In religion, Lord Rama is known for
obedience. He did what his father commanded him to do.
The English poet John Milton (1608-1674)
was against disobedience. His Paradise Lost begins with these words :
“Of Man’s first disobedience, and the
fruit
Of that forbidden tree whose mortal
taste
Brought death into the World, and all
our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
(i.e.Christ)
Restore us, and regain the blissful seat.
According
to the French philosopher Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) : The fist law that
ever God gave to man, was a law of obedience; it was a commandment pure and
simple, wherein man had nothing to inquire after or to dispute, for as much as
to obey is the proper office of a rational soul acknowledging a heavenly superior
and benefactor. From obedience and submission spring all other virtues, as all
sin does from self-opinion and self- will.
The
Indian philosopher Acharya Rajneesh, known as Osho (1931-1990) , was in favour
of disobedience and regarded it as “ a crucial aspect of awakening and
self-discovery. For him, such disobedience was not an act of rebellion. He believed that to question and challenge
established norms is important for embracing novelty. However, one who
challenges and disobeys established laws must take responsibility for his
actions.
Finally,
this quote from one of Shakespeare’s plays: Let them obey that know not how to
rule.
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G.R.Kanwal
10 June 2025
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