Lokapala Dhamma …
Hiri …
Hiri makes a man recoil whth moral shame from committing.
immoral deeds. A person, who has hiri, recoils from evil just as a cock’s
feather shrinks in front of fire.
“To be ashamed of what one ought to be ashamed. To be
ashamed of performing evil and unwholesome things: this is called moral shame.”
Hiri opposes ahirika which would commit any evil without
the least compunction.
Ottappa….
Ottappa is moral dred or fear to do evil, because it is
aware of the manifold evil consequcnces.
As hiri is different from ordinary shyness, ottappa is
different from ordinary fear of an individusl. A Buddhist is not expected to be
afraid of any individual, even a God, for Buddhaism is not based on the fear of
the unknown.
“To be in dread of dread of one ought to be in dread, to be
in dread of performing evil and unwholesome things: this is called moral
dread.”
Ottappa opposes anottappa and can drive away the latter.
Hiri arises with respect to oneseif whereas ottappa arises with respect to
others. Suppose there is an iron rod, one end of which is heated till red-hot
and the other end smeared with filth. The filthy end one would not touch owing
to disgust, and the red hot end one would not touch due to dreas. Hiri is
compared to the former instamce and ottappa to the latter instance.
Hiri and ottappa differentiates man from beast not to
indulge in immoral acts such as sexual relations between mother and son or
between father and daughter even at the time of very low civilization.So hiri
and ottappa aer known as Lokapala Dhamma, i.e the Guardian of the worlds.
(BUDDMA-ABHIDHAMMA. Dr. Mehm Tin Mon)
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