The Value of Discipline

Discipline is the first law of nature. The sun rises and brings the day. It sets and there are night and the moon and the stars are visible. Thus the day and the night alternate with each other. The months and seasons come by rotation. There is no scramble for outmaneuvering one another. The elements and compounds all follow their natural properties. The earth revolves around the sun unfailingly and the Law of Gravitation and other such natural laws hold their ground eternally.

Man is a part and parcel of nature. He is also a unit, a unity in the social fabric. Just as if there were no strict adherence to laws by objects of nature, there would be complete chaos, if the human beings do not observe discipline, the entire social structure would fall like a house of cards. For instance, we can violate the rules of the road only at great peril to our lives. A disobedient child may have to face disinheritance from his parents. A student who is not respectful and obedient to his teachers can learn nothing and has to repent in the long run. A disobedient public servant may lose his job. In the army, an errant soldier can be court-martialled.

Discipline is not only essential for an individual's personal success, but also for a nation's success. Those nations which do not observe discipline can make no progress and may even lose their freedom. Countries like Japan, Germany, U.S.A., and China have made tremendous progress only through observance of discipline. A nation's discipline has not only to be social and political in the form of hard and honest work by its citizens and leaders alike but also fic and economic in the form of discarding wastage and lavish spending. Having patriotic thoughts and d patriotic deeds for the defense and progress of a nation is a part of the discipline. Even the population cannot control without self-discipline by the citizens. It is said that discipline is unavoidable for every nation. All nations which do not or cannot observe internal discipline will ultimately be ruled by some external power that is capable of enforcing discipline. This is what we have been observing all along in history.

Discipline, as for a nation, is of two types for an individual. The external discipline is observable in the form of obedience to superiors like parents, teachers, bosses, etc. and in strict adherence to work for excellent results in our mundane activities. But there is also an inner and higher discipline which pertains to the mind and the soul. This consists of sticking to high character, high ideals, truth, and honesty in the face of all temptations, allurements, and coercions. One has to be a man of principle and a man of word. In such cases, one may have to face many privations, tortures and desertion, and opposition by sometimes even the near and dear ones. This spiritual discipline has been observed most consummately only by the greatest messiahs of humanity who are the eternal beacon-lights to guide man's destiny.