Five People I Really Hate

“Others will also ridicule and scorn saying, ‘This child is an asura but prays to the gods. It is like a cat offering prayers to a mouse or a peacock to a snake.’ This is indeed a bad omen, behavior resembling an enemy, as even after obtaining great wealth and power, an unintelligent person can fall down.” (Hiranyakashipu speaking to Prahlada, Narasimha Purana, 41.59-60)

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अन्येपि त्वां हनिष्यन्ति वदिष्यन्ति जनास्त्विदम्
असुरोयं सुरांस्तौति मार्जार इव मूषकान्
द्वेष्यान् शिखीव फणिनो दुर्निमित्तमिदं ध्रुवम्
लब्ध्वापि महदैश्वर्यं लाघवं यान्त्यबुद्धयः

anyepi tvāṃ haniṣyanti vadiṣyanti janāstvidam
asuroyaṃ surāṃstauti mārjāra iva mūṣakān
dveṣyān śikhīva phaṇino durnimittamidaṃ dhruvam
labdhvāpi mahadaiśvaryaṃ lāghavaṃ yāntyabuddhayaḥ

1. My colleague

“I have to share an office with them. I sit in the same room, every single day. I have to overhear their conversations about every topic under the sun. Let me tell you, this person is not smart. The thing is, they are a superior. They technically were responsible for getting me hired. If I should say anything, to challenge one of their crazy beliefs, or check a fact which they reference, they give me the weirdest look. They really don’t like me.

“Hey pal, the feeling is mutual. When this person leaves the company, I will be so happy. If ever I should get my own office, it will be the greatest thing to happen to me. But as of now, I must continue to suffer. I must have done something really bad in the past to be doomed to such a fate.”

2. My leader

“This politician cannot leave office soon enough. We have had to put up with their nonsense for the last four years. Incoherence. Open threats towards the innocent population. Sniffing children in public. It’s a farce, if you ask me. The ruling class is sticking their proverbial tongues out at us, the common folk.

“I am not even that much into politics, but this has been too much to take. We will accept any other leader at this point. Someone who is alive. Someone with a pulse. Someone who can actually make decisions on their own.”

3. My ex

“Seriously, the worst years of my life. The torment. The anguish. The pain. The trauma. Those memories still haunt me. It is like they follow me wherever I go. It was all due to this one person. Thankfully, we are no longer together.

“But I still remember everything I went through. I have neither forgiven nor forgotten. No way! I am petty. I am vindictive. Do not lecture me. Unless and until you have been through something similar, you have no idea from where I am coming.”

4. My immigrant neighbor

“These people are the absolute worst. They come here, take our jobs, and then don’t even bother to integrate with the culture. They import their own culture, with their weird traditions, like respecting all forms of life, worshiping these strange gods, and talking about the persistence of spirit. Supposedly, spirit is what identifies all of us, including the animal community, the birds, the insects, and so on.

“Please, keep your nonsense to yourself. We don’t need your food, either, with all those spices and that focus on proper digestion. Meeting the different kinds of tastes in a single meal, all those colors and the like. What a waste of time! We are doing fine on our own. We have drugs to take. We have surgery. We cure our perpetual anxiety with medication. We are advanced, unlike you people. Just go back to your country and leave ours alone. It is too much to take.”

5. My son

This was the case with the historical figure known as Hiranyakashipu. Many ages ago, he was the leader of the Daitya kingdom. Hiranyakashipu happened to expand his sphere of influence to the largest possible range. Imagine literally being on top of the world, with everyone living in fear of you. That was Hiranyakashipu’s position.

As Shrimad Bhagavatam describes, that leader was suffering from a dreadful condition, despite his opulence. That opulence should not have been a disqualifying factor, on its own. The corresponding Sanskrit word is aishvarya. This also happens to be one of the opulences belonging to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One way to identify God is to find the person who has the most aishvarya, possessed throughout the time continuum. In other words, God does not need to acquire aishvarya; neither does He ever lose it.

स इत्थं निर्जितककुबेकराड् विषयान् प्रियान्
यथोपजोषं भुञ्जानो नातृप्यदजितेन्द्रिय:

sa itthaṁ nirjita-kakub
eka-rāḍ viṣayān priyān
yathopajoṣaṁ bhuñjāno
nātṛpyad ajitendriyaḥ

“In spite of achieving the power to control in all directions and in spite of enjoying all types of dear sense gratification as much as possible, Hiranyakashipu was dissatisfied because instead of controlling his senses he remained their servant.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 7.4.19)

Hiranyakashipu suffered from the condition known as ajitendriyah. In truth, this is the same problem plaguing all of the hypothetical characters mentioned above. While the complaints might have validity, the response is due to a more serious underlying problem. Their hatred targeted towards specific individuals or groups based on similar characteristics is actually due to a lack of control over the senses.

इच्छाद्वेषसमुत्थेन द्वन्द्वमोहेन भारत
सर्वभूतानि संमोहं सर्गे यान्ति परन्तप

icchādveṣasamutthena dvandvamohena bhārata
sarvabhūtāni saṃmohaṃ sarge yānti parantapa

“O scion of Bharata [Arjuna], O conquerer of the foe, all living entities are born into delusion, overcome by the dualities of desire and hate.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 7.27)

There are two other Sanskrit terms pertinent to this discussion. Ichchha and dvesha. Sometimes dvesha is paired with raga. The meanings are basically the same. On the one side we have desire or attachment. On the other side we have rejection. Intense rejection is hatred, which is dvesha. We have had association with something that we either disliked from the beginning or grew to hate over time. The dvesha is so intense that it seems that we cannot be happy until that negative association is completely eliminated.

This was the case with Hiranyakashipu, as he grew to hate his own son. Prahlada Maharaja was innocent enough. He started school and was beginning to write things down. Unfortunately, the vision of the words written on a slate were like plunging a sharp knife into the back of the father. Prahlada was writing the names of the Supreme Lord, Vishnu. Hiranyakashipu considered Vishnu to be an enemy. Vishnu was like his greatest rival.

This only occurs when someone wants the post of top leader for themselves. When they want to conquer anyone and everyone. When they want to be immune to the effects of time. If they cannot receive the boon directly, from a benefactor, they think of ways to reach the same position through assembling component parts. Like putting a complicated puzzle together. Sadly, even a one percent vulnerability in the construction nullifies the entire proposal. In other words, Hiranyakashipu could never become God. Deep down he feared this, which explains the hatred towards Vishnu.

The father mocked the son. Hiranyakashipu thought that Prahlada’s allegiance to Vishnu was so silly that others would make fun of the child. The other children in school might ridicule Prahlada, comparing the worship to offering prayers to a mouse. The cat would be the worshiper in this case. Or it was like a peacock bowing down in front of a snake, which would normally be its food.

The truth is that unless and until the ajitendriyah condition is cured, the fluctuation between raga and dvesha continues. This is the greatest misery in the material world for the human being. It is the great trick of the illusory energy known as maya. Thankfully, through the grace and kindness of Vishnu, we can rise above and be protected from such a dreadful condition, in the manner that Prahlada’s devotion continued to thrive, in spite of the terrible opposition of the inimical father.

रागद्वेषविमुक्तैस्तु विषयनिन्द्रियैश्चरन्
आत्मवश्यैर्विधेयात्मा प्रसादमधिगच्छति

rāga-dveṣa-vimuktais tu
viṣayān indriyaiś caran
ātma-vaśyair vidheyātmā
prasādam adhigacchati

“One who can control his senses by practicing the regulated principles of freedom can obtain the complete mercy of the Lord and thus become free from all attachment and aversion.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.64)

In Closing:

So much these people I hate,
Not afraid to openly state.

Wishing they would go away,
But sadly here to stay.

Truth that ajitendriyah condition plaguing,
Like war against the senses waging.

Prahlada in devotion showing the way,
Steady towards Vishnu to pray.