Why Do We Do What We Know Is Wrong?

Why Do We Do What We Know Is Wrong?

We know that doing a particular thing is not good, and yet we do it. We know that smoking is not good, yet we smoke. We know that chewing pan is not a good habit, yet we continue to chew it. We know that causing hurt to anyone, without any valid provocation, is not good. We know that speaking ill of someone is not good, yet we sometimes find ourselves indulging in it.

Why is it so?

We do not brood over what we do. Brooding over our actions may, perhaps, cause a reduction in or a gradual diminishing of such habits or indulgences. But we often simply drift away from them without giving them serious thought.

Yudhishthira was aware of the vices associated with gambling; despite being aware of them, however, he could not resist indulging in it. Duryodhana, too, was aware of the consequences of his actions and of the machinations against the Pandavas. Yet he could not prevent himself from using every possible means to gain possession of what he desired.

This seems to be due to desire. Desire does not get killed easily. It may appear to have been killed, but it can resurface when it finds a favourable environment or company. It may remain dormant for some time, but it does not necessarily disappear.

But there is something else within us that does not die so easily either—Vivek, our inner sense of discrimination between what is right and what is wrong.

Perhaps, therefore, the real struggle within a human being is not between knowledge and ignorance. We often know what is right. We also know what is wrong. The struggle is between what we know and what we desire, between Vivek and desire.

And perhaps the more consciously we reflect upon our actions, the greater becomes the possibility that Vivek will prevail when desire resurfaces.