Disclaimer: This translation does not guarantee complete accuracy, please confirm with the original page text.
## Standard Aversion and its Consequences
**Verse 12-13 from the Fourth Light of Yoga Shastra**
Instead of being distressed, consider this: If the speaker is telling me the truth, why should I be angry? If he is lying, then consider his words as those of a madman! If someone comes to kill me, look at him with a smile, knowing that my death is due to my own actions, and this fool is merely dancing in vain. If someone comes to kill me, think in your mind that my death will occur only when my lifespan is complete. Or think, if I had no sins, why would this poor fellow come to kill me? Anger is not directed at those who take away all our efforts, so why be so angry at someone who commits a minor offense? Therefore, shame on you. To conquer anger, which advances like a fierce serpent, paralyzing all the senses, constantly embrace blameless forgiveness, like the wisdom of a skilled snake charmer.
**Now the nature of Standard Aversion is explained.**
Standard Aversion is destructive to humility, scripture, and good character, and it is also destructive to the three goals of life: Dharma, Artha, and Kama. Standard Aversion destroys the vision of discernment in humans, making them blind.
**Explanation:**
Standard Aversion is destructive to humility, which is the proper way to treat elders and superiors, to scripture, and to good character. A person who is arrogant due to their caste or other factors becomes like a demon, and does not show humility to elders. Because they do not serve their elders, they cannot acquire knowledge. As a result, they exhibit their bad character by disrespecting everyone. Standard Aversion is not only destructive to humility, scripture, and good character, but also to the three goals of life: Dharma, Artha, and Kama. An arrogant person cannot control their senses, so how can they achieve Dharma? An arrogant person, due to their stubbornness, cannot serve kings and others, so how can they achieve Artha? A person can only achieve Kama if they are gentle. How can a person who is arrogant like a thief achieve Kama? Standard Aversion blinds a person, making them unable to discern right from wrong. This is the natural consequence of not serving those who are knowledgeable and wise. Therefore, Standard Aversion leads to blindness, which is easily understood.
**Now the different types of Standard Aversion are explained, along with their consequences.**
A person who becomes proud of their caste, wealth, family, power, beauty, austerity, or knowledge, will experience the opposite in their next life.
**Explanation:**
A wise person never becomes proud of their caste, knowing that there are many different types of castes, including the highest, the middle, and the lowest. A person who is born into a high caste due to good karma will be born into a lower caste due to bad karma. Therefore, no one should be proud of their caste, as it is impermanent. A person who gains wealth due to the destruction of obstacles to their karma will not be proud of their wealth, knowing that it is not permanent. A person who is born into a noble family due to the good qualities of their family will not be proud of their family, knowing that there is no connection between the qualities of a family and the qualities of its members. A person who has power due to the power of Indra, who holds the thunderbolt and rules over the three worlds, will not be proud of their power, knowing that it is not permanent. A person who is beautiful due to the grace of others will not be proud of their beauty, knowing that it is not permanent. A person who is austere due to the grace of others will not be proud of their austerity, knowing that it is not permanent. A person who is knowledgeable due to the grace of others will not be proud of their knowledge, knowing that it is not permanent. Therefore, a wise person will not be proud of any of these things, knowing that they are all impermanent.