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Good morning. There are four unacceptable expressions in speech according to Hindu texts. These are:- the use of vulgar language, harsh criticism, back-biting and lies. But, these hardly encompass what has been described as the ‘violent rhetoric’ used last weekend by anonymous parliamentarians towards the prime minister. Claims that it was borne of utter frustration cannot justify the specific phrases used. Thankfully, the response from across the board has been to roundly condemn such invective. This follows the shocking verbal outburst on Ryanair last week when one passenger racially abused another. Perhaps, more care is needed before thoughtless cruel statements become the norm of our society. The ancient epic, Mahabharat, relates how Yudhisthira, who was about to take the reins of government, approached Bhishma, the senior most statesman of his time, and asked: How should we behave in an assembly if we are wrongly vilified by vicious opponents. Bhishma replied that “such offensive people have many nasty tactics at their disposal. An honest person can never match them – and to try to do so would put you at a disadvantage and result in your own degradation. Others may come to your defence”, he explained, “but as hard as it might be, you should try to not react.” The Mahabharat then makes an intriguing claim –one reiterated several times in other texts – that if you can tolerate terrible verbal abuse without getting angry, then you get the benefit of the transfer of that person’s good karma and merits to you along with the transfer of your demerits to them. The idea is that by tolerating and not rising to such criticism, our own position is enhanced; and the abuser’s status diminished. Harsh rebuke may be par for the course in politics, but it is far more hurtful in the home. One text warns us that the arrows of the enemy do not sting as much as the unkind words of our relatives. Physical wounds may heal, it says, but the pain from reproach from those we love can last a lifetime. In the 16th century, the theologian Rupa Goswami prepared a treatise of practical spirituality. His very first words were to warn us that the desire to speak loosely is a compulsion that must be controlled in the same way we should control other urges such as over-eating or sexual promiscuity. One useful technique for such self-control is the formula offered in the Bhagavad-gita: speak only that which you know to be true, to be pleasing and to be beneficial.