Manava and Danava - the Differences in Character

Manavas or Men are full of Prema or Love. Their hearts are springs of Mercy. They are endowed with True Speech. Peace is the characteristic of the mind of Man. That is the innate quality of the mind. In order to search for Peace there is no need to go anywhere else. As gold and silver lie hidden under the earth and pearl and coral under the sea, Peace and Joy also lie hidden in the activities of the Mind. Desirous of acquiring these hidden treasures, if one dives and turns mental activities inward, then, he becomes full of Prema or Love. Only those who have so filled themselves with Love and who live in the light of that Love can be called Men. Those devoid of Prema are Danavas, Monsters, Sub-humans. That holy quality of Love will not remain unmanifested off and on; it will be ever present, without change. It is one indivisible. Those saturated with Love are incapable of spite, selfishness, injustice, wrong and misconduct; but, in those who have no Love, the above qualities are always above everything else. Danavas are those who trample on Love and consider inferior qualities as important, while Manavas are those who consider those inferior qualities as snakes to be destroyed and Love alone as the quality to be fostered. Bad conduct and bad habits distort the humanness of Man. Hearts filled with the nectar of Love indicate the genuine human in man. By Prema or Love is meant Love which is unsullied, unselfish, devoid of impurity and continuous.

Between Manava and Danava, the difference is only Ma and Da! But the letter Ma is soft, sweet and immortal in symbolism, while the sound Da is merciless, lawless and burning. Are they men, who have no sweetness in them and who endeavour to suppress the craving for immortality? Theirs is the nature of Danavas, though the form is human! For, it is not the form that is primary; it is the character. How can those with human form be called men, if they have no kindness and no rightness, and if they have the nature of Danavas? No; they cannot be called so. Now, the sentences in my discourse are not addressed on the basis of form; they are based on the qualities of men. Among men, there are Danavas in plenty! They both look alike but their qualities make them distinguishable as Manava and Danava. The Manavas engage themselves in the soft and sweet deeds of kindness, rightness, love and truth and they are witnesses to the possibility of realising and manifesting one's immortality. Their good nature is resplendent on their faces as Anand; but without that goodness, even if he is infatuated with joy his face will indicate only the destructive fire of the Danava; it will not have the Grace of Ananda.