The four kinds of People

Bhartrihari in his famous book 'Niti Shatakam' says that there are four types of people in this society. The first is the 'Satpurusha' who serve others unselfishly; second are the ordinary beings who try to do good to themselves first, and then to others; third the 'Rakshasas' who do things for their own selfish interest and care less about the harm they may cause to others. Finally, there is the fourth type to whom he cannot attribute a name, as they are still worse than the Rakshasas. These are the people who like to harm others with no benefit to anyone.

Bhartihari narrates about only the four types. Here is one more we can add to the list... A person who intends to harm others inspite of getting hurt in the process. An example is a modern day terrorist. At present, the third & fourth type of people are in majority, the second type is less and the first type rare. That is why, character and man-making education are of utmost importance in today's context.

Here is a typical example of Rakshasas in our society... An engineer takes bribes during the construction of a bridge/dam to lower the quality of the construction. As a result, he has served his selfish interest in money, and cared less about the possible breakdown in the construction that can cost many lives & money for the nation.

Ref: RKVM