UNIVERSAL HUMAN VALUES AND

PROFESSIONAL ETHICS
Category: (Theory)
Course code: HS248XT
Faculty: Dr P R Venkatesh, Associate Professor, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bengaluru
Room No 2, Ground Floor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, RVCE
Mob: 9620117755 Email: [email protected]
Dr P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bengaluru-59
 Unit II
Understanding Harmony in the Family and Society- Harmony in Human-Human
Relationship:
Understanding values in human-human relationship; meaning of Justice and program for its
fulfilment to ensure mutual happiness; Trust and Respect as the foundational values of
relationship, Understanding the meaning of Trust.
Understanding the harmony in the society (society being an extension of family):
Resolution, Prosperity, fearlessness (trust) and co-existence as comprehensive Human
Goals, Visualizing a universal harmonious order in society- Undivided Society, Universal
Order- from family to world family.
Practice sessions to reflect on relationships in family, hostel and institute as extended
family, real life examples, teacher-student relationship, goal of education etc. Gratitude as a
universal value in relationships. Discuss with scenarios. Elicit examples from students’ lives
Dr P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bengaluru-59
 Understanding Harmony in the Family
• Every human being is born in a family and is part of a family. The family is the basic unit or
building block of human organization.
• It provides a base for appreciating, accepting, understanding and practicing to live in relationship
and harmony (order).
Feeling of Relationship as the Basis for Harmony in the Family

• The harmony in the family has primarily to do with the fulfilment of relationship between one
human being and the other human being.
• In order to fulfil relationship, it is necessary to understand relationship.
Understanding Relationship
We will now explore into the four important aspects of relationship:
1. Relationship is – between one Self (I1) and another Self (I2)
2. There are feelings in relationship – in one Self (I1) for the other Self (I2)
3. These feelings can be recognized – they are definite
4. The fulfilment of these feelings and their right evaluation lead to mutual happiness
Dr P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bengaluru-59
1) Relationship: It is between one Self (I1) and another Self (I2).
• Relationship is already there. We do not have to construct or create relationship.
• All we need to do is to understand relationship and fulfil it.
• Relationship is between one Self and the other Self. It is the Self which is recognizing the
relationship, and not the Body. It is the Self which relates to the other, and not the Body.
2) There are feelings in relationship: in one Self (I1) for the other Self (I2)
• The important issue in human relationship is that of the feelings. We can see that feelings
are in the self, not in the Body. It is the self which has the feelings and which recognizes
the feelings.
• To understand relationship, one has to understand the self and the naturally acceptable
feelings in the self.
3) These feelings can be recognized – they are definite:
• These feelings can be recognized, they are definite. There are nine feelings in relationship.
• These are the feelings which we can understand, which we can ensure within ourselves, which we
can share with others and thus ensure mutual fulfilment in relationship.
• These are the feelings which are naturally acceptable to us in the relationship with the other human
being.
Dr P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bengaluru-59
Feelings (values) in relationship:
1. Trust (foundation value)
2. Respect
3. Affection
4. Care
5. Guidance
6. Reverence
7. Glory
8. Gratitude
9. Love (complete value)

4) Fulfilment of feelings in relationship and their evaluation leads to mutual happiness:

• When we have these naturally acceptable feelings in the Self, we share them with the other and
when we are both able to evaluate the feelings rightly, it leads to mutual happiness, i.e. the
happiness of oneself as well as the happiness of the other.
Dr P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bengaluru-59
1) What do you understand by 'trust’ and ‘respect’? What is its importance in human
relationship?
Ans:
• Trust or vishwas is the foundational value in relationship. "To be assured that each human being
inherently wants oneself and the other to be happy and prosperous" is known as trust.
• Having faith in others and believing them. Trust is the expectation of people that they can rely on
our word. It is built through integrity and consistency in relationships.
• To keep the trust on ourself and others, we have to pay attention on the intensions and to
understand if we or the other person is not able to do benefit, it is because we are lacking
competence.
• Trust is the result of right understanding of the intention of all the human beings around us. This
trust helps to improve our competence in others and in ourselves.

• Respect or sammana means showing regard to others for their abilities and worth, valuing their feelings
and their views, even if we don't necessarily agree with them.
• Accepting them on an equal basis and giving them the same consideration we would expect for ourself.
Respect begins with oneself.
Dr P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bengaluru-59
2) Define 'affection’ and ‘care’ Or How does they lead to harmony in the family?
Ans:
• Affection (Sneha) is the feeling of being related to the other. Affection is the feeling of acceptance
for the other as one's relative.
• The feelings of trust and respect are essential to have the feeling of affection.
• Without trust and respect, we feel the other is trying to make us unhappy, does not wish
well for us and hence we can never feel affection for him/her. We always see the other
as being in opposition.
• Care (Mamata) is the feeling to nurture and protect our relatives. It may be protecting them
from bodily harm or giving emotional support.
• We understand a human being as a coexistence of the self (I) and the body, and the body
is an instrument of I. Based on this understanding, we take the responsibility of
nurturing and protecting our relatives.
• Harmony is usually identified as a human value, referring to compatibility and accord in feelings,
actions, relationships, opinions, interests, etc. Hence, the affection and care are important for
living in harmony with the family.

Dr P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bengaluru-59

3) Explain the feeling of 'guidance’ and ‘reverence’
Ans:
• Guidance (Vatsalya) is the feeling of responsibility and commitment for development of self by
ensuring the right understanding and right feeling in the self of my relative.
• Being responsible to the self of my relative is Guidance.
• Generally, our focus is mostly on care because we have come to assume that human being is Body.
We have to take care of the self as well.
• Reverence (Shraddha) : The feeling of acceptance of excellence in the other is called
reverence.
• We understand that we aspire for continuous happiness and to realize it, we have to
understand harmony at all the levels of our living, and live accordingly.
• When we see that the other has achieved this excellence, which means to understand and
to live in harmony at all the levels of living ensuring continuity of happiness, we have a
feeling of reverence for him/her.
• This feeling of accepting the excellence in the other is called reverence.
Dr P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bengaluru-59
4) Explain the feeling of 'glory’ and the feeling of 'gratitude'
Ans.
• Glory (Gaurava) is the feeling for someone who has made efforts for excellence.
• We find that there have been people in the history, or even around us, who are
investing their time, energy and their belongings to achieve excellence (to understand
and to live in harmony at all levels of living ensuring continuity of happiness), to
make others excellent.
• Such acts of selfless service gives us a feeling of glory for them.

• Gratitude (Kritagyata) is the feeling of acceptance for those who have made efforts
for my excellence. Gratitude is an emotion that occurs after people receive help,
depending on how they interpret the situation.
• Specifically, gratitude is experienced if people perceive the help they receive as;
(a) valuable to them, (b) costly to their benefactor, and (c) given by the benefactor
with benevolent (kindness) intentions.

Dr P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bengaluru-59

5) Distinguish between the terms ‘Love’ and ‘Infatuation’
• Love (Prema) is the feeling of being related to everyone, to all. It starts from affection, and expands
to many and ultimately to all. So, we begin with the feeling of affection, and complete it with the
feeling of love. Love is called complete value as it is the feeling of being related to all.
• "Love" can also refer specifically to the passionate desire and intimacy of romantic love, to
the emotional closeness of familial love, or to the platonic love that defines friendship, to
the profound oneness or devotion of religious love.
Distinguishing Between Love and Infatuation
• Infatuation is an intense but short-lived passion or admiration for someone or something, which is
based on sensation.
• The feeling of love is not something which is based on sensation.
• Infatuation is conditional – it may last only as long as you are able to get the sensation or you have
hope of getting happiness through sensation. It is very temporary; it does not last for long. Once the
effect wears off, then the long-termDrissues of Mech
P R Venkatesh, feelings become
Dept, RVCE, Bengaluru-59prominent.
6) What is meaning of justice in human relationships? How does it follow from family to world
family? (Or) What is 'justice'? What are its four elements? Is it a continuous or a temporary need?
Ans.
• Justice is the recognition of values (the definite feelings) in relationship, their fulfilment, the right
evaluation of the fulfilment resulting in mutual happiness.
• Justice concerns itself with the proper ordering of things and people within a society. There are four
elements of justice : Recognition of values, fulfilment, evaluation and mutual happiness ensured.
• When all the four are ensured, justice is ensured. Mutual fulfilment is the hallmark of justice. And
justice is essential in all relationships.
• Justice starts from family and slowly expands to the world family. The child gets the understanding of
justice in the family. With this understanding, he goes out in the society and interacts with people.
• If we do not understand the values in relationships, we are governed by our petty prejudices and
conditionings. We may treat people as high or low based on their body (particular caste, or sex or race
or tribe), on the basis of wealth one possesses or the belief systems that one follows.
• All this is source of injustice and leads to fragmented society while our natural acceptance is for an
undivided society and universal human order.
• Having explored the harmony in the human beings, we are able to explore the harmony in the family.
• This enables us to understand the harmony at the level of society and nature/existence. And this is the
way, the harmony in our living grows. Thus, Justice is a continuous need.
Dr P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bengaluru-59
7) Respect means ‘right evaluation’. With examples, explain over evaluation, under evaluation, and
otherwise evaluation.
• Respect means accepting individuality and doing right evaluation (to be evaluated as I am).
• Usually however, we make mistakes in our evaluation in the following three ways.
(1) Over Evaluation (adhi-mülyana) – To evaluate more than what it is.
Ex: if you are wrongly flattered you feel uncomfortable.
• You are sitting at home and there are guests around. Your father says ‘my son is the greatest scholar in India!’
Check for yourself: do you feel comfortable, or do you feel uncomfortable?
(2) Under Evaluation (ava-mülyana) – To evaluate less than what it is.
Ex: if you are condemned, you feel uncomfortable.
• You are still at home, but this time your father says ‘My son is a good for nothing. He must be the laziest person
in all of India!’ You obviously feel uncomfortable, you don’t find this acceptable.
(3) Otherwise Evaluation (a-mülyana) – To evaluate otherwise than what it is.
Ex: if you are evaluated as something else , you feel uncomfortable.
• You are at home, and there are guests around, and your father says, ‘You donkey! Can’t you even understand
this much?’ You feel offended by this This is evaluating you otherwise, as you are a human being and not
something else. Dr P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bengaluru-59
8) How do we differentiate in relationships on the basis of body, physical facilities, or beliefs? What
problems do we face because of such differentiation?
Ans.
• Respect means accepting individuality and doing right evaluation (to be evaluated as I am).
• Today, we are differentiating in the name of respect. We either differentiate people on the basis of
their body, on the basis of their wealth and possessions or on the basis of their beliefs.
• There is no notion of respect in terms of right evaluation. Thus, there is no real feeling of relationship,
only one of differentiation.
On the basis of body:
• Sex/gender: We ignore the fact that being male or female is an attribute of the body, and not an
attribute at the level of ‘I’ and differentiate in giving respect on the basis of gender called male and
females. In many countries, people even prefer a male child to a female child, and in some other
societies, the other way round.
• Race: If the person is of the same race as oneself, then we treat them differently. For example, we
• differentiate on the basis of skin colour - white, brown, black etc. or on the basis of whether the
person is of Aryan race, Mongolian race etc. or on the basis of caste.
• Again here, we don't do the evaluation on the basis of ‘I’, but on the basis of the body.
• Age: We have notions such as 'one must respect elders'. There is no such notion as respect
youngsters. Here, we see that we are again evaluating at the level of the body - age is related to the
body, and not to ‘I’.
Dr P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bengaluru-59
• Physical strength: If someone is stronger, we again treat him/her differently. This is again at the level
of the body. In fact, we think that we are respecting the other while it is fear; the fear that if we do
not treat them like this, we will be harmed.
On the basis of physical facilities:
• Wealth: We differentiate people because some have wealth than others. What we term as a "rich person
"gets idolized. We don't even bother to find out whether such people are feeling prosperous, or if they
just have wealth. This way, we are over-evaluating physical facilities first, which are just meant to fulfil
the needs of the body, and then on this basis, we are wrongly identifying our relationship.
• Post: We try to respect on the basis of a person's position. The post is wrongly evaluated as the mark
of a person's excellence and differentiation sets in. The post is considered important either on the basis
that it gives more physical facilities or on the basis that certain positions are assumed to be important. In
our education, we are trained directly or indirectly to earn posts for us to fetch respect.
On the basis of beliefs: People following ism’s or sets of beliefs are called capitalists, socialists,
communists, and so on. The people that have adopted them or are following them have been exposed to
them since childhood. Believing theirs to be the right belief. However, all beliefs, as we have seen are at
the level of desires, thoughts and expectations (selections) in I. There is no definiteness at this level, and
hence, this becomes a cause for differentiation.
• Sects: People of one sect only consider those with a similar belief system to be their 'own' and worthy
of respect. Following a particular tradition, or what we call as religion, becomes the basis of respect and
disrespect in relationship.
Dr P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bengaluru-59
Differentiation in relationships on the basis of body, physical facilities, or beliefs

Dr P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bengaluru-59

9) How do you differentiate between intention and competence, when you have to judge the
other? Why is it important?
Ans:
• Trust or vishwas is the foundational value in relationship. "To be assured that each human
being inherently wants oneself and the other to be happy and prosperous" is known as
trust.
• Mutual trust is a shared belief that we can depend on each other to achieve a common
purpose. Trust is the expectation of people that they can rely on our word. It is built
through integrity and consistency in relationships.
• There are two aspects in trust:
(i) Intention (wanting to - our natural acceptance)
(ii) Competence (being able to do)
• Both intention and competence are the aspects of trust. Intention is what one aspires for
(our natural acceptance) and competence is the ability to fulfil the aspiration.
• In intention every human being wants to do what is right, only the competence may be
lacking which needs to be developed through proper understanding and practice.
Dr P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bengaluru-59
• But what we are doing today is that when we are judging ourself, we are doing so on the
basis of our intention, whereas, when we are judging the other we are doing so on the
basis of his competence.
• We trust our own intention while we are not ready to trust the others intention. It is the
same for other as well.
• We find that while we look at our intention, we are sure of it, we are not sure of the
other's intention.
• We are actually seeing their competence, and making a conclusion on their intention.
Hence, mistrust is born and we deny the relationship.
• We seldom look at our competence and other's intention.
• It is very important to differentiate between intention and competence.
• If we have trust on intention, we have a feeling of being related to the other and we start
helping the other to improve his competence, if he does not have enough.

Dr P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bengaluru-59

 We have populated the questions with answers below with tentative answers.

You may not be able to answer in the affirmative to any question under the column of Competence. Under the column of
Intention, you are able to answer the first three questions in the affirmative, but you have doubt in the fourth question. This
is very interesting: If you see this carefully you will realize that when you are judging yourself you are judging on the basis
of your intention, whereas, when you are judging the other you are judging him on the basis of his competence. You are
sure in point 2 a) that you want to make the other happy, but in point 4 a) you are not sure that the other wants to make
you happy. We find that while we look at our intention, we are sure of it, we are not sure of the other’s intention. We are
actually seeing their competence, and making a conclusion on their intention. We say “I wanted to do well, but I could not”.
But for the other, we say “He did not want to do well”. “Wanting to”, is the intention, “could not”, is the lack of competence!
Dr P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bengaluru-59
10) What are the five dimensions of human endeavour in society conducive to ‘manaviya
vyavastha’?
(or)
What are the five dimensions of Human Endeavour? How are they helpful in achieving the
comprehensive human goal?
Ans: Comprehensive human goals are right understanding, prosperity, fearlessness and co-existence.
Programs needed to achieve the comprehensive human goals are:
(1) Education – Right Living (Siksha – Sanskar)
(2) Health – Self Regulation (Svasthya – Sanyam)
(3) Justice – Preservation (Nyaya – Suraksha)
(4) Production – Work (Utpadan – Kriya)
(5) Exchange – Storage (Vinimaya – Kosh)
Education and Right Living:
Education refers to understanding harmony at all four levels of living. While right living refers to
commitment and preparedness to live in harmony at all four levels of living.
Health and Self Regulation: Sanyama refers to a feeling of responsibility for nurturing, protecting and
rightly utilizing the body. When the body is fit to act according to the needs of the self (‘I’), and, there
is harmony among the parts of the body, it is referred to as health or swasthya.
Dr P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bengaluru-59
 Justice and Preservation:
• Justice (nyaya) refers to harmony in the relationship between human beings, while preservation
(suraksha) refers to harmony in the relationship between human being and the rest of nature.
Production and work:
• It refers to the physical facilities, and this leads to a feeling of prosperity in the family.
• Work refers to the physical efforts made by humans on the rest of nature, while production
refers to the output/physical produce that is obtained through these efforts.
• Production is done in harmony with nature, and hence, this also leads to co-existence with
nature. For example, in agriculture, most of our effort is in sowing, collecting and storing the
food. Rest of the work is being done by nature.
Exchange – Storage:
• Exchange (vinimaya) refers to the exchange of physical facilities between the members of the
society, while storage (kosa) refers to the storage of physical facilities that is left after fulfilling
the needs of the family.

Dr P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bengaluru-59

11) Explain the comprehensive human goal. How does fearlessness follow from right understanding
and prosperity?
(or) What do you mean by comprehensive human goal? Explain. How is it related to your goal?

Ans: In order to facilitate the fulfilment of the basic aspirations of all human beings in the society, the following
human goal needs to be understood in a comprehensive manner:
1) When one does not have the right understanding, one remains disturbed and also acts in a manner so as to
create disharmony with other human being as well as with rest of nature.
2) Prosperity in the family means that the family is able to identify its needs and is able to produce/ achieve
more than its requirements.
3) Trust in society means every member of society feels related to everyone else and therefore there is trust
and fearlessness.
4) Co-existence in nature means there is a relationship and complementarity among all the entities in nature
including human beings.
Dr P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bengaluru-59
12) Critically examine the state of society today in terms of fulfilment of comprehensive human
goal.
Ans: Today the state of society in terms of this comprehensive human goal is:
Right understanding in individual: We are talking about information and skills, but we are ignoring the need of
right understanding, we are ignoring the need to understand happiness correctly. We are ignoring the need to
understand and be in relationship.
Prosperity in families: We are not able to see that the needs of physical facilities is limited and that, we can
have more than what we need. We are only talking about how to generate wealth. We seem to have forgotten
that the need to have wealth is connected with the need to keep the body healthy and use it for the right
purpose and not for maximizing accumulation for the purpose of sensory enjoyment.
Fearlessness (trust) in society: In place of working for fearlessness, we are working for strategic power. In the
name of defence, we are misusing the valuable resources of nature to make weapons and ammunitions. We are
becoming increasingly more fearful of each other, so most of the countries in the world are busy preparing for
war, in the hope that more and more competence for war will lead to peace.
Co-existence with nature: Instead of co-existing we are busy figuring out better ways to exploit nature. We have
tended to assume that the goal of our technological development is to get victory over nature, to subjugate the
entities in nature and to disrupt nature’s cycle, in pursuance of our whims and fancies. We even have
disregarded the truth that nature is our basic support systems and disturbing its balance will result in our own
destruction.
Dr P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bengaluru-59
13) Describe the concept of an undivided society and the universal order and explain how both
these can help to create a world family. How can we move towards the universal human order?
Ans:
• The sarvabhaum vyawastha (Universal Human Order) is the state of realizing the freedom of
individual in context of this universe.
• The respect towards mankind and nature is must to establish the universal order. Having
understood the comprehensive human goal, we are able to be in harmony not only with human
beings, but also with the rest of nature.
• We are able to see that we are related to every unit in the nature and ensure mutual fulfilment in
that relationship.
• Working on the five dimensions of human endeavour in the light of right understanding, we are
able to work for an orderly living of the human society, whose foundational unit is the family and
the final destination is the world family.
• Universal Human Order (Sarvabhauma Vyavastha) – feeling of being related to every unit including
human beings and other entities of nature.
• Undivided society (Akhanda samaja) – feeling of being related to every human being.
• An undivided human centric society is one of the higher human goals. Akhand samaj is the state of
the society where all people of different religion and thought process live together and work
towards betterment of the society.Dr P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bengaluru-59
• Three activities can be performed to send the message of a holistic society:
1) Educating society through workshops, seminars and street plays:
• These activities may be carried out by N.G.O.’s but must receive the support of government
organizations.
2) Value education in educational institutions:
• Value education should be introduced in current education system at all levels – primary school,
secondary school, senior secondary school as well as college level.
3) Helping to apply values to the real world:
• Organizations – both government and non-government should open up counselling centers which
can help their employees or general public to apply values to real life situations.
It is about realizing the alternatives in life.
• Various individuals are on the way of self-exploration, finding their natural acceptance towards
holistic approach of life and realizing it at all levels starting from self (with knowledge) to family
(with meaningful relationships), then to society (education – health – production – business –
services).
• The idea is not to live in isolation or individualism but with expansion of SELF to higher levels in the
social system.

Dr P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bengaluru-59

QUIZ QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS FOR UNIT –II

Dr P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bengaluru-59

1. The foundational value in relationship is---------
(a) Care (b) Affection (c) Love (d) Trust
2. Education-Right living leads to ---------
(a) skill (b) empathy (c) Right understanding (d) affection
3. Ensuring justice in relationship, on the basis of values leads to ------------ in society.
(a) Fear (b) Fearlessness (c) Love (d) Piece
4. Suraksha of nature via enrichment protection and right utilization leads to ---------in nature
(a) nonexistence (b) conflict (c) coexistence (d) prosperity
5. The ability to fulfill the aspirations is called -----------
(a) reverence (b) competence (c) glory (d) intention
6. ----------means Right evaluation
(a) Glory (b) Respect (c) Affection (d) guidance

Dr P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bengaluru-59

7. The feeling to nurture and protect the body of our relative is called--------
(a) sanyam (b) love (c) care (d) affection
8. ------------ is a complete value.
(a) Love (b) Care (c) Affection (d) Gratitude
9. Production and work for physical facilities leads to ---------------in the family
(a) conflict (b) prosperity (c) trust (d) glory
10. We are all similar at the level of our Intention but differ in our -------------
(a) thoughts (b) competence (c) understanding (d) expectations
11. Employing the body physically for production and maintenance of physical facilities is called ---
(a) preconditioning (b) need (c) Labour (d) intention
12. The collective term for the right understanding, prosperity, fearlessness and coexistence is
(a) Justice (b) comprehensive human goal (c) harmony (d) Trust

Dr P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, Bengaluru-59

12. Any belief in terms of “thought system” that we have or that we have adopted is called
(a) Ism (b) theory (c) practice (d) intention
13. The feeling of acceptance for those who have made efforts for my excellence is---------
(a) glory (b) gratitude (c) affection (d) care
14. The problems in our relationship with various entities are due to our ---------
(a) Intentions (b) Competence (c) Assumptions (d) desires
15. In healthy relationship, I learn to respect and ------- the important people in our life
(a) compete with (b) trust (c) avoid (d) ignore