Discipline is subjecting oneself to control. To bear insults with patience requires one to have discipline of the mind so as to overpower impulses and instinctive feelings to maintain a calm, smooth, civilized disposition. A sharp temper never mellows with age. A disciplined person does not permit himself to show temper; he knows that if he is right he can afford to keep his temper and if he is wrong he cannot afford to lose it. We hear of mental, moral and physical discipline. It is mental discipline that enables us to control our passions, desires and fears. It is discipline that helps a person to handle himself in all circumstances and not giving in to natural likes and dislikes and natural preferences and prejudices. He is always objectives and analytics and is guided by the set of principles he has set for himself. Discipline involves sacrifices – hungering at a well-set table if one has to trim oneself or to forgo a rendezvous with friends in order not to miss his exercise routine. Discipline may be enforced, as in army or the school, or it may be cultivated by individual on his own accord. Self-discipline lays emphasis on the mental and spiritual aspects of life. Sages, philosophers and scientists are men of self-discipline. Man by nature is not easily amenable to self-discipline, and one of the purposes of laws is to ensure discipline in society without which there will be chaos and anarchy. It is discipline that helps us make sustained effort and pursue our goals in spite of obstacles. The life stories of great men tell us how they painstakingly strove to achieve their aims. They, as a poet has said, were toiling upwards in the night while their companions slept. A disciplined and industrious society achieves success in the sphere it chooses.                 

  INTRODUCTION

Field marshal slim in a broadcast talk entitled “The mark of greatness” observed: ‘discipline is the sacrifice of a man’s comfort, inclination, safety, even life, for others, for something greater than himself. It is the refusal to be the weak link in the chain that snaps under strain’. We may notice in this quotation what importance slim attaches discipline. To him it implies great self-sacrifice. That is to say, men whose values are more geared to comforts and pleasures of life than to hard work and who takes life easy and is self-centered and selfish is not disciplined.

(The two types)

Discipline is of two types. The common type of discipline is the one enforced by authority. This is the type of discipline that is imposed on a person. The kind of discipline obtained in the armed forces belongs to this type. The laws of a country and the police force are there to enforce discipline among the common people; here again discipline is obtained as a result of enforcement by an authority. The foundation of this kind of discipline is obedience. The aim of military training is to make soldiers accept the discipline of obedience. The weakness of enforced discipline consists in the fact that once the enforcement authority becomes weak, there is bound to be chaos in the ranks. Also, enforcement kills initiative and individualism. In the armed forces great care is, however, taken, while imparting training, to see that the development of initiative is encouraged; all the same, this is done within the framework of the discipline of obedience. Discipline enforced this way may become second nature and will probably lead to some achievement. But the achievement cannot be great or even comparable to the achievement of one who works in his own way in freedom. The second type of discipline is self-discipline. In THE AIMS OF EDUCATION A.N. whiteheads says: ‘I hold that the only discipline important for its own sake is self- discipline and this can only acquire by a wide use of freedom’. Self- discipline differs from a soldier’s discipline in that the first lays emphasis on the mental and spiritual aspects and the second on practical achievements. Sages, philosophers and scientists are men of self- discipline whereas soldiers are men who have been discipline through an inculcation of obedience and a sense of loyalty in them. The former show great individuality and originality and have to their credit achievements that enable human civilization to progress; the latter lack individuality and originality and their contribution to the progress of man is extremely limited, if not nil.

(THE BASIS OF ACHIEVEMENT)

Having seen the respective merits of the two types of discipline, we may turn our attention to the need for discipline, we may turn our attention to the need for discipline in human achievement, and without discipline no achievement is possible. It is precisely for this reason that the armed forces lay so much stress on discipline; also, it is for the same reason that countries have governments and laws. Without laws the masses cannot be disciplined. History teaches us that the armed forces that lacked discipline never could win wars. The numerous Indian kings and their soldiers were no match for the disciplined, well-organized fighting forces of England in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

(ENFORCED DISCIPLINE)

The majority of the people are incapable of self- discipline. They, therefore, have to be disciplined by an outside authority. This is true of children and adolescents who are in their formative years. This is the reason why parents and school and college authorities enforce discipline on the youth who, though the chafe at discipline, appreciate the value of it in their later years. Without lessons in discipline learned in one’s formative years, one will not in later years have the self- discipline so necessary for any significant achievement.

(SELF DISCIPLINE)

Self-discipline is an offshoot of discipline enforced on the youth in their early life. Without the do’s and don’ts and punishments the majorities of the youth fail to go along the right path and stray off. In modern times a tendency to loose living has spread among the youth; their conduct without discipline has asserted itself in different ways. Some have taken to drugs and become drug addicts; others have taken to hippie cult; yet some others have taken to violence for furtherance of worthless causes. Discipline that is self- discipline, alone takes a person up the ladder of success. A political leader or statesman who is not disciplined cannot work hard, nor can he have the time to read, think and formulate his ideas with the view to achieving his goal. The life stories of great writers tell us how painstakingly they have slogged in order to produce masterpieces. ‘Genius is ninety-nine per cent perspiration and only one per cent inspiration’.

(CONCLUSION)

To conclude, discipline, or let us say self-discipline, is the basis of all human achievement, whether its is achievement of a community or that of an individual. It is not only good for sages, scholars, scientist, statesmen and artist but also for lesser mortals and students. Where it is absent it has to be imposed, imparted and inculcated and made part and parcel of everybody’s mental make-up. Even as it is with individuals, so is it with nations; nations that know no discipline cannot progress or prosper.