The Buddha points to two mental qualities as the underlying
safeguards of morality, thus as the protectors of both the
individual and society as a whole. These two qualities are
called in Pali hiri and ottappa. Hiri is an innate sense of
shame over moral transgression; ottappa is moral dread, fear of
the results of wrongdoing. The Buddha calls these two states the
bright guardians of the world (sukka lokapala). He gives them
this designation because as long as these two states prevail in
people's hearts the moral standards of the world remain intact,
while when their influence wanes the human world falls into
unabashed promiscuity and violence, becoming almost
indistinguishable from the animal realm (Itiv. 42). While moral
shame and fear of wrongdoing are united in the common task of
protecting the mind from moral defilement, they differ in their
individual characteristics and modes of operation. Hiri, the
sense of shame, has an internal reference; it is rooted in self-
respect and induces us to shrink from wr