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The Difference Between Living According to the Inner Truth of One’s Being or the External Ego Personality · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  The mother draws a clear distinction between the
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  individual who is in contact with his own deepest inner truth
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  of being, his swadharma, and the individual who does not pay
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  attention to this deepest truth but lives what may be called a
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  transactional existence focused on the aggrandizement and
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  enjoyment of his outer being and personality.
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  In the Mahabharata we can identify two major people who
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  embody these two opposite tendencies.
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  There is King Yudhishtira, later emperor, who is the embodiment
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  of Dharma, who works not for his own self aggrandizement but to
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  provide benefit to everyone under his umbrella.
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  Then there is Duryodhana, his cousin, who while a king in his
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  own right, with power and wealth at his disposal, is so jealous
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  of his cousin that he is willing to lie, cheat and steal to win
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  the wealth and Kingdom of Yudhishtira and eventually
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  becomes the proximate cause of the great battle that led to the
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  destruction of vast numbers of Chatrias.
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  In the battle of Kurukshetra, one can see the peace and
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  harmony at work in the person of Yudhishtira and can observe the
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  selfishness, bitterness and jealousy eating away at
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  Duryodhana and clouding his wisdom.
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  The mother notes quote the inner law.
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  The truth of the being is the divine presence in every human
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  being, which should be the master and guide of our life.
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  When you acquire the habit of listening to this inner law,
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  when you obey it, follow it, try more and more to let it guide
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  your life, you create around you an atmosphere of truth and peace
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  and harmony, which naturally reacts upon circumstances and
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  forms, so to say, the atmosphere in which you live.
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  When you are a being of justice, truth, harmony, compassion,
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  understanding of perfect goodwill.
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  This inner attitude, the more sincere and total it is, the
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  more it reacts upon the external circumstances.
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  Not that it necessarily diminishes the difficulties of
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  life, but it gives these difficulties a new meaning, and
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  that allows you to face them with a new strength and a new
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  wisdom. Whereas the man, the human being
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  who follows his impulses, who obeys his desires, who has not
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  time for scruples, who comes to live in complete cynicism, not
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  caring for the effect that his life has upon others, or for the
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  more or less harmful consequences of his acts,
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  creates for himself an atmosphere of ugliness,
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  selfishness, conflict, and bad will, which necessarily acts
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  more and more upon his consciousness and gives a
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  bitterness to his life that in the end becomes a perpetual
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  torment. Of course, this does not mean
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  that such a man will not succeed in what he undertakes, that he
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  will not be able to possess what he desires.
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  These external advantages disappear only when there is
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  within the inmost being a spark of sincerity which persists and
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  makes him worthy of this misfortune.
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  If you see a bad man become unlucky and miserable, you must
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  immediately respect him. It means that the flame of inner
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  sincerity is not altogether extinguished and something still
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  reacts to his bad actions. End Quote.
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  Reference Srioro Bindu and the Mother Powers within, Chapter 7
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  Attitude, pages 78 to 79.