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## The Second Objective
[75]
Another point is that one should consume exceptions only as much as necessary. It should not be that once one has done it, one thinks, "What's the harm in doing this too?" Continuously rolling through life from one exception to another with a lax attitude is not an exception. For those who lack awareness of their limits, who do not know the quantity and boundaries of exceptions, exceptions do not lead to upliftment but to a hundredfold downfall. There is a very beautiful mythological illustration. From it, one can easily understand what the limits of renunciation and exceptions are and how one should analyze them with utmost honesty.
"A learned sage was passing by. He was extremely distressed by hunger and thirst. There was a terrible famine for twelve years. Some wrestlers of the king were sitting together eating. The sage asked for food. The reply was, "The food is leftover." The sage said, "So what if it's leftover, after all, I need to fill my stomach." "In times of crisis, there are no limits." He took the food, ate it, and started to walk. Then he asked for water. The sage replied, "The water is leftover, I cannot drink it." The people said, "It seems that as soon as the food went into your stomach, your intelligence returned." The sage calmly said, "Brothers! Your thinking is right, but I have a limit. Food was not available elsewhere, and I was so distressed by hunger that my life was coming to an end, and I had no more capacity to endure. Therefore, I accepted leftover food in the situation of an exception. Now, water can be found pure elsewhere according to my limits. Therefore, why should I drink leftover water in vain?"
In short, the essence is that one should walk on the path of renunciation as long as one can. When it becomes completely impossible to walk, and there is no other way to escape, then one should resort to the path of exceptions. And as soon as the situation improves, one should immediately return to the path of renunciation.
The path of renunciation is the normal path. There is no room for the question of who walks on it and who does not. As long as there is strength, enthusiasm, no sense of dejection even in times of adversity, no harm to the Dharma or the Sangha, or no particular occasion for the loss of knowledge, vision, or character, one should walk on the path of renunciation, not on the path of exceptions.
One walks on the path of exceptions only occasionally. Not every seeker can walk on it at all times. The seeker who has fully studied the Acharanga Sutra and other codes of conduct, who understands the subtle essence of the Gītārttha, the Nīśītha Sutra, and other Chheda Sutras, who not only studies but also has a clear experience of the terms renunciation and exceptions, is the one who can make the right decision regarding the acceptance or rejection of exceptions. Therefore, in performing the practices mentioned in all the sutras dealing with exceptional rules, one should keep in mind the description of the nature of renunciation and exceptions.
**Worm-killing Penance**
40. The monk who, with his own hand, kills a worm, whether it is a small worm or a large worm, or who causes it to be killed, or who approves of its killing.