Way of Life Part 1

SR No.: 006513
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Bhadraguptasuri
Publisher: Vishvakalyan Prakashan Trust Mehsana
Publication Year: 1986
Total Pages: 432
Language: English
Classification: Book_English & Religion
File Size: 22 MB

Page 41

DISCOURSE 2
Dharma does not approve of begging for alms
Dharma gives, it gives wealth, it gives sensual delights and it gives heavenly delights; and it can give all kinds of delights but dharma does not like those who beg for alms from it. Begging has become a habit with men. Man begs wherever he goes. Sometimes he begs with his mind and sometimes with his tongue. Sometimes he begs even with his body. The method of begging adopted by intelligent people is really strange. They beg but they do not want to appear to be beggars. They commit sins but they do not want to show that they are sinners. Are they not intelligent people? It is not intelligence. Where can we get what we want without begging for it. Begging is not an act of intelligence there. It is foolishness.
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Man begins begging even from his birth. When he is a small child and when he cannot articulate his thoughts, he cries for the things, he needs. This is but begging. When the child is crying the mother realizes that it needs milk. Later, the child learns to speak and then begs by using words. It begs for things from its mother or father. Man goes on begging thus, what he needs from brothers, sisters, friends, relatives etc. Enough. He keeps begging thus. He begs even from Guru Maharaj and even from the Paramatma. As long as man cannot discard his habit of begging, he cannot attain the real fruits and the highest fruits of Dharma. Do you respect my opinion? Do not become beggars everywhere. Do not become beggars before the Paramatma, before the spiritual heads and before Dharma. Do not become a beggar for wealth; do not be a beggar for sensual delights. Dharma or the nature of Dharma does not like beggary. Dharma treats such beggars with contempt. To those who do not beg even with their minds, who act according to dharma; who seek the refuge of Dharma; it gives extraordinary fruits. Man cannot even imagine those fruits. Did not Dharma bestow upon the cowherd boy boons which were beyond his wildest dreams?
Dharma gives everything but what they get depends on the worthiness of Jivas. Those Jivas whose worth keeps developing and increasing, keep approaching Dharma and in the