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DISCOURSE 53
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food as he likes. You please come with us to our Gurudev and entreat him to give you food. If he thinks it proper, he will give you food."
The beggar believed the plain and affectionate words of the Sadhus. He followed the Sadhus. He came to the Upashray. The Sadhus informed the Acharya Suhasti why the beggar had come there. The beggar also saluted the Acharya with devo. tion; and begged for food. Acharya Suhasti possessed the power of spiritual insight. He looked into the beggar's countenance. He looked into his personality by means of his intellectual vision. He thought for a few moments; and said to the beggar: "Good man! We can, of course, give you food. But you must become a Sadhu like us. If you become a Sadhu like us, we can give you food".
The beggar was extremely hungry. What does not a man do when he is agitated by hunger ? The beggar showed his readiness to become a Sadhu. He wanted food; and he would get food if he became a Sadhu. He would also get clothes to wear. A Sadhu's clothes are better than the rags of a beggar.
When he agreed to become a Sadhu, the Sadhus at once made him change his dress and gave him the Deeksha, and then they gave him food.
THE DEEKSHA IS GIVEN ACCORDING TO THE COMMAND OF THE JIN
Question : Can the deeksha be given to a beggar thus ?
Answer : It depends upon the person who gives the deeksha. The great Acharya Suhasti who possessed an extraordinary power of intellectual vision scrutinized the soul of the beggar, That great man possessed the ability to visualize the future of the beggar. If a Sadhu does not possess that ability, and if he does not have the ability of finding out the worthiness or otherwise of a person to receive the deeksha, such a Sadhu cannot give the deeksha not only to a beggar like that but also to you. In order to give the deeksha to a person we have to scrutinize his personality and see whether he possesses the sixteen merits
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