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Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
www.kobatirth.org
Acharya Shri Kailassagarsuri Gyanmandir
श्रुतसागर
जनवरी-२०२० कहते सो करते नहीं, मुँह के बडे लबार। काला मुँह हो जायगा, सांई के दरबार ॥ kahate so karate nahi muh ke bade labar Kala muh ho jayaga sayi ke darbar
The words of those who preach without practising, are deceptive. In the Lord's court, their faces will grow dark with guilt. We cannot accept a man as a teacher on the basis of his dress. Here is a famous proverbial statement:
पानी पीजे छानकर गुरु कीजे जानकर !! Pani pije chankar Guru kije jankar !!
Drink water after purifying it; and accept a man as your teacher after knowing him. We should decide upon accepting a man as our teacher only after finding out his fitness. Swami Satyabhakta has written:
“There is the snare of bad teachers spread over the world. Undertake the task of cutting it off with your intellectual incisiveness. These bad teachers do not have knowledge or self-control. They are also not helpful to others. These unfit sadhus in the guise of teachers are a burden to the earth”.
The implication of this is that a real teacher is he who has knowledge, self-control and magnanimity and the desire to help others.
The sculptor by virtue of his skill, transforms a stone into an image. If stone should become adorable as an image it has to endure the hard strokes of the chisel. In the same manner, a great teacher transforms his disciples into great men. Rawness and insipidity change into humanity; and humanity changes into divinity under the impact of a great teacher. A disciple becomes noble and enlightened only after he endures the teacher's severe admonitions and the strokes of his cane.
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