________________
NandiSootra
presented a divine trumpet to Shri Krishna and said - "This divine trumpet has healing qualities. It should be blown every six months. Who ever listen to the deeply resonant thunder like sound it emits will be free of all ailments for six months. He will also be cured of his old ailments. The reach of its sound is twelve yojans (measure of linear distance). Ensure that it is blown only once in six months and its coating is not removed because it is only the coating that has the healing power."
The trumpet was blown on a specific date. As the god had told wherever its sound reached every one became free of all ailments. Shri Krishna gave the trumpet to one of his attendants and instructed him to blow only once every six months.
One day a very sick merchant in some other town heard about the divine qualities of the trumpet. He at once came to Dwarika. His bad luck that the trumpet had been blown just a day before his arrival. He was disappointed and worried. After contemplating for some time he got an inspiration. He went to the guard in charge of the trumpet and bribed him to scraping a little coating from the trumpet. The powder cured the merchant and he went away satisfied. But this provided the guard with a new source of income. Gradually he scraped off all the coating from the trumpet and sold it. The trumpet was now devoid of its divine healing power.
When Shri Krishna got this news he punished the trumpet blower guard and exiled him from Dwarika. For public welfare he invoked that god and got another trumpet from him. This time he gave it to a capable man of confidence with the responsibility to blow it every six months. The instructions were strictly followed and the people benefitted.
This is a metaphoric example. Dwarika depicts the Indian subcontinent. Shri Krishna depicts Tirthankar. The god who came to test Shri Krishna depicts fruits of pious deeds. Trumpet depicts scriptural knowledge and trumpet-blower-guard depicts a shraman. When a shraman blows the trumpet of scriptural knowledge the masses are cured of their disease of karma. But the shraman who selfishly misuses scriptural knowledge and breaks the prescribed codes gets caught in the cycle of rebirths as punishment. Listeners having such attitude are unworthy. The shraman who does not selfishly misuses scriptural knowledge and avoids breaking the prescribed codes embraces success in the goals of development of the self as well as masses. Such listeners are worthy.
14. Ahir (a trade based caste in India; those who own cattle and deal in milk and milk products) - This is also an incident given as an example - An Ahir couple goes to the town to sell their cart full of pitchers filled with butter. Reaching the town they park their cart and start unloading the pitchers. Due to carelessness of one of them, a pitcher fell on the ground and broke. The condensed butter spilled on the ground. The husband and wife blamed each other and started quarrelling. During this squabble the butter melted and seeped into the sand. Valuable time was wasted and by the time they could sell the remaining butter, the day ended. They started back for their village. In the darkness of the night they were looted by dacoits. Abandoning everything they ran for their life and somehow reached the village.
In the same way a listener who enters into an argument with his teacher or a colleague over some mistake, wastes his own as well as others time. Such listeners are unworthy.
Another Ahir couple faced a similar coincidence. As soon as the pitcher broke they begged pardon mutually and at once collected the condensed butter spilled on the ground, melted it in a pot, filtered it and filled it back into a new pitcher. Their Aagam- 44 -NandiSootra
24 - Compiled by- Deepratnasagar
