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X. CIRCUMSTANCES AND
CHANGE OF HEART
We live between the known and the unknown. There is the conscious mind and the unconscious. We know a little and there is a grcat deal which we do not know.
A king fell ill. Physicians were called and the treatment began, but the king felt no relief. Then came a new physician who correctly diagnosed the king's disease and cured him. But one article of food was forbidden to the king; he was asked to abjure mangoes for ever, The day he took a mango, the disease would reappear with fatal consequences, he was warned.
Sometimc later, the king, accompanied by his ministers and staff went for a stroll in the palace garden. It was the mango season. All the trees were laden with fruit. The air was redolent with the sweet smell of brightly-coloured mangoes. The king's mouth watered. His mind was divided: one part of it said, "I must get to the fruit!", but another part said, "No, this is forbidden fruit!" He was caught between attraction and repulsion. He went another way but after some time was again tempted to go and lie down under the cool shade of a mango tree. Still the inner voice counselled "No!"
Every man's mind is like that. Is there a man who is never caught in contradictory desires? To eat or not to eat, to do this or that? A part of the mind says, "I want to live in peace. I don't want to be embroiled in any quarrel." Yet, another part says, "When confronted with an evil-minded person, I cannot sit still. If a man calls me names, why should I not retort? Will it be right for me to allow the other person to indulge in all sorts of nonsense without any protest on my part? Am I made of clay or wax? I want to be left alone! But if the other person is out to tease me unnecessarily, I shan't spare him."
Such contradictory thoughts possess every man. To do or not to do? To eat or not to eat? A man has not one but a thousand m A devotee of non-violence is sometimes possessed by violent thoughts, and a man given to violence is sometimes assailed by doubt and refrains from committing a violent deed. Similarly, a man committed to celibacy dreams of sensualities and an ardent voluptuary thinks of embracing continence. What contradictory thoughts possess us! How many minds does a man have?
Lord Mahavir said, "Man has more than one chitt"—chitt mcaning a flceting disposition. In fact, there can be only one mind.
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