Bondage and Freedom

Author(s): Chitrabhanu
Publisher: Divine Knowledge Society

Page 12

harmful activities. But if society is to run smoothly, if there is to be safety and security for all, the activities that endanger its peace and orderliness must be brought under control. It is the duty of society and government to enforce a check on these and thus ensure safety and orderliness; else there will be chaos. . When control from within a man fails to check him, control from without-by an outside agencybecomes a necessity. The control from within is called self-restraint; in its absence, the control from outside--a prison-becomes a necessity for the welfare of society.
A man who can control his desires through selfrestraint cannot be deprived of his freedom. Such a man, even when put in fetters through some freak of circumstances continues to enjoy freedom. A. poet has said:
“Stone walls do not a prison make Nor iron bars a cage; Minds innocent and quiet take
That for an hermitage." In this very jail, where you are prisoners, not so long ago; Mahatma Gandhi was a prisoner, too. Though the world called him a prisoner, he was a free man. He had cultivated self-restraint and had thus gained a mastery over his desires. He used to say, 'I am not in a prison; I am in a palace.' This should make us reflect how much of our freedom depends upon our thinking. It is your own way of