Golden Steps To Salvation

Author(s): Padmasagarsuri
Publisher: Arunoday Foundation

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The saithji said, "Of course, I invited you to a dinner. But I have arranged food for you in accordance with your own introduction of each other.” They said, "What introduction is it?” The saithji said, "Have you forgotten it se soon? When he was bathing at the well, you said that he was a donkey; and when I went to the well he said that you were a bullock. That is why grass which is the food of a donkey and husk which is the food of a bullock have been placed before you.” The two scholars felt ashamed of what they had said and went away.
It is said: पण्डितो पण्डितं दृष्ट्वा, श्वानवद् गुर्मुरायते ॥ Pandito Panditam drishtwa
Shwānawat gurgurāyate “One scholar seeing another grunts like a dog."
What is the reason for this? Sheer jealousy. On account of this reason, on that day, the scholars were not only disgraced but they had to remain hungry. Even after hearing such stories of the unhappy consequences of jealousy, why is it that we do not decide to discard jealousy?
Please listen to another example. There was a shravaka (a pious Jain) by name Hemu. He secured the position of finance minister in the court of a certain emperor.
The emperor used to examine the accounts prepared by the Finance Minister, and if there was any mistake in the accounts, by way of punishing him, he would order him to eat all the pages of the account. Therefore, no one was willing to accept the position of finance minister in his court. Hemu had heard of this. Therefore, he would prepare the account of income and expenditure with great care and then he would read it out to the emperor. One day, he had to go out of station, on some business. So, on that day he gave the responsibility of reading out the accounts before the emperor to a minister in the court, who was older than he. Hemu had also