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Sütra 6 )
Compassion, Charity, Beneficence and the Like
167
rakṣāyā ātma-sādhakatvam vibhāvaniyam, evam sati kvacit prasangajahimsayā tasyāḥ sadoşatvam api bhavet, vivecanīyātra bhikṣusvāmipradarsitā dpstānta-trayi.
(Aph.) Sometimes it (viz. protection of life) can be incidental as well. (VI)
(Gloss) Sometimes, while protecting the soul, the protection of life, partially or fully, indeed takes place as an incidental result. However, what is only incidental (casual, not causal) to something is not an essential characteristic thereof, and so the incidental protection of life should not be considered as conducive to self-purification on a par with the protection of soul. If the incidental protection of life were considered to be an essential characteristic of compassion proper, then an incidental injury to life (which may take place) should also be considered as essential characteristic of compassion proper which will be tantamount to accepting compassion proper as contaminated by violence. (This will be a contradiction in terms. The upshot is that the incidental result, good or bad, is not the determinant of an act, being not relate causally with the main act). The three examples given by Bhiksusvāminshould be carefully understood in this connection. (Note) Examples given by Bhikṣusvāmin :
(1)
A burglar broke into a shop at dead of night where monks had a night stay, put all the valuables in a bag and was on the point of coming out. Three monks came to the thief and accosted him. Seeing that they were saints, the thief made clean breast of the whole thing. There was long dialogue between one saint and the thief, the former dwelling on the sins of theft and the latter explaining the situations which compelled him to resort to that bad profession. The saint's admonition produced a change in the thief. In course of the discussion, dawn broke out. The owner of the shop came in. The thief reassured the owner by showing the bag in which he put all the valuables stolen from the shop. He (the owner) remarked that but for the admonition by the monks, he would have been robbed of all the valuables and made a pauper. The shop-keeper duly thanked the monks.
Now we have to draw the moral from the story. Whether it was turning away of the thief from the profession of theft or the recovery of the stolen property by the merchant that is to be regarded as meritorious from the religious point of view ? The answer is obvious. The thief's soul was saved and here lies the merit. The restoration of the wealth of the merchant is only an incidental result which has value only for well-ordered social life.
Once a butcher was driving a group of goats and sheep with a view to slaughter
1 For the examples vide the stories appended as note.
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