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in between there is no such thing as society, State or the world. The only thing is the liberation of the soul. What is the use of trying to liberate society or the country, since this liberation is not eternal ? Only the soul and the Divine are free for ever. Living in this earthly kingdom of illusion who can hope for everlasting freedom? This is the reason why the social consciousness of India has always remained lack-lustre. Pavhari Baba chased the thief who had stolen some of his utensils and, holding on to his feet, said: 'Lord, why are you running away. robbing only half of my things? Take everything I have." No doubt this shows the greatness of the saint, and perhaps the thief, too, was a little moved by the saint and may have profited by this forgiveness, but by endorsing the antisocial proclivity of the thief, did not the saint insult the houeholder's ethics of right and wrong? It is contended that as Pavhari Baba was a saint and as such outside the pale of society, his right to be supramoral cannot be questioned. In other words, though the Householder's dharma is to wage war against wrong-doing, the saint's dharma is to forgive... But what right has the latter, as a Brahmin, to force the former, as a Kshatriya, to kowtow to the saint's dharma? Nevertheless, our scriptures brand sonorously the householder's ethics as a spawn of sinful worldliness. I do not approve of such scriptures; neither did Krishna Himself. If He had, He would not have mocked at Arjun's jeremiad as klaibyam (cowardice) stemming from faintheartedness, hridayadaurbalya. "166
Anirvan correctly perceives here that in Indian outlook the saints have to take a leap from darkness or Tamas to the light or Sattva, the middle level of Twilight or Rajas does not exist. This is where most people abide and they need right kind of social ethics which is not the same as the moral code of a sannyasi or the extremist morality of the Sermon on the Mount'. Here the wrong doers. have to be punished and law has to be strictly enforced. But, there is still some confusion in Anirvan's argument. Pavhari Baba is a sannyasi and should be welcomed to his extremist ethics of forgiveness. But when did he say that the state should have no law codes and that the criminals should not be brought to books? Gandhiji is the only saint who has committed the mistake of making the code of a behaviour of a sannyasi, the universal code of conduct. It is true that medieval saints have ignored social ethics and there is a singular absence of public spirit and communal aspirations among Hindus. But only post-Buddhist books have praised sannyasi at the expense of householders. The Shruti tradition, the Upanishadas and the Bhagavatgita do not do so. In fact, all the wise men
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