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14/MANAV DHARMA
traditional behaviour wealth is taken as the Eleventh characteristic of life. To protect this eleventh characteristic of life, man even sacrifices all the rest ten distinctive characters of life. That is why appropriation of others' wealth in any way is the greatest violence, where man forgets the difference between his own and of others. Among all the vices and evils in the world, stealing is the greatest evil. Even the people of blood relations like parents, relatives do not believe in a thief then how others can have a belief in him. Hence the important duty of every wise man is to abstain from such evils of stealing and usurping of another's property. A man who disregards and hates stealing should also care to protect himself from the following things
चौर - प्रयोग- चौरार्था-दान- विलोपT-HEST-AFAEN: 1 हीनाधिक विनिमानं पञ्चास्तेये व्यतीपाताः ॥५८॥
Explanation :
Imparting instructions on the methods of committing theft, receiving stolen property, evading law, adulteration, and keeping false weights and measures are the five Atecharas (faults) of the layman's vow of non-stealing.
Description :
Neither a man should do stealing nor he should instigate others for theft: Neither to purchase the stolen goods nor to keep in self custody for the purpose of assisting the thief, evading the legal laws of the state and to work against them. to purchase a most valuable thing at a lower value or price; adulteration of pure ghee with the vegetable oil or with groundnut oil; to sale and purchase such adulterated goods, while purchasing, tries to weigh more or measure more than the actual and while selling, tries to weigh and measure less then actual, all these actions come under the purview of the act of stealing. Not only this, to support and justify an unlawful action is a greater fault than doing an unjust action; because the doer of unlawful action is himself liable for the unjust action but the man who chiefly supports the unlawful action, is always marching ahead in making the whole society unlawful.
In the same way, that man is more harmful and injurious to human society, who supports the act of stealing or who appreciates the thief by way of patting on his back. In this consideration, the same will be the position of that who violates the laws of the state. There is no doubt in saying that such laws of the state, which are totally against the doctrine of non-violence, may be opposed to a
