Mokshamala

Author(s): Manu Doshi
Publisher: Manu Doshi

Page 21

The next morning Närad, Parvat and his mother came to the king while debating over something Professing ignorance of the issue the king asked, 'What is the matter?'
Parvat: Your majesty, what is the meaning of Aja here?
King: Närad, what do you think?
Närad: Aja here denotes three year old grain; don't you remember what Guru had said?
King: Aja means a goat, not three year old grain.
As he spoke those words, the presiding deity of the throne flung him down and the king died.
What we have to learn from this story is that a ruler should be truthful as well as judicious. Of the five major restraints, the latter four are meant to serve as fences for proper observance of the first (nonviolence). Truth constitutes the first fence; its various facets need to be learnt from the sacred texts.
Lesson 24: Wholesome contact
Wholesome contact is the source of happiness. When one comes in wholesome contact, he invariably gets the desirable result. Such contact is the right way to gain maximum purification. The benefit gained from the wholesome contact of a few minutes cannot be derived from the unwholesome one of millions of years; on the contrary it leads to highly sinful activities that taint the soul and leads it to lower state of existence.
Wholesome contact denotes the contact with the best. As diseases spread where there is no fresh air, the ailment of soul goes up where there is no wholesome contact. As we cover the nose in order to escape from foul smell, so it is necessary to put an end to the unwholesome contact. The worldly connection also is a contact; being very unwholesome and distressful it needs to be given up.
Whatever be the contact, if it does not lead to self-realization, it is not wholesome. What can provide an inclination for soul is wholesome and what shows the path of liberation is affable. To get concentrated in sacred literature is wholesome; contact with the saintly beings is also wholesome. As soap and water can clean a dirty cloth, study of the sacred books and contact of saintly beings purify the soul of its impurities. Make sure that there is no wholesome contact, where the people might be routinely indulging in dance, drama, music and other modes of entertainment like tasty foods and drinks, even if that may be to your liking. A single word gained in wholesome contact provides unique benefit.
The spiritual philosophers have urged for resorting to the solitary state by giving up everything and staying away from internal defilements. That shows their adoration for wholesome contact. True solitariness consists of staying in meditation or in an ascetic state, but the contact with those having an identical state also amounts to solitariness. The tone arising from many people having a compatible state is bound to be identical; it is therefore a solitary state. Such solitariness is implicit in wholesome contact.
One may point out that a group of sensuous people also would have a compatible approach; should that be considered solitariness? No, such people cannot have a compatible approach; they are guided by their selfish and deceptive motives. Their thinking cannot be on identical line and their coming together cannot be innocent. Innocent and compatible approach exists among the quiet, pious monks. It can also exist to a certain extent among the religiously oriented people with limited worldly involvement. Compatibility cannot exist, where there is deception or amorality; the wholesome contact does not exist there.
Adorable are the happiness and pleasure arising from wholesome contact. It is very hard to come across a wholesome contact, where the participants raise intelligent questions pertaining to scriptural texts, where they talk about pure knowledge and meditation, where they ponder over the characters of saintly beings,