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and he serves without any distinction of friend or foe and always does well by all. He does so by even giving away his riches and wealth. Thus, to a greater or a lesser extent most of the virtues of the yogi are present in the servant also. At the same time to dedicate his abilities and possessions in the cause of service is his speciality. That is why the depth of the duty of rendering service has been said to be unfathomable even by the yogis.
Actually, the servant has to control his mind even more and has to give up his comforts and pleasures even more. Let us take, for example, the service of the diseased. The servant has to clean the faeces, urine, vomit, pus, etc., which are quite revolting. He has to overcome his revulsion for these revolting things and continue to serve. He has to keep awake for days and nights on end for attending to the diseased and also has to expose himself to the dangers of contagion while serving those suffering from contagious diseases such as Tuberculosis, Leprosy. Cholera, etc. To serve under such difficult circumstances requires great fortitude and courage. Such courage and fortitude can be seen in the service rendered by the Missionaries of Charity of Mother Teresa.
To think that only the rich can serve and that the poor cannot serve is not correct. The reason being that Jainism has defined the activities of service in the following nine ways - 1. Food, 2. Water, 3. Clothes, 4. Pots, 5. Rest, 6. Thinking well of others, 7. To give solace by speaking well, 8. To attend to physically, and 9. To give up arrogance and to behave humbly. In these the first five kinds of services are rendered by giving various things and may be beyond someone's means, but the service-activities mentioned at serials 6 to 9 are to be rendered personally and everyone is able to render such services. The importance of these latter kinds of services is in no way inferior to those mentioned earlier. Therefore it is the human duty that one must serve according to one's capacity and ensure one's physical and spiritual emancipation.
The reality is that the service rendered at the emotional level is limitless and it is the emotional service that translates itself into practical service. Both these types of services are supplementary to each other.
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