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[3] These Are Not Lord Mahavir's Pratikramans
77
once a year. On that day, people soak their clothes!
'Our' pratikraman is called 'shoot-on-sight' pratikraman. What you are doing is not called pratikraman because not a single piece of clothing of yours becomes clean, whereas here in our path, all our clothes have become clean and spotless. Pratikraman is that where all the stains (atikraman) are removed and the clothes become immaculate.
You have to wash each item of clothing every day. Whereas over there, they gather one year's worth of washing and they wash all of them on that one day. They accumulate a year's worth of dirty laundry and then attempt to wash it all at once. That is not acceptable with the Lord. These people soak their clothes in steaming water once a year, don't they? Here each clothing item needs to be washed separately with great care. When you manage to wash at least five hundred a day, you will make progress.
However many faults you are able to see within, that many faults will decrease. What is the reason that you are not able to see these faults? It is because of that much weaknessunawareness. Is it because you have become free from your faults that you are not able to see them?
The Lord has emphasized the need to do pratikraman daily, but people only do it once a year during Paryushan. The Lord said that a true merchant is the one who keeps an account in his record book for the entire day, tallying his ledger in the evening. If he were to log everything just once a year, how would he manage to remember all his accounts and set his books straight? The Lord has stressed the importance of keeping a logbook for the entire day, as a true merchant would. If an entry is made incorrectly, that is if a misdeed occurs, it should be erased with pratikraman.
[4]
How Amazing is the Awareness of the Gnani Purush
Flawless Vision and Yet Harsh Speech
Everyone in this world is flawless; without faults (nirdosh) and yet look how 'our' speech comes out. 'We' have seen everyone as nirdosh; no one is at fault (doshit - one who has faults). To us,' no one appears at fault; 'we' see no one at fault, but the speech says so. 'We' see no one as being at fault whatsoever, so how can 'we' speak in this manner? Is it necessary for 'us' to speak in this way? 'We' cannot speak this way about anyone and that is why pratikraman immediately follows. This occurs because 'we' fall short by four degrees (360° is absolute enlightenment, Dadashri is at 356°) and, therefore, 'we' should do pratikraman.
Although 'we' interfere deliberately and use stern words, according to nature, it is a mistake on 'our' part, is it not? And for that, 'we' make him (A. M. Patel) do pratikraman. There is pratikraman for each mistake. However, when 'we' scold people, 'we' know how to do it without hurting them.
Questioner: Is pratikraman necessary even if the scolding is done with good intentions? (72)
Dadashri: You bind merit karma (punya) with good intentions. If you do not have Gnan and you get angry with him, even then you will bind merit karma; because it depends on your intention. Everything in the world is bound according to one's intention.
