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Rays of Dharma
cunningness. A straightforward person will never try to deceive anyone.
The cunning people create a show of trustworthiness in order to trap the innocent ones. Being trustworthy is a great virtue. One might have gained wealth and other assets, but that has no value in the absence of trustworthiness. A deceptive one casts the net of deception around his friends, relations, parents and even Guru. He does not allow the religion to come in his way. His observance of austerities also could be hypocritical. He fails to realize that thereby he entertains his own downfall.
Straightforwardness means to speak in conformity with the mind and to act in conformity with the speech. Those faculties should be in concurrence as mentioned in the following verse.
Yathä chittam tathävächo, yathä vächo tathä kriyä; Dhanyäste tritayam eshä, visamvädo na vidyate.
It means that one should speak in accordance with the mind and act in accordance with his words. Those, who observe conformity in those three modes, are commendable. A child seems lovable, because it does not know hypocrisy and behaves innocently. We should treat it as Guru and introduce conformity in our life. Is it possible to create music in the absence of harmony of voice, instrument and tuning? In our present state the soul has its own tune, the oral drum makes different sound and the harmonium of activity spreads a still different one. How is it possible to succeed with that sort of disharmony of mind, speech and action?
Such disharmony prevails even within the families. It becomes necessary to swear, to prove the truthfulness and the doubt may still persist thereafter; deception and lies have grown to that extent. The condition was different earlier. There was harmony in the family; wife and husband had trust in each other. This is seen from the illustration of Sheth Sudarshan. The queen Abhayä tried to seduce him, but he refused to comply. When the queen failed in her design, she accused him of raping her, and Sudarshan was sentenced to death. 66
