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illness. The doctor heard the symptoms from him and pronounced his diagnosis. "The tree under which you spent the night should be a tamarind tree. The sourness from its roots though below the ground, has caused this negative effect and hence your joints have become stiff". Here you can clearly see the effect the boarding place has on the boarder.
Example is better than Precept. You should not forget that example is far more effective than instruction. It's easy to teach through words. It's difficult to preach through behaviour. Lessons of virtue taught by the father are less effective. What is more effective is the father's behavior with his own father. Instead of giving sermons on honesty and integrity, it is more effective to illustrate the same in daily life. When parents, who teach their children values of virtuous living, conduct themselves in a manner which is contrary to their sermons, how effective can be their advise? A life well led speaks volumes as compared to the spoken words.
The dialogue between the parents and their behavior with each other has a deep effect on the child. When the child is small, the indulgence of parents in terms of speech and actions has a derogatory effect on the child. Parents should consider the presence of the child as the presence of a father-in-law !
Like pleasures, squabbles also have a negative effect on the child. The quarrels and arguments are the proximate, immediate and very effective cause of making the child lifeless and dull. The house is a place for inculcating high sense of values and not a battle-field. When this issue is turned on its head, the child's sense of values are also turned upside down.
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Second Edition
