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MAINTAINING HEALTH IS A
SOCIAL OBLIGATION
Dt. 08-11-1982
Man's body has been compared to a temple, in which God - the Soul - resides. The analogy to a shrine thus suggests many things. First, it should be kept clean by avoiding smoking and abstaining from the consumption of intoxicating drinks. In olden days temples remained closed just after sunset and opened only next sunrise. Even today this tradition is followed in many villages. A person who desires to maintain his body pure and holy should eat and drink between sunrise and sunset. 'The prime happiness of man is healthy body', says a Gujarati proverb.
A temple, even though it might have been built by an individual's money, may be considered as a public property. The human being's body should also be treated likewise and hence, to fall sick may be described a social crime. A sick person sometimes puts his family and neighbours into trouble. No doubt, not to fall ill is not wholly under one's own control. But there are so many methods by which one can avoid catching illness. A weak body affects the strength of the soul and weak soul is also
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responsible for a sick body.
Anyone who succumbs to worldly pleasures, develops deep attachment and displays excess of aversion, may fall sick quickly. Attachment disturbs the function of the heart. Aversion affects the digestive system. Once he is ill, he may be treated as a burden by and to others. Hence to maintain one's health can be termed a social obligation. According to Jain scriptures, Pannyas Rajyashvijayji said in a discourse, attachment to body is a sin but its proper maintenance is a virtue and is essential.
The world is a Mobile School. Everyone is a Teacher. There is lot to learn.
I personally believe that if only Jainism had kept its hold firmly in India, we would perhaps have had a more united India and certainly a greater India than today.
- R. K. Shanmukham Chetty
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