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WIN ONE, WIN ALL
she gave these grains back to the merchant.
Finally Dhanna asked Rohini, "What about you, Rohini, where are the grains I gave you ?"
Rohini said, "I would like to give them back but you will have to arrange for the transport, because those five grains were planted and now after five good years we have a whole store full of rice."
The merchant Dhanna was very happy on hearing this. He knew that Rohini was the cleverest and the wisest. He gave all the keys of the safe to Rohini.
(When Lord Mahavir told this story to his disciples, he explained that we too should make good use of our life. We should not waste time and therefore throw away our life which is so valuable, but instead we should do good deeds and charitable work. The five grains in the story symbolize the five vows in the Jain religion. These five vows are: non-violence, truth, non-stealing, celibacy and non-acquisition.)
One day a monk asked Gautam Swami :
"O Swami! How can you keep calm amongst your enemies, how can you conquer them ?"
Gautam Swami said, "First I win one enemy, then I conquer four. After that I conquer ten enemies, the rest of the enemies just disappear on seeing this."
The monk wanted to know who these enemies were. Gautam Swami said, "The most terrible enemy is our own ego. If you win that then you will win four more, they are-anger, pride, illusion and greed. After that you will be able to win over all the good and bad things associated with the five senses, that is the temptations related to good or bad hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting and touching. When these ten are conquered the other enemies cannot stay and are forced to disappear."
The monk asked a final question : "There is a poisonous plant in one's own heart. It grows and also bears fruit. How can you destroy this plant?"
"Well, you have got to root it out so it won't bear fruit. This plant is called DESIRE. Desire for material comfort and desire for worldly pleasures."
d: jain story
