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The Artist and his portrait
"My Lord is asking me to go to a mere householder and apologise ! I shall keep quiet and forget about the whole incident, after all it is I and not Anand who is the true scholar and the master of scriptures." Gautam Swami then thought again : what is the use of my scholarly knowledge if I can not conquer my own ego ? It is wrong to take so much pride in my own knowledge, I must go to Anand and apologise.
Gautam Swami did not stop for a moment, he went straight back to Anand and apologised: "Anand, you are right, please forgive me for my suspicions about you."
Anand was moved by the humility and courtesy of this learned man. His eyes were full of tears.... "Oh my Lord, oh Gautam Swami! It is you who is great, I too ask for your forgiveness."
Once there was an artist. He used to paint beautifully. He was so good that he could paint a lifelike portrait.
Once he thought of painting a portrait of a man who looked like God, his eyes should reflect heavenly brightness, love, compassion and purity.
The painter started looking for such a man, whose eyes would reflect the same divinity as God's. He searched everywhere. He saw many saints and noble men. He went to palaces and to huts. He met lots of people who would talk about religion but their life was far from religious. Then, once he went into the forest and saw a farmer working on his farm.
The farmer was ploughing his field whilst singing happily. The artist looked into the farmer's eyes and saw exactly what he was looking for in this man. He drew a portrait of this farmer.
Years passed by and the artist now thought of painting another portrait. This time, he wanted to draw the face of a devil with cruel-looking eyes and a hard face.
He set out once more looking for a face that reflected wickedness. He went to many places; finally he went to a prison where he saw a prisoner who was
d: jain story
