________________
DISCOURSE 14
241
piness on them. I think you provide them with some means of happiness but you do not confer happiness upon them. Am I right? Providing the means of happiness is one thing; but giving happiness is another. You provide them with the means of happiness but some scoldings also along with them. Do you beat your wives? Do you quarrel with them at any time? I hope you are not disloyal to them? Why does not your Shrimati regard you as a benefactor? Do you know how worthy a prince Yugabahu was? He was absolutely loyal and faithful to Madanrekha. He was courteous and graceful and he was of noble birth. Madanrekha also was an extraordinarily noble woman. She had an absolutely pure and sacred heart. She thought of the welfare of her husband's soul. "His life in the other world should not be affected. What had to happen has happened. No one can save us from this disaster. His mind should be peaceful and serene. If he journeys to the other world with equanimity and spiritual ecstasy, he will surely attain to a state of bliss. So, I must now cool down his passions of anger and hatred.” What a tremendous spiritual amity did Madanreka possess? She showed amity for her dear relative, amity for a benefactor and amity for his soul. She never thought of her own joys or sorrows. At that time, she never thought of the bleak prospect of her widowhood and the loss of her felicity. She did not also at that time, entertain any hostility or animosity against the treacherous man, Manirath. Can we find these sublime virtues in an ordinary woman? Can an ordinary woman retain her mental poise and emotional equanimity when such a terrible disaster has occurred?
MAN'S MIND IN DISTRESS
Who is an ordinary woman and who is an extraordinary woman? Who is common and who is uncommon? I hope you understand the point. Understand these facts and you will be satisfied. If the sisters who now are sitting here take these points into their consideration, even today we can find many women of the stature of Madanrekha. But listening to my precepts is onething; understand them is another; and practising those precepts is very difficult. Ladies do not become extraordinary by securing such degrees as B.A. or B.Com.; M.A. or M.Com.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
