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DISCOURSE 18
Therefore, he was not angry with the young man. He was full of compassion for him.
311
From the Audience: If anyone steals even our slippers worth two rupees and if he is caught, we would beat him black and blue.
Maharajashri: You love inert objects more than jivas. You do not hesitate to harm jivatmas for the sake of inert objects. As long as you do not develop love and amity for conscious beings, even a ray of dharma cannot enter your soul. What kind of dharma can be practised by people who beat a man for the sake of slippers worth two rupees and who beat a sheep with a stick for the sake of a broom worth one rupee. Can they have the fitness to practise dharma? You have to think, "Why did he steal the slippers? How poor should he be? What circumstances compelled him to commit a theft? How can he be freed from this derogation?" Have you thought thus at any time? You would think thus, if you have compassion. You do not have compassion and you proceed to practise dharma. You want to be regarded as a great follower of dharma. Dharma can never exist in a cruel heart. Now, you discard your cruelty and awaken your compassion. Dig up all the impure soil of cruelty from your heart and throw it out and then compassion will naturally manifest itself in your heart.
You should not think that only saintly men can show such compassion. Grihastadharma or the life of a house-holder grows resplendent only with compassion. In the past, there were many householders who had such compassion. They used to show extreme compassion for those in anguish. Even today, there are some house-holder who are oceans of compassion.
Jain Education International
COMPASSION EVEN FOR A CULPRIT
In the Dharmagranthas, we come across the example of Shresthi Suvrat. He was a multimillionaire. He possessed eleven crore gold coins. He had eleven wives; and he was a great practitioner of the Ekadasi austerity (the austerity of fasting etc. on the eleventh day of the fortnight). The number "11" had a special significance in Suvrat's life. One day, on the eleventh day of the fortnight when Suvrat had undertaken the
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