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DISCOURSE 21
359
From the Audience : Are gratitude and love, the same or different ?
Maharajashri : They are different. Pramod or love appears for men of merit (punya) or men of virtues but the feeling of gratitude is to be shown to benefactors. You should be grateful to those who bestow upon you some benefactions, great or small. Pramod or love should be shown to those who are men of merit or men of virtues. You must have pramod or love for those who possess greater happiness or virtues than you.
From the Audience : Is it proper to have love and adoration for those who have greater happiness than we? Physical pleasures plunge people into the putrid waters of Samsar. You have been kind enough to teach us this truth. In that case, should we have love or compassion for such people ?
Maharajashri : You can show compassion to those who possess greater happiness than you; who possess more physical and sensual pleasures than you, if you do not envy them; if you too have those pleasures but if you feel that they are not desirable, and that they ought to be renounced. If you feel that your pleasures are the result of punya (merit); if you feel that your pleasures are sweet; and if you feel that the pleasures of others are the result of sin; and that they bring spiritual ruin; then you must realize that jealousy is at work, in your heart. The merits that impel people to commit sins whether you possess them or others possess them, plunge people into the ocean of Samsar. You need not show kindness to others when you see them enjoying physical pleasures. You must show only love for them. Yes. If anyone is committing sins, you have to show compassion to that person.
THE HAPPY MAN OF TODAY: A MAN OF DHARMA IN HIS PREVIOUS LIFE
Please understand an important point. No happiness or pleasure can be attained without an adoration of dharma. Those who are happy today were men of dharma in their previous life. If one has not performed spiritual austerities in one's
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