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THE WAY OF LIFE
can do so only if you have a strong mind. There are many ways by which you can slip into those evil habits. Hence, you should be extremely cautious. Even people belonging to noble and cultured families slip into those evil habits.
THE BITTER CONSEQUENCES OF BAD COMPANY
We can read about such an incident in the history of Sri Ram's ancestors. Once, Naghush was ruling over the Kingdom of Ayodhya. Simhika was his queen. She was a woman of extraordinary nobility and chastity. Once, by virtue of her chastity she cured her husband of a violent fever. She did all that she could to make prince Sodas noble and cultured. She left nothing undone in this regard. But young Sodas was very intimate with the son of the priest. Anand, the son of the priest was a meat-eater. Sodas did not know that he was a meat-eater. Step by step, on account of the insistence of his friend, he began to eat roots. Of course, Sodas was afraid of his mother, therefore, he ate roots secretly without the knowledge of his mother. The friend used to give him all encouragement and co-operation. Queen Simhika did not know that her son had begun eating roots.
The temptation of taste can prove dangerous. It is difficult to reform a man after he has developed a taste for prohibited food. The taste for it increases on account of eating such food frequently. In the beginning a man feels shy of eating such food but in course of time he loses all sense of shame. Then, he will not fear sins. He will not fear society; nor will he fear disgrace.
The way of Sodas was free from all obstacles. When King Naghush and Queen Simhika renounced Samsar and accepted Charitradharma, Sodas became the King of Ayodhya; and consequently he acquired royal power. The son of the priest also acquired a high position, in the court. He began secretly to mix meat in the food that Sodas ate with him. He gave gold coins to the cooks and silenced them. Sodas liked very much the food with which meat had been mixed. He said to the cooks, "Of late, the food you have been preparing is very tasty.
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