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DISCOURSE 56
shirts. People wear pants, shirts, coats and ties....whatever may be the season they wear the same dress. They wear the same dress whether it is winter or summer; whether they are rich or poor; or of the middle-class. Wealth and position also do not seem to influence the style of the dress worn by people.
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THE MAGIC OF DRESS
Once while we were carrying out our Vihar or Padyatra (travelling on foot) we happened to meet a fashionably dressed young man, on the way. From the station, he was going to his native place. He was wearing such a dress that he seemed be the Thakur (the chief landlord) in his village. When we asked him we found out that he was a worker in a mill in Ahmedabad. We said to him, "You seem to be the Chief Landlord of your village". He began to laugh on hearing this. He said, "The people in my village look at my dress; and think that I am earning a lot in Ahmedabad. That will increase my prestige". Then I said, "All right. Supposing somebody comes to Ahmedabad from your village and sees you in the dress of a mill-worker, what will happen to your prestige?" He merely looked at me; and said nothing. By this time, we reached the village.
A REAL INCIDENT
Now-a-days, we see in people the desire to appear to be affluent, though they are poor. In olden days, rich people did not like to show off their affluence. I will narrate a real incident in connection with this matter.
In those days Madhav Rao Peshwa was ruling in the south. Among the Peshwa's ministers, there was one tremendous scholar by name Ramashastri. He was, of course, a minister; but at the same time, he was the judge and the preceptor for the Peshwa's family. At that time, in India, there were very few capable judges like Ramashastri. People used to say: "For real justice Ramashastri's judgements are unique".
It was the holy new year's day. The women of the city were going to the palace to call upon the Rajmatha (the Queen the mother of the King) and to felicitate her on the new
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