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DISCOURSE 56 CARE FOR PROPRIETY IN RESPECT OF YOUR DRESS
The five principles expounded by the commentator on the grantha in respect of dress and decorations, are proper and beneficial. The first principle mentioned by the Acharya is that your dress must accord with your status and dignity. The meaning of this is that if you are a rich man, you should not wear the dress of a poor man. You must observe this principle if you want to lead the life of a noble householder. You must wear such dress as will not show you to be proud. You must wear the dress that accords with your age. If you are a young man and if you wear the kind of dress worn by your father, it will be improper. Yes, along with your age, you must also think of your profession or occupation. If you are a doctor, or a lawyer, or a judge, or the proprietor of a business firm or a salesman of a company you must wear the dress suitable to your profession and occupation. You must not wear a dress that makes you look ridiculous in the eyes of others. WHAT KIND OF DRESS SHOULD YOU WEAR IN CERTAIN PLACES ? THINK OF THIS A LITTLE
Supposing you are a student in a college. If you go to your college wearing a dhoti, a coat and a Gandhi cap, your friends will laugh at you, won't they? If you go to the temple of the Paramatma wearing a pant and a shirt, you would become an object of ridicule; wouldn't you?
You must think of your financial position also. You must think of your age and profession. You must think of your dharma, your society and your country. You have to think of the "climate" of your country. Our country is very hot. In this country, tight and warm clothes like pants and shirts are not necessary during all the twelve months of the year. If you wear warm and tight dress in a hot country such a dress would affect the growth and shape of your body
Once, when I went to a college to deliver a discourse, I asked the students : "From where did this fashion of wearing tight pants, originate? Why do you wear tight pants ?" Not even a single student gave any reply to my questions. They
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