________________
160
THE WAY OF LİFË One may be the President or the Prime Minister or a Chief Minister; yet all sorts of persons keep condemning them. They oppose them and criticize them wrongly or rightly. They keep condemning even those with whom they have no connection. They keep condemning their defects and even their personal affairs.
CALUMNIATING GREAT AND WORTHY PEOPLE IS A TERRIBLE SIN
From the Audience : We calumniate even those who are noble and righteous.
Maharajashri : You do so because you have got the licence to calumniate anyone. Is that so ? Do you acquire merit (punya) by calumniating sadhus and the fellow members of your Dharma ? I think you specially calumniate sadhus and the fellow members of your faith. In case you happen to come to know some defect in sadhus and noble men can you keep it a secret ? No. Until you speak of it to some people you will not be able to sleep peacefully. Even there, you take delight in calumniating the sadhus in whom you have no faith or the sadhus that belong to some other tradition or faith. Is that not so ? Do you realise what kind of sinful Karma you gather by such a calumniation? You cause great harm to yourselves if you speak ill of noble and sacred men, misled by rumours.
If you calumniate the men in power you will suffer for it in this life and if you calumniate sadhus you will experience anguish not only in this world but also in the other world. That is why I exhort you to discard your habit of calumniating others. Never calumniate anyone.
If you want to attain spiritual welfare by means of spiritual austerities and if you want to lead a peaceful, felicitous, and fearless life you must discard your habit of calumniating others. If you want to become one with the Paramatma; if you want to drink the delightful nectar of the right knowledge and if you want to attain self-discipline by means of special spiritual austerities and principles you must keep off the sinful
propensity of calumniating others. Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
