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THE WAY OF LIFE
tion to the listeners so that they may not get bored with the discourse.
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11. The eleventh quality that should be present in a preacher is that he must be capable of captivating the minds and hearts of the listeners. He must possess the capacity of captivating congregations comprising thousands of people. Of course, all preachers do not possess this capacity. It is found in one or two out of a thousand. This capacity can be attained only by virtue of some special punyakarma of one's previous life. It is a natural gift or a god-given gift.
12. The twelfth quality that should be present in a speaker is that he should be free from pride and arrogance. The preacher who has to captivate the minds of thousands of people must be free from pride and arrogance. There should not be in a preacher, even a grain of pride. How can the same person be enlightened and egoistic? It is something like a light being dark and black. Enlightenment is like the sun and pride is like darkness. In the presence of the sun, darkness cannot exist.
The preacher who has to captivate and mesmerise by his speech, thousands of people must be so humble and simple that even a child should be able to approach him fearlessly and speak to him affectionately. This virtue of humility in a preacher strengthens the faith of people in Dharma.
13. The thirteenth virtue mentioned is that a preacher should live according to Dharma. Practice and precept should go together. A preacher of Dharma should lead a life that accords with the loftiest doctrines of Dharma. If a preacher of Dharma does not live according to Dharma then his precepts will not produce any impact on his listeners.
AN INCONGRUENCY BETWEEN PRACTICE AND PRECEPT
At that time, the British were ruling over India. There was a princely state called Baroda in Gujarat. King Sayaji Rao, the ruler of the state was a noble man. Once, a large conference took place in Baroda in connection with kindness to animals.
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