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DISCOURSE 91
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There is no other village in this area. All the roads are completely blocked with water. Where can they go and stay in this wild forest ?”
The leader of the dacoits felt sympathy for the sadhus. He thought about their request sympathetically. He thought very much. An idea occurred to him. Then he went to the Acharya politely; sat near him and said,
"You are sadhus. Your task is to preach Dharma, but we are dacoits. I do not like your staying here and preaching to our people. You can stay here. I will give you shelter. You will also get Bhiksha from us but you should not start preaching to our people. If you agree to this condition, I have no objection to your staying here”.
The Acharya heard what the leader of the robbers said, He noticed his politeness and humbleness and thought for a few moments and then he said, "Noble man ! we will keep engaging ourselves in meditation, study and contemplation. We will not preach Dharma to anyone. We preach Dharma only to those who have a thirst for a knowledge of the Dharmashastras. We preach only to those who come to us seeking enlightenment. We will not preach Dharma to anyone here".
The leader of the dacoits, allowed the sadhus to stay in a vacant house. The sadhus also were carrying out their activities in such a way that no one in the village developed any dislike for them. All the sadhus were engaged in their respective spiritual activities like meditation and scriptural studies.
DHARMA IS PREACHED ONLY TO THOSE WHO HAVE A DESIRE FOR SCRIPTURAL KNOWLEDGE
The leader of the robbers went to the Acharya every day and made polite enquiries about the welfare of the sadhus. He observed the way of life of the sadhus and he was deeply impressed by it. But the Acharya did not preach even a single precept to the leader of the robbers. How much patience he had ! But we cannot have peace of mind until we deliver discourses
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