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THE WAY OF LIFE
3.
You should not love the queen of the country, that is, the king's wife. This is the third vow. You should not eat the flesh of crows. This is the fourth vow.
4.
If you carry out these four vows, you will save yourself and the seeds of Dharma will fall into the soil of your life. Your life will become bright and radiant".
Vankachul listened to the Acharya with deep concentration. He recorded in his mind, the four vows and then thought. “The Acharya has not asked me to discard violence completely. He has merely exhorted me to move back seven paces before attacking any jiva with a weapon. This I can do. The second vow is that I should not eat any unknown fruit. Is there any fruit in the forest that I do not know ? In case, I happen to find an unknown fruit, I will not eat it. Even this vow, I can carry out. The third vow is that I should not make love to the queen of the country; that is, the wife of the king. Even this vow, I can easily carry out. So far, I have not been able to approach the queen and in future in case such an occasion arises, I can observe this vow with a firm mind. The fourth vow is that I should not eat the flesh of crows. In my life, so far, I have not eaten such flesh and in future also, I will not eat such flesh. All the four vows are easy to carry out. I will take these vows. How affectionate the Acharya has been in giving me these precepts ! He has not exhorted me to give up robbery. I can continue with my occupation". Vankachul said to the Acharya :
"Gurudev, I will receive these vows from you. I will carry them out with a firm mind”. He received the vows. After bidding farewell to the Acharya and the sadhus he returned to the village.
We can see here three qualities of intelligence in Vankachul namely Sushrusha (the desire to hear precepts), Shravan (hearing precepts), Grahan (comprehending the precepts). He desired to hear spiritual precepts. He heard them and he received them.
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