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DISCOURSE 91
249
From the Audience : The Acharya must have been a man of great patience. He administered those vows after deep thinking
THE ACHARYA MUST BE FARSIGHTED
Maharajashri : This is the speciality of an Acharya, who is a profound scriptural scholar. He had farsightedness. He knew the propriety of time. When Vankachul said to him, "You may stay in our village but you should not preach Dharma to us”, if the acharya had started giving precepts thus, "No. You must listen to spiritual exhortations. By this means, you can attain spiritual knowledge. You can attain the knowledge of the path of salvation and of sin and merit. You must listen to spiritual exhortations because you have got this opportunity without any effort on your part", what would have happened ? The Acharya and his disciples would not have stayed in the village. They would have had to wander in the forest in pouring rain. Vankachul and the other villagers were dacoits. They were not concerned with the Atmo, (the soul) or the Paramatma (the supreme soul). They were not concerned with sin or merit. They did not care for them. The second point was a compelling necessity. The dacoits did not need the help of the sadhus. The sadhus needed the help of the dacoits. We have to accept the conditions put forth by those, whose help is necessary. The Acharya was a thoughtful man and he accepted the conditions of Vankachul. He respected those conditions as long as he stayed in that village. He gave some spiritual exhortation to Vankachul only after leaving that village and after crossing the border of that village, that too, after having inspired in Vankachul the desire to hear his precepts.
As long as a man does not desire to hear spiritual exhortations, they should not be preached to him. What benefit can those people derive from listening to discourses when they come here to hear discourses only as a matter of daily routine without any genuine desire to hear discourses. They do not derive any benefit from the discourses. Either they sleep while the discourse is going on or they begin thinking of other things.
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