Aptavani-2
151
If the boss tells his staff, “Look here! We must have this
much extra material left over for every forty yards”, he is
encouraging and instigating (anumodana) his staff to cheat. He
commits the wrongful act himself, he makes others do so or
encourages others to do; it is all considered raudradhyan.
Raudradhyan continues all daylong and people have lost their
morals as Jains.
What are the qualities of a true Jain? How can you call
yourself a Jain when you are in a difficult position, and someone
comes to you for help and he gets to know of your problems?
That man must get help. His expectations cannot be shattered.
Ultimately he must get some assistance, no matter how little. If
you cannot help him financially, help him at least in some other
way. You should ask him if you can help him in some other way.
The poor man comes to you for help because you are a Jain and
a businessman, what is the point if he returns home disappointed?
What do you think? Is what ‘we’ say right or wrong?
People will sit under a tree for shade because the tree
looks good, but what would happen if the tree were to attack
them? That is how these businessmen attack their workers: ‘You
are useless’ ‘You are like this’ or ‘You are like that’, etc. A
person is able to abuse poor people in this way because they do
not have any power. People abuse their hired help all day long.
If a worker drops a glass and breaks it, the boss will insult him
with comments like, “What is wrong with your hands; are they
broken?” Does the boss have any idea where his next birth will
be when he behaves this way? And if the worker’s hands were
broken, he would have never employed him in the first place.
People have become the ‘doers’ of karma; they believe they
know everything. In order to fulfill our roles in life, the Lord has
said for us to do things in a superfluous (dramatic) manner; we
are to play our roles perfectly as if we are in a drama. Instead
people believe, “I am the doer. Who will do it if I am no longer
around?” Such bhaav and belief binds karmas; they bind heavy