Acharya Tulsi
Someone brought a newspaper and said, “Here, there is criticism of the ‘intellectuals Meet’ you ought to say something about it." Without looking at the newspapers. I Said, brother it is our fate to be criticised. Whatever the Acharaya of Terapanth does— and it may be very good work indeed—he will be subjected to criticism." Now criticism is of two kinds—high—level constructive criticism and accusatory. High level criticism even if not laudatory, at least contains an objective assessment of facts which is something desirable. Accusatory criticism is aimed at obstructing work or merely downgrading an individual. It has no substance in it. It is our policy not to take any notice of such criticism. If you do not add any fuel to the fire, it extinguishes of itself, similarly, low-level criticism, if not responded to, dies of itself. To react to a wrong is to encourage it. Because when a slanderer knows that his slander has caused disturbance to its victim, he feels much gratified. The man, who is accustomed to seeing evil in others, cannot change his habit. A poet has said,
However handsome the body may be, the flies seek in it the festering wound. Similarly, however beautiful a poem may be, carping the critic would always find a blemish in it.
The ‘Intellectual Meet’ held at Delhi on 16 and 17 August was a unique conference of its kind. About 400 intellectuals got together despite the panic created by terrorism, Every day, they ‘ held 6-hour meetings to analyse the present and contemplate the future. Those who witnessed the event felt that it was something unique, and that more such initiatives are required. But confirmed fault-finders cannot find good anywhere. A verse from Rajashri Bharatrihari is very apt in this connection:
ls there a quality of the virtuous person which is not derided by the wicked. If he is shy, he is found to be lacking in animation; if he is restrained in his conduct, he is called a hypocrite; his purity is termed a fraud his valour cruelty; his very simplicity a mark of stupidity. lf he is sweet tongued, he is called poor and humble; his brilliance and impressiveness is looked down upon as savouring of pride; if he is a radical orator, he is called a chatterer; if he is steady and quiescent, he is termed a gutless fool.
What should a virtuous man do under these circumstances’? Should he destroy his individuality altogether? In this context, l firmly believes that one should not be disturbed by superficial criticism. The right approach, in a poet's words, is that.
A man's speech is determined by the quality of his intelligence. One should not, therefore, mind what a slanderer says.
The poet Kabir goes to the extent of saying that for ready criticism of one‘s actions, one should keep a censor at hand. Let one make for him a small cottage in one's own courtyard, so that he is available at all times.
Those given to criticism or slandering find in it great satisfaction. if merely criticising or slandering another makes them happy, why baulk them of their gratification?
Those indulging in shallow criticism have turned their profession into a business. People do not want to pay them for indulging in such criticism. Why then stand in the way of their profit? if through such criticism, some people make a living, why make an effort to deprive them of their livelihood?
So I said to the man who had brought the newspaper, "We are doing our work. Let the critics do their job. This should actually inspire us to be more wakeful. If there is any truth in their criticism, we accept it. Otherwise we ignore it. Many a time in our life we have seen that only those who concentrate upon their work, irrespective of praise or blame, make any progress. One thing more noteworthy in this connection is that only those who are lively and full of enterprising spirit invite criticism; the spineless are simply ignored. Our work attracted lot of praise, but we were not flattered. And cheap criticism has not made us stop working. Indifferent to praise or blame, we go on with our work without losing our equilibrium. A time comes when the censure loses its sting and those who take pleasure in censuring, repent.
The editor of a newspaper that stigmatized us for a year came to me and said, "AcharyaShri Kindly give me your blessings."
I said to him, "You abused us to your heart's content. But did we ever curse you? is it not in itself a blessing?"
I think that no work goes forwards without criticism. So criticism should be welcome. To react to shallow criticism is like spitting into the sky. One should ignore such criticism altogether and go on with one's work.
