Acharya Mahaprajna
It is the nature of the wind to blow; yet it might cease to blow. The mountain is solid; yet it might become liquid. The water is generally cold; yet it might start boiling. All this is possible but a man afflicted with attachment and aversion can never be trustworthy.
Only that man is credible who is free from attachment and aversion. Only he who is honest can be trustworthy. Honesty, integrity, is the greatest thing in the world. He, who has no honesty, cannot be religious. The foundation of religion is - honesty, truth. Lord Mahavira says-'Truth is God." Truth is complete identity between word and deed. The scales weigh equally, without showing any partiality to anyone. The measure of a meter is the same for all. Is it not a great fraud, when a man, who does not want even his watch to be incorrect, practises dishonesty in his life? The man, who has understood religion even a little, will strive to lead a life of complete integrity. With a view to introducing probity in life, Lord Mahavira framed certain rules. If a monk borrows from a householder a scissors to cut his nails, he must not use it to cut cloth, because he has borrowed it for the specific purpose of cutting his nails. If some article of food prescribed for a sick person is brought, only the sick monk for whom it is brought, must eat it, nobody else, if a householder offers some tea for a particular monk to drink; else it must be surrendered: no other monk can take it. There are many such rules for leading a life of utmost rectitude.
Without uprightness, there can be no trust. During the course of reading Brihadkalpa, we came across the story of a hunter and his hound. The hunter said. ”There! There!” and made his hound run and it killed and fetched a deer. Once again the hunter said, "There! But the dog sat still and made not the slightest effort to move. A doubt developed in his mind; he could trust his master no longer. Where there is deceit, there can be no integrity. You can fool a person once or twice, not all the time. Today, dishonesty and corruption prevail in every sphere. In Sutrakritanga, Lord Mahavira says: "Do not lose all for a little!"
