z:\ ambedkar\vol 011\vol11 04.indd MK SJ+YS 5 10 2013/YS 18 11 2013 298
298 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
“No, Lord.”
“Why?” “Because there are no dark patches in the air,” said the Bhikkus.
III
“In the same way you must not have any dark patches in your mind which are the reflections of your evil passions.”
“Suppose a man comes with a blazing wisp of bracken to set the River Ganges on fire. Could he do it ? ”
“No, Lord.”
“Why?” “Because the Ganges has no combustibility in its water.”
Concluding his address, the Blessed Lord said : “Just as the earth does not feel hurt and does not resent, just as the air does not lend to any action against it, just as the Ganges water goes on flowing without being disturbed by the fire so also you Bhikkus must bear all insults and injustices inflicted on you and continue to bear Maitri towards your offenders.
“So almsmen, Maitri must flow and flow for ever. Let it be your sacred obligation to keep your mind as firm as the earth, as clean as the air and as deep as the Ganges. If you do so your Maitri will not be easily disturbed, by an act however unpleasant. For all who do injury will soon be tired out.
“Let the ambit of your Maitri be as boundless as the world and let your thought be vast and beyond measure in which no hatred is thought of.
“According to my Dhamma, it is not enough to practise Karuna. It is necessary to practise Maitri.”
In the course of the sermon the Blessed Lord told a story to the almsmen which is worth remembering.
“Once upon a time there lived in Shravasti a lady named Videshika, who was reputed gentle and meek, and mild. She had a maid servant named Darkie, a bright girl, an early riser and a good worker. ‘I wonder,’ thought Darkie, ‘whether my mistress, who is so well spoken of, has really got a temper of her own which she does not show or whether she has got no temper at all ? Or do I do my work so well,