| Discourses On Gita By Acharya Vinoba Bhave |
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| Discourses On Gita |
| INTRODUCTION : THE YOGA OF DESPONDENCY |
| 9. Here I am reminded of the story
of a judge. He had sent hundreds of criminals to the gallows, but one
day his
own son was produced before him, accused of murder. His guilt was proved beyond doubt, the
time had now
come for the judge to pass sentence of death on his own son. But then he began to hesitate.
He called all his
ingenuity to his aid and began to argue thus: "The death penalty is most inhuman;
inflicting such punishment is no credit to man. All hope of reform is
destroyed.
The man who committed murder did so in the heat of excitement when he was beside himself. When the madness has passed from him, to take him coolly and calmly to the gallows and kill him is a disgrace to human society; it is a great crime." He thought up many such arguments. If his own son had not been brought before him, the Honorable Judge would have gone on relentlessly condemning people to death for the rest of his life. But now, because of partiality for his own son, he argued thus. This was not the voice of his inmost self; it was born of his attachment. "This is my son", he thought; and from this sense of attachment sprang all those high-sounding words. |
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