Pratikraman: The Key That Resolves All Conflicts (Full Version) Pratikraman: The Key That Resolves All Conflicts | Page 107

48 Pratikraman
what Lord Mahavir has said Himself ? But if we ask the ascetics ( sadhus , monks ), ‘ Has the Lord said this ?’ they will say , ‘ Of course the Lord has said that .’ But they do not include themselves in it ; they do not feel it applies to them . They will say , ‘ People have become like that ,’ but everyone says the same thing so it is not applicable to anyone , is it ? No one takes the blame . So then go back to Lord Mahavir , and start all over again !
Although ‘ we ’ make such statements , ‘ we ’ have already done pratikraman before speaking in this manner . However , you should not speak such things . Although ‘ we ’ speak so harshly and point out mistakes , ‘ we ’ speak out of compassion and ‘ we ’ see everyone as flawless ( nirdosh ). Someone has to make the world understand all this . People need to be explained the truth and the reality exactly as it is .
But one thing is for sure : during the times of the middle twenty-two Tirthankars , people were very good at doing pratikraman . Therefore , they did not fall on the wrong track and thus they made good progress . That is very good .
Questioner : The pratikraman they did , was it like the one we do , the ‘ shoot-on-sight ’ kind ? Please explain this in detail .
Dadashri : Yes , the ‘ shoot-on-sight ’ kind . But that was not the path to moksha . By doing this pratikraman , it helped them in their worldly life ; it helped to attain a better life form in their subsequent life . It gave them a good life and helped keep away misery and obstacles in life . They would not bind enmity and revenge . Therefore , it was a path of worldly happiness . And those who wanted to go to moksha ; it helped them on their path to moksha . It helped them in both ways .
And look at this pratikraman , this padakmanu . The maharaj speaks padakmanu and the rest listen . And then people talk amongst themselves . If we ask them the meaning of