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90
Journey into Jainism
The Value of Calmness
Once a teacher and a disciple, who was yet in his teens, were walking to a village. It was raining and there were puddles of water all around. Suddenly a frog came under the foot of the teacher and died. The disciple drew his teacher's attention to it and asked him if he was going to repent for his deed. Turning a little, the teacher looked at the disciple rather angrily, then proceeded further without a word.
The disciple thought, “I should not have spoken so to the teacher while walking. When the teacher reaches the destination, I should ask him atout it politely”. However, when the two reached their abode, the disciple bowed down and repeated the same words to his guru. The teacher looked at the disciple with anger and again busied himself with his work.
The disciple thought, "It was not the proper time for such a request. I should have brought it up after the pratikraman.” However, after the pratikraman, when he again asked him about his lapse, the teacher lost his temper and ran after the disciple with a stick in hand, saying, “Stop a bit and I shall tell you how I killed the frog."
When the teacher began to hit him, the disciple ran and hid in a safe place. The teacher, blinded with rage, hardly knew what was going on. Suddenly he collided against a pillar and breathed his last. At that
