6. SOCIAL AND CIVIL REGULATIONS

D: Is it necessary for a spiritual aspirant to take note of the social and civil regulations, for no sin accrues by not adhering to them?

A: These regulations should be followed as faithfully as the scriptural injunctions. It is we who set up these rules and that too, only for our convenience. Hence, it is unbecoming of a wise person not to follow them.

D: How will any sin accrue by not obeying these laws?

A: No sin may accrue but if we transgress these codes of conduct, we will have to face appropriate punishments. For instance, there is a rule that one should keep to the left of the road while driving. If we overlook this, we may meet with an accident. This is, of course, a form of punishment.

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❑ Discourses of Acharyal

There are norms relating to the attires of a policeman, a soldier, an office-goer and a purohita. When the norms are observed, there is an elegance. On the other hand, if an official were to go to his office with a pañcakaccha Dhoti for a lower garment and a brahmavastra for an upper garment and with a bundle of darbha grass in his hand, people at this place of work would wonder where they should send him, to a lunatic asylum or to a place where religious rites are conducted. Alternatively, if a purohita were to put on trousers, a shirt and a cap and enter a house to perform religious rites, the inmates would not know where to seat him.

Suppose a policeman were to wear a Dhoti, don a tie, put on a cap and stand on the road, what would people say? “Everything seems topsy turvy. Below and above this man’s waist, we see products of different cultures. Is he mad?”, they would wonder. On the other hand, if he were to come wearing the appropriate uniform, people would think, “Oh! A policeman has come. Let us be careful.”

Though dress regulations are normally applicable, there do exist justifiable exceptions. A man belonging to the C.I.D may disguise himself as a woman and go about in a saree. Alternatively, though not having studied the Veda-s, he may disguise himself as an orthodox purohita. A member of a drama troupe may, while performing on stage, don an attire that is totally unsuitable for his normal, day-to-day life. There is the rule that only a person who has duly got a degree in law and registered himself as a lawyer can defend in the High Court, a person accused of a crime. Nevertheless, there is an exception. A person who is accused of having committed a murder can conduct his own defence. It is a major offence for a person to cut open the abdomen of another with a knife. However, this rule too has an exception. A qualified surgeon is permitted to not only cut open the abdomen of a patient but to also take out a piece of the patient’s intestines. Thus, even with regard to activities, there are rules and exceptions. As in the case of worldly matters, there are norms and exceptions with regard to what is ordained by the scriptures. Worldly and scriptural rules of conduct should be carefully observed.

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