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gather all his fellow crows. This act depicts his selflessness
and concern for others which is a great virtue. Hence he is
white and bright.

Those who are selfish and unconcerned about others are
black; while those who have a selfless attitude and are
concerned about others are considered white.

Having concern for others is real humanity :

The human race should learn a lesson from the crows that
having a good appearance and wearing good clothes is not
sufficient. You should be good from inside. Your heart should
be pure. For this you should ignore all your self interests
and willingly help others, ensure that your belongings prove
useful to others and constantly think about others’ welfare.
Our words and actions should not create problems for others.
If you do not possess such an attitude, then you will be
worse than the crows. If the foolish crows also possess such
understanding, then what to say about the so called intelligent
humans ? Where is humanity gone ?

The Guru’s clarification shocked the disciple. He thought,

“O, what a great religion Jainism is ! Great are its principles
and consults ! According to it, I respected my Guru’s words,
I accepted the crow to be white and I was saved from the
sin of disrespecting and contradicting my Guru. Instead if I
would have contradicted my Guru’s words and argued with
him saying, “How can a crow be white ? Even a little child

will say that a crow is black.” Then it would have resulted in
the disrespect of my Guru in front of everyone. If he would
have proved me wrong and disclosed his deep thought then it
would have resulted in my disrespect in front of others. How
great is Jinshasan ! How great are its principles !
14. Sita’s Devoted Sons – Lavana and Ankush 77