Page 70 - Courage Redifined

of his body and the place where he had to change his side
to prevent any small creature from getting harmed or killed.
After doing so, he changed sides.

The murderers changed mind :
The murderers were astonished, “Oh, this saint is careful
to not harm the tiniest creature even in his sleep. Such a
compassionate saint cannot have feelings of envy or hatred
for anyone. He cannot think bad about anyone or even think
of harming anyone. Then how can he think badly about his
opponent who has hired us to kill him ? His opponent is really
a fool to hire us for this work. But why should we behave
like fools ? Should we actually kill this compassionate saint
and enjoy the money earned by performing this dreadful act ?
No, we should not kill his great saint.”
What happened to the murderers ? The sight of the saint’s pure
ascetic conduct acted as a factor in changing the murderer’s
sinful mind. If you cannot be altered at any cost, then such
prime factors also cannot do anything. But it is a proven
fact that such factors are instrumental in suppressing and
gradually decreasing the intensity of the sinful mind. Also,
many sinful people in the past have experienced a turnover
which depicts that Anikachit Papanubandhi Punya can be
avoided and changed. A sinful mind can be changed into a
religious mind.
2) Appropriate efforts can change a sinful mind :

Just as a sinful mind can be changed due to some factors,
it can be altered due to appropriate efforts too. Even though
the mind is enveloped in sinful thoughts, if one constantly
keeps in touch with saints, listens to their religious sermons,
reads good spiritual books, then he can avoid sinful negative
thoughts for that particular time span. Also, instead of roaming
here and there, if you engage yourself in good activities like

60 Courage Redefined