There is a story. A teacher wanted to test his three students. He gave them each a hen made of flour and said, "Cut his neck where no one can see." The prince went. The teacher's son went. Narada also went. The prince went to the forest and thought nobody could see him there. He broke the neck and came home. The teacher's son thought that in the open birds would see him, so he went into a cave and broke the neck there. Narada went far into the forest into a desolate place. Then he went deep into a cave. In pitch darkness he thought nobody would see. About to break the neck, he stopped. He felt his soul was watching him.

"The teacher's orders were not to break the neck when anybody was seeing. There is no second person, but myself. I can see, my soul can see. The Lord can see. The free soul is seeing." Narada returned with the hen.

The next day the disciples went back to their teacher. He asked, "The hen made of flour was insentient. Have you all killed it?" Replied the prince, "Here is the neck and the body. I went into the forest and strangled it." The teacher's son said, "I went into a cave and broke it. Even a bird could not see it here. I followed your instructions verbatim." Narada said, "Sir! I was not able to follow your instructions. I walked hundred of miles into the dense forest. There was no man, bird or beast. There was nobody there. I went into a cave where there was only darkness. I wanted to kill the hen there. But my soul was watching me. The all-prevailing lord was seeing. How could I find a place where I was not being watched by lord? Helpless, I came home."

The teacher praised Narada.

The man who is aware that the soul and the lord see everything is wise. Through this wisdom he develops non-violence. The ignorant man misuses this knowledge.

A lady was bathing with her clothes on. Another one saw her and asked, "Sister, why are you bathing with your clothes on? They will get wet. Bathe alone and take off all your clothes." She replied, "Oh! You don't understand. The sacred texts say that the lord sees everything. How can I take off my clothes before him? So I bathe with my clothes on."

When knowledge or wisdom is not awakened, facts can be misused. If there is balance, such a situation wouldn't arise. The one who has the perspective of anekanta (multiplicity of dimensions) does not take a single dimensional view of things and twist logic like that woman. He does not mismanage his affairs but puts it to use and proves its validity like Narada. This is possible only through balance.

In the explanation of the universal laws, anekanta has lent balance. Even in the world of conduct and thoughts, anekanta plays an important role. Restraint and equanimity are the results of anekanta. Without the anekanta view there would be no reason for restraint. Through anekanta we accept the coexistence of opposites. Nothing in this world is without limits. There is need for equanimity. Loss and gain, both are to be accepted, they co-exist. There is no distance between happiness and sorrow, or between life and death, they go together. Sometimes one feels happy and life seems bright. Other times life seems miserable.

Where is the distance between water pulleys? It is one chain. The wheels bring in water, empty it and return. Wheels empty and full keep coming and going. They work together. Similarly joy and sorrow work together. Life and death work together. There is no second that belongs entirely to life or to death. The first second of life is also that of death. Death is not an event that takes place after 70-80 years. It can be in the very first second.

With the first second of birth the event of death also takes place. The one who does not die in the first second will become immortal, he will never die. The one who is not born in the first second cannot be created. Every object experiences birth every second. Creation and destruction go hand in hand. One cannot find a man who has been only praised, never condemned or always condemned and never praised. Both go together. The balance is maintained.