The Moral Vision
The Greatest Asset
~ 203 ~
Contemporary comment had it that “the people did
not save the Taj Mahal, it was saved by its own
beauty. If the Taj Mahal had not been beautiful, it
would not have won such overwhelming support;
Hindus and Muslims would not have united behind
it to foil the British government’s designs.”
Had the constructors of the Taj Mahal been able to
reproduce in themselves the beauty which they
produced so perfectly in their work of construction,
they too would have been protected by their own
quality. Just as virtue in a thing wins support for its
cause, so virtue in humans has the same effect. It
wins one friends from the enemy camp,
appreciation even from strangers. A virtuous nature
is the greatest asset a person can have, for with it
comes support from all quarters.
The Taj Mahal’s virtue lies in its beauty, while
man’s beauty lies in a virtuous nature. But man’s
beauty should not be like that of a snake—a
beautiful appearance marred by a venomous sting.
How do men “sting”? By presenting a challenge to
people’s political and economic interests; by
repeatedly resorting to violence in their dealings
