Four brahmins and the lion

This is another of a moral story in my series...I actually wanted to write about the 'Two Monks' but it was already expressed in a beautiful way by one of the bloggers I follow. So I dropped the idea immediately. :-)

So let us get on with this story, a story about four Brahmins and a lion. I think some of you may have had this in one of your language classes in school sometime or the other.

Once upon a time there were four Brahmin brothers who were walking in a forest. On reaching the dense part of the forest, they noticed some skeletons lying on the ground. As all the brothers were very well-read and scholarly, they could immediately recognize that the skeleton belonged to a lion. So the first brother told the rest of them, "Let me assemble this lion's skeleton using my deep knowledge." He put together the lion's skeleton in a jiffy. The second brother then wanted to show off his skills and added muscles to the lion's body. The third brother not wanting to hold himself back added blood and all the other essential life fluids to the lion. The fourth brother then said, "All of you have done great things, but let me now do the most difficult thing...allow me to give life to this dead lion."

The dead lion came to life and roared gloriously. This terrified the brahmins and they all climbed up the nearest tree. The lion climbed up the tree and killed all of the brahmins. Poor souls!

So the moral here is that no matter how intelligent or knowledgeable a person might be not having the power of discretion is a great handicap. In this era, we find people who are very scholarly, very intelligent, very well-read but they apply their knowledge and skills in 'waking up dead lions' or in different words in areas which are harmful to the existence of humanity. A good example is the invention of the atomic bombs. Many people with deep knowledge in several subjects are even using their powers and reach in maybe not creating atom bombs but in corrupting humanity in a more subtler sense. This will eventually lead to the total collapse of humanity one way or the other. So it is very essential that great minds do not give into their ego to come up with destructive creations. One good way to overcome the pull of your ego is to meditate. Just try it, you will not regret it!

Punyakoti - A touching story!

Since I posted a story with a moral in my last post, I thought why not continue in the same vein and post a few more stories with morals...actually Moral Science period was my favorite in school...I am not sure if they have those classes in schools now...I believe they should...

Anyways...Punyakoti was not from a Moral Science class but I read the story in the form of a poem in Kannada class. It was such a moving story that I started crying bucketfuls when my teacher was reciting the poem. The rest of the class was laughing at me and me being in 3rd grade, I was very embarrassed and at the same time wondering how come the other girls were not affected by the sadness in the poem.

So coming back to the present, the lyrics of the poem are so beautiful and touching. I feel this is one of the most beautiful poems of all time... For people who do not understand Kannada, the story is about a Cow named Punyakoti who gets trapped by a hungry Tiger. The cow promises the tiger that she would definitely become the tiger's next meal but first she would want to go see her little calf to feed her and also bade her last goodbye. The tiger doesn't trust the cow but the cow makes a solemn promise to return. She then goes over to her calf, feeds him and requests all the other cows to take care of him as their own child. She tells them not to trample him or stab him with their horns as he is soon going to be an orphan. (never fails to tear me up...this part..sniff..sniff)...
So finally the cow goes back to the tiger and surrenders herself at his feet. The tiger is amazed at the cow for keeping her promise and feels so ashamed of his behavior that he ends his life by falling off a cliff...

So that is the end of the story and the moral of this story is obviously...no matter what...even when it comes to the matter of life and death you have keep your word. So enjoy being true to yourself and to whoever you have promised. On the other hand, just to be safe...don't make a promise...! ;-)

I think the most difficult thing is being true to oneself. We generally make so many little promises to ourself like I promise to start eating healthy, I promise I will read that book next week...but do we always keep them? This is a very difficult question and many a times we convince ourselves sub-consciously that it is okay to not keep the promise today but maybe do it tomorrow. A lot many people including myself waste a lot of precious time making promises to ourself but never keeping them. The effect of this in addition to losing out on a lot of benefits which may be tangible are, we slowly start eroding our stock of personal integrity which causes more harm than good...I think I will stop here for now...but mull over this...