Ramdas Iyer tries to get converted to Vishnusarman
I DEDICATE THIS POSTS TO READERS LIKE MY SON ADITYA AND DEEPUCUTE TO WHOM I HOPE I WILL BE IMPARTING WISDOM LIKE VISHNUSHARMA DID IN THE PANCHATANTRA
(This story is not from the Panchatantra)
A washerman had a donkey. He used it to carry his load of dirty cloths to the river bank, to be washed daily. One day, the washerman heard that there was a village fair going on in a neighbouring village. He took a day off and went to visit the fair with the donkey.
In the fair, he saw a beautiful image of Goddess Parvati made by an artisan. The Image looked so real and divine, that the washerman felt compelled to buy it. He haggled with the artisan over the price and ultimately bought it. His wish was, to take the image back to his village, build a small temple and install the image in that temple. He placed the image on the back of the donkey and started walking back home.
On the way, the washerman passed through three other villages. In each village, the villagers, seeing the beauty of the Goddess, fell to the floor and prostrated before the image. They chanted prayers to the deity. In two of these villages, the village Headman himself prostrated before the deity and prayed to her. Such was the divinity of the Goddess. Now the Donkey was amused. It didn’t really know what was it, that it was carrying on its back. But it saw great men falling at its feet and prostrating and praying before it. By the time the donkey reached its own village, it was convinced that it had somehow, during its trip to the neighbouring village, assumed some form of divinity. Well, it thought, I am a god now!
Soon the washerman reached his village. Having reached his home, he brought down the image of the deity and installed it in their pooja room. He then asked the donkey to proceed to its shed. The donkey was shocked. Imagine a mere washerman asking it to go to a shed, when the headmen of two villages had prostrated before it! Wasn’t it DD, the Divine Donkey? The poor washerman must have gone mad!! The donkey therefore refused to budge from the place.
Thereupon, the washerman brought out his stick, beat the donkey severely and kicked it back to its shed.
MORAL: People in high positions, like our bosses (and many a time, we ourselves), do not understand that the respect that one commands, is on account of the seat that one occupies, very much like the donkey who did not realize that the respect accorded to it was on account of the image of the Goddess placed on its back. Once the Image was removed, the donkey became a mere donkey again. Similarly people in high position need to realize their source of their power, and refrain from idiotic postures, lest they get beaten up like the poor donkey. HAPPY DEEPAVALI TO ALL OF YOU. I THOUGHT I MUST WRITE ABOUT SOMETHING OTHER THAN MYSELF, THIS DEEPAVALI, HENCE THIS PIECE. IF YOU LIKED IT, LET ME KNOW. I WILL QUIT WRITING ABOUT MYSELF COMPLETELY, AND WRITE SUCH THINGS INSTEAD.
(This story is not from the Panchatantra)
A washerman had a donkey. He used it to carry his load of dirty cloths to the river bank, to be washed daily. One day, the washerman heard that there was a village fair going on in a neighbouring village. He took a day off and went to visit the fair with the donkey.
In the fair, he saw a beautiful image of Goddess Parvati made by an artisan. The Image looked so real and divine, that the washerman felt compelled to buy it. He haggled with the artisan over the price and ultimately bought it. His wish was, to take the image back to his village, build a small temple and install the image in that temple. He placed the image on the back of the donkey and started walking back home.
On the way, the washerman passed through three other villages. In each village, the villagers, seeing the beauty of the Goddess, fell to the floor and prostrated before the image. They chanted prayers to the deity. In two of these villages, the village Headman himself prostrated before the deity and prayed to her. Such was the divinity of the Goddess. Now the Donkey was amused. It didn’t really know what was it, that it was carrying on its back. But it saw great men falling at its feet and prostrating and praying before it. By the time the donkey reached its own village, it was convinced that it had somehow, during its trip to the neighbouring village, assumed some form of divinity. Well, it thought, I am a god now!
Soon the washerman reached his village. Having reached his home, he brought down the image of the deity and installed it in their pooja room. He then asked the donkey to proceed to its shed. The donkey was shocked. Imagine a mere washerman asking it to go to a shed, when the headmen of two villages had prostrated before it! Wasn’t it DD, the Divine Donkey? The poor washerman must have gone mad!! The donkey therefore refused to budge from the place.
Thereupon, the washerman brought out his stick, beat the donkey severely and kicked it back to its shed.
MORAL: People in high positions, like our bosses (and many a time, we ourselves), do not understand that the respect that one commands, is on account of the seat that one occupies, very much like the donkey who did not realize that the respect accorded to it was on account of the image of the Goddess placed on its back. Once the Image was removed, the donkey became a mere donkey again. Similarly people in high position need to realize their source of their power, and refrain from idiotic postures, lest they get beaten up like the poor donkey. HAPPY DEEPAVALI TO ALL OF YOU. I THOUGHT I MUST WRITE ABOUT SOMETHING OTHER THAN MYSELF, THIS DEEPAVALI, HENCE THIS PIECE. IF YOU LIKED IT, LET ME KNOW. I WILL QUIT WRITING ABOUT MYSELF COMPLETELY, AND WRITE SUCH THINGS INSTEAD.
posted by Ramdas Iyer at 9:07 PM
5 Comments:
Very timely reminder ... Happy deepavali to you all.
Happy Diwali to all of you. Nice to see you come back again with a different theme.
hai , i am very sorry for the delay wish you all a happy diwali .
ramdas uncle: the story is good . u can write with a little more good theme which is interesting.
That was a good moral. Not to have too much pride and take things to head. I thing there was some other foolishesness commited by everyone in that story and another fact to be revealed.
The idol of the god.Donot YOu think it is stupidity to fall at the feet of an idol and spent much of time and money and of course food on stone satutes on the other hand people suffer without all these.
Or I have a suspicion that you are that washerman in the place of cheating people in the plan of bringing the stone statute to places in blogs and acting as a middle man to god fooling people around
very nice story!! :-)
Post a Comment
<< Home