Clever animals   Long, long ago there lived in India a crow, with the peculiar name Bhushandi. It was in the time when Rama, prince of Ayodhya, lived on earth. Now some people had understood that this noble and heroic prince was actually God Himself, living on earth as a man, playing out a divine drama. As Rama roamed through forests in search of his wife, Sita, who had been stolen, many forest-tribes and even animals became his friends and admirers. About him there was something that drew them; his face shone and his words were blessings. Bhushandi the crow heard and saw all this, but had serious doubt that Rama was God, and remained skeptical. In the forest one day he insulted the prince -- maybe just to see what would happen! Rama, a fabulous archer, took after the crow with his bow and arrow. Bhushandi began to soar higher and higher in the sky because everywhere he looked he saw Rama coming after him. Beyond the high Himalayas, holding his breath, passing the stratosphere into ionosphere, till life became impossible, he flew and flew, and everywhere there was Rama. Bhushandi plunged again to earth and, creeping through the underbrush, tried to evade his pursuer. There too, Rama! What to do? Finally the crow surrendered and laid himself at Rama's feet. Now Rama, being God, could do strange things. He picked up Bhushandi and swallowed him whole. But where do you think the crow found himself? Seated in his own nest on a forest tree! His pride crushed, he now realized that though Rama looked like any other person, He contained in His stomach, so to say, the entire universe -- sky, sun, moon, ocean, rivers, humans, animals and trees. Why do I call Bhushandi clever? Because he learned his lesson.     When Rama and his brother Lakshmana were in exile, they wandered through the forests to gather food, make new friends for their cause, to ward off possible enemies and to look for signs of Sita's whereabouts. One day they came to the lake named Pampa. They sometimes bathed here. Hot and tired, they decided to refresh themselves with a bath. On their backs they had their quivers of arrows and in their hands the heavy bow which served as their trusty weapon. They thrust the ends of their bows into the moist earth at the edge of the lake and, unloading the arrows from their backs, entered the lake. When they had finished their bath and returned to their belongings, Rama discovered, when he picked up his bow, there was blood on the lower end of it. "Look, brother," he said, "maybe we have injured some creature!" Lakshmana dug a bit in the soil where the bow had been stuck and found a large bullfrog, stabbed and dying. "Why didn't you croak?" Rama said to it sorrowfully. "You felt us approach; you always croak loudly enough when a snake has got hold of you!" Wiser than most, that frog had recognized who Rama really was. He replied, "At the approach of a snake I cry, 'O Rama, O Lord, save me, save me!' Now I saw it was Rama himself who was stabbing me, so I kept still." Even death is nothing if you are in the hands of the Lord! Clever animals -- heroic animals.   from the Ramayana     There was in ancient India a dog whose name was Dharma and who got into heaven. The way he did it was this. He followed the Pandavas, a family of six pilgrims, up into the high Himalaya mountains. They were on their last pilgrimage, the one that closes our life on earth. When they would reach the summit of the highest peak, the heavens would open and they would enter in: that was the Lord's promise to them. The climb was difficult and very steep, and they ran out of food, so of course there was none for Dharma either. One by one, five of the party fell down faint and perished. Only the leader reached the top, but there was the dog at his side, faithfully following over ice and snow. Heaven opened to receive this noble leader, who saw his brothers were already inside. "Enter," said the guardians of heaven, "but you can't bring in the dog; dogs do not go to heaven." "What! When he has been my faithful companion all this way? If he cannot come with me, I go not into heaven. Do as you like." The guardians had to relent and Dharma and the king went in together.   from the Mahabharata     This world is like a big fish-net that fishermen drag through the water to make their catch. People are the fish, and they get caught, attracted by all the bright and pretty things in the water, and by the "flies" and baited hooks, often leading them to disaster. Some try to pretend they are not caught, by burrowing into the mud of the lake. Some poke their heads through the holes in the net, but sadly they (their "egos") are too big to go through. Still, these are at least looking for the way out. Only a few jump high out of the net with a big splash, and people say, "Oh, there goes a big one!" These are the clever fish, the sages and saints who find their freedom. But the cleverest fish of all (and they are very rare) are the ones who see the net and avoid it altogether, suspecting that this contraption, the world, is likely to catch them.   Sri Ramakrishna     Sri Ramakrishna used to say that people who have self-control, over their mind and senses, are like that very special animal, the tortoise. The tortoise, you know, when it is attacked by an enemy too large for it to fight, draws its limbs, head and tail and its four legs inside its hard shell. It sits still, armored and unmoving. At the first hint of danger it protects its soft parts in this way. "After that," says Ramakrishna, "it will not put out its limbs," even to see what is happening; -- "not even if you chop it up with an ax." And people who are not attached to outside things, to sense-objects, and who hold fast to their purpose, he would compare to the tortoise.     In our stories of wise animals we come now to that magic crane who held the Pandava brothers hostage. The five Pandava brothers were lost in the forest and about to die of thirst. They were overjoyed when one of them climbed a tall tree and saw, not far off, cranes and other water birds gathered in one spot. Yudhi-sthira, the oldest, said to the youngest, Nakula, "Now go off in that direction, find the lake and bring back water to us. We are about to die." Nakula set off and found a lovely small lake of crystal-clear water, surrounded by grasses in which there were many birds and other small animals. As he knelt down to take the precious water in his palm, a loud voice said: "Stop! I am the crane who owns this lake; this water belongs to me. You must answer my questions before you drink, or you will die." Nakula paid no attention, drank from the lake, and fell down senseless. When he did not return, the next elder, Sahadeva, was sent in search of him, and the same thing happened to him. Yudhi-sthira was sure that skillful Arjuna would uncover the mystery of why no one came back with water, and sent him. When Arjuna got to the lake and saw his brothers lying there he wanted to examine them, but first he had to have water.When he heard the crane's command he politely told him, "I will answer your questions when I have wetted my throat and can speak." "Wait!" said the crane. "Answer first." Arjuna, already drinking, fell down to the ground. Second brother Bhima was a large and fearsome warrior. Desperate now, Yudhi-sthira said, "Brother, it is you alone who can save us now. Go, and with your God-given strength, your mighty frame and threatening manner, overcome whatever evil force is working here." When Bhima found the lake and saw his brothers lying lifeless on the ground he was enraged. "What wretch has taken these lives and hides from me?" he shouted. The crane, sitting up in a tree calmly replied, "I will take yours too, if you do not answer my questions at once." But Bhima 's thirst was unbearable. "What! Some spirit in a crane's body? Just you wait until..." and he drank. After some time Yudhi-sthira, agitated, arrived on the scene. Weeping, he stroked the faces of his brothers. He found that there was no sign of wound or struggle. "Evidently the water is poisoned," he thought. Besides, as eldest in the family, he had practiced for years endurance of hardships and all the spiritual disciplines expected of the Crown Prince, and had much patience. Now he heard the crane:   "The water will quench your thirst and is pure. But first you must answer my questions -- which your brothers did not do."   "Ask, then," said the Pandava prince.   "What makes the sun shine everyday?"   "The power of Brahman," replied Yudhi-sthira.   "What moves more swiftly than the wind?"   "The mind moves more swiftly than the wind."   "What accompanies people when they die?"   "Dharma, righteousness alone."   "What is that, if one gives it up, one is loved by all?"   "Pride."   "What is that, if one gives it up, one becomes rich?"   "Desire."   "What is the greatest wonder in the world?"   "People see others dying every day, yet somehow feel that they will never die."   "You have answered well and proven yourself worthy. Your brothers are not really dead; they are in a coma. Behold them restored."   They were and the crane disappeared.   from the Mahabharata     Aum | About | Calendar | Articles | Stories | On-line books Bulletin board | Books & tapes | Links | Search | Contact