Self - Deception
K. V. Mardia presents a parable illustrating how important it is for us to distinguish between Truth and Illusion.
Once upon a time there was a man. He was traveling with a party which happened to pass through a thick forest full of wild beasts and robbers. In the middle of the forest, they were attack by a band of robbers. The party fled fled for their lives in all directions; the man became separated from the group, and lost his way. When he looked back to see where he was, he saw a mad elephant running furiously towards him. He released that if did not find shelter, he would be killed instantly by the elephant. Noticing a well, he thought " This elephant is sure to kill me, but I may perhaps save myself by jumping into this well." So he jumped into the well, grasping one of the branches of a banyan tree overhanging the well.
At the bottom of the well, the man saw a huge python ready to sallow him, should he fall, and at the bottom, on the four sides of the well, he could see four cobras hissing at him. Two rats one white and one black, were eating away the branch of the banyan tree which supported him. At the top of this branch there was a beehive full of bees circling around him. The elephant was standing on the brink of the well and as he tried to capture the man with its mighty trunk, it made the branch move to and fro, while causing some drops of honey to falls on the man lips. At that moment, a monk happened to arrive at the side of the well opposite to the elephant, and offer to help rescue the man from the well. However he seemed to be momentarily satisfied with the situation whilst he had the sweet taste of honey on his lips. He did not realize that the branch of the tree would be uprooted by the elephant and he would fall down only to swallowed by the python.
This whole drama is a symbol of the delusional state of man. The forest is the cycle of Birth and Death, and the man in the forest is the ordinary, worldly Man. The mad elephant that run after him is Death; the well is his earthly life; the python the symbol of the lowest state of existence (Hell). The four cobras are the symbols of the Anger, Greed, Ego and Deceit (the four man Passions). The branch of the banyan tree represent the short duration of this earthly life. The two rats, white and black, represent Time, day and night, which exhaust his earthly his earthly span. The bees in the hive are organs of the Senses and the honey drops represents the sensuous Pleasures. The monk represent the True Religion. So the whole drama come down to this : the common man, ignoring the fact that his life may be cut off at any time by death, satisfies himself by enjoying sensuous pleasures and is oblivious to the truths offered by philosophy: he is being influenced by anger, greed, ego and deceit.
Kanti Mardia is Professor of Statistics at the University of Leeds. He is the author of 'The Scientific Foundation of Jainism' (Motilal Banarsidas, 2nd Edition, 1998) and founder of the Yorkshire Jain Foundation in Leads, England.
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Source : From Jain Spirit, London, U. K.
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Mail to : Ahimsa Foundation
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