There lived a jackal in a lush green forest. A small stream of clear water flowed in the middle of the forest. The jackal used to enjoy jumping in ditches near the stream splashing water and cooling his body. Once, a washerman washed his clothes near the stream. Some of his clothes left their colour and the coloured water accumulated in the ditches nearby. The jackal came to the stream to quench his thirst. Soon, he started jumping in the ditches which were filled with colored water. He jumped and splashed and enjoyed till he got tired and decided to join his group of jackals.
As he stepped out, he realized that he was now covered in colours. Since the ditches had a mix of colours, he saw that his left leg was now covered in red, his right leg was blue, his stomach was bright yellow, his paws were white and his tail was green. The jackal was overjoyed. He looked at himself from all angles and believed that he was now more beautiful than even the most colorful bird- peacock.
The proud jackal went to his friends and enjoyed the fact that everyone was staring at the beautiful colours which painted his body. The jackal, very proud of his beauty, ignored all his friends, and quickly become arrogant. His friends saw him acting weirdly and asked him, “why have you coloured yourself with these paints? You have become so proud that you have forgotten all your childhood friends. Why this stupid behavior?”
The jackal ignored their comments and continued with his haughty behavior. One jackal who used to be his close friend tried to reason with him. “What’s going on? We are not impressed with your looks. No one cares about these colors. Become your normal self soon or you will loose all your friends.”
The jackal was still unfazed. He told his friend, “just look at my amazing colours. Have you ever looked at something this beautiful? Observe my glory and bow before my majestical form. I am a manifestation of God’s beauty. The world has become a better place because of me.” He than turned other jackals and told them, “I am not one of you. Don’t ever call me a jackal. When is a jackal as magnificent as I am?”
The other jackals thought that their friend had gone mad. They started laughing and asked him,” if you are not a jackal that what are you? What should we call you?
“I am a magnificent male peacock, a manifestation of god’s beauty!, replied the jackal. “If you are a peacock, lets hear you sing”, replied his friends.
“Oh no, no, no, I can’t sing,” replied the jackal. The other jackals burst out laughing.
One day a pack of wild dogs came into the forest. The looked at the jackal and were surprised by his coloured body. The jackal, aloof and proud, told the pack of dogs, " I am a manifestation of Gods Beauty. I will be your king. All of you bow to me." Hearing this, the wild dogs were enraged and tore him to pieces.
All the other jackals pitied the stupid behavior of their friend.
The END
Learnings
1: This is a story about how ego is acquired and how we forget our real nature. We start behaving like the person whose colors we put on. We also enjoy the benefits of putting on a personality till the rude awakening comes from God about our real nature. However hard we may try, but our real essence does come out one day.
2: Many times in our life, we see that people who have acquired fame, power or money, start behaving very differently. The fame and wealth is no different from the colours acquired by the Jackal, who forgets his own friends and companions. Similarly, human beings forget their friends and relatives and start considering themselves superior when success comes to them. The Jackal depicts the human mind and how it takes various colours and starts believing itself to be superior to others.
3: This story is also a reminder to everyone to enquire about their real nature. Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita goes on to explain how our physical bodies are not our real nature and these are just clothes worn by the soul in each and every incarnation. It is very important to see and ask ourselves what is our real nature and what we are representing? What colours have we taken up? Pause for a moment and enquire, "Who am I really"?
4: This is also a reminder to us that when we perceive someone different from us, we start seeing him as either inferior or superior from us. The jackal perceived the other jackals to be inferior to him. It was easy for jackal’s friends to see through the false pride of jackal and call his bluff. If we make stupid claims, most people can see through it and understand what is going on. This story is also a great reminder how we should never try to get into the comparison of being inferior and superior to our peers and see everyone as an equal.
STORY CREDIT: This story has its source in the six volumes of Masnavi by Jalalu'din Rumi, translated by Maryam Mafi. Another version of this story appears in the Panchtantra by Vishnu Sharma. Panchtantra is possibly the oldest surviving collection of Indian fables having been written around 200 BC.
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