Virtuous Animals

Do you know about the lion and rabbit story in Panchatantra? There was once a greedy lion that used to kill and terrorize animals just for the pleasure of it. All the animals in the forest went to the lion and made a pact with the lion. They asked the lion to stop the unnecessary killing and they would send an animal every day to the lion as his meal. The lion liked this agreement. One day it was the turn of an intelligent rabbit to become the lunch of the lion. It went to the lion very late. By that time, the lion was very angry and it decided to kill all the animals in the forest to teach them a lesson. The rabbit went and told the lion of another powerful lion in the forest. The lion asked it to show where it was. The rabbit took him to the well. The lion looked into the well and thought of its reflection as another lion and roared. The roar echoed and the stupid lion jumped into the well to battle with the other lion and died. All the animals celebrated the death of the cruel lion.

What did this story tell me? The animals in the forest recognized the lion to be greedy and wanted to get rid of it. The lion was called greedy because it desired more than what it had and killed the other animals just for the fun of it, even though it was not hungry. It told me that the animals were virtuous. They had values which they stick to, they hunt only when hungry. They do not hoard their kill.

What about humans? We hunt all the time. We are the greediest animals on planet Earth; we covet for what is not ours. We hunt for wealth, for power and for satisfying sexual pleasures. The hunters look for the people who are weak and can be succumbed easily. The hunters wield the weapons and threaten the victims to get what they want. The hunted are non-existent people in the eyes of the police and the judiciary. They are neither rich nor powerful, they are either poor or middle-class.

The attack on a woman in a Bangalore ATM made me realize that it is time for humans to learn virtues from animals. The incident has shocked many, because it happened in broad day light and in a crowded area. It shocked me because the miscreant came prepared with the weapons. He was bent on getting what he wanted no matter the consequences.

The attacker entered the ATM, closed the shutters and asked the woman to withdraw money. When she refused, he hit her on the head three times with a machete. After she was unconscious he took the valuables in her purse and fled. After sometime, a few passersby noticed the blood; they called the police, who rushed her to the hospital. The woman is now conscious but the right of her body is paralyzed. The hunter is still on the loose. The problem is that we do not have intelligent rabbits anymore; they have become lazy and refuse to use their intelligence on such trivial issues. After all what is the value of a poor or a middle class ‘Indian’ life? It is nothing.