Hi everyone,
I am Rahul and today I have brought a beautiful story for you that teaches something very simple and super powerful.
It's a story Bhishma once told the Pandavas in the Mahabharata,
An epic story that took place 5000 years back.
It is about how kindness can uplift,
But pride can ruin even the strongest among us.
So please get comfortable,
Settle in and let's begin with a deep yogic breathing.
Inhale and exhale.
So the story begins in a quiet forest,
The kind where sunlight slips between tall trees and the air always feels calm.
In that beautiful forest lived a gentle sage.
He lived simply,
Spoke kindly and harmed no living being and because of this animals roamed fearlessly around his hermitage.
Because the sage followed Ahimsa.
Non-violence,
The power of non-violence.
Deer wandered,
Close birds nested nearby and among all these creatures was a friendly loyal dog.
This dog adored the sage,
Followed him everywhere,
Guarded his heart,
Felt completely safe under his protection.
But one day everything changed.
A fierce leopard appeared in the forest and began chasing the dog.
Terrified,
Trembling,
The dog ran straight to the sage and hid behind him.
The sage saw its fear and felt compassion.
Even though sage had no weapons,
He never fought,
But he had yogic powers.
With a calm prayer and a touch,
He transformed the dog into a leopard so it could protect itself.
For a while,
It solved the problem.
The dog turned leopard,
Lived peacefully again,
But danger came again.
This time a tiger entered the forest and now the leopard,
The dog in disguise and the same old terror rise in sight.
Again it rushed back to the sage and stood before him helplessly.
The sage saw the fear in its eyes and once more transformed it this time into a tiger.
Now it had nothing to fear.
It moved through the forest with strength and confidence.
But along with the strength,
Pride began to grow in him.
A sense of superiority,
A desire to dominate other animals.
The sage's peaceful hermitage saw less of the humble dog and more of the rising tiger nature.
Bold,
Aggressive,
Restless.
But forest is unpredictable.
One day an angry elephant fathomed a tiger.
Once again,
Out of compassion,
The sage transformed the tiger into an elephant.
The strongest of the strong.
Not long after,
Lions appeared to protect his companion yet again.
The sage transformed the elephant into a lion.
But you know even lions have threats in the world of ancient legends.
And so for the final time,
The sage transformed the lion into a sheriff.
An extraordinary ancient beast said to overpower even lions.
Perhaps now they are extinct.
Now the once small dog had become a creature stronger than anything else in the forest.
No animal could challenge it.
No danger could frighten it.
But something else had changed inside.
The creature's mind had become darker.
Arrogance replaced devotion.
Aggression replaced loyalty.
And eventually a thought came in its heart.
The sage keeps giving me more and more power.
As long as he lives,
He could give it to others too.
He's too kind.
What if he turns someone else into a sheriff?
What if I'm no longer the strongest?
This fear,
The fear of losing power,
Became greater than all the fears it had before.
In time,
That fear turned into a plan.
The creature decided to attack the stage to protect its own superiority.
And you know,
The sage already sensed the change.
He looked at the towering,
Powerful creature with calm,
Steady eyes and said,
You were once a simple dog who lived by my side with love and trust.
But each time I gave you strength,
You moved further away from your own nature.
None of these forms made you wise.
They only made you arrogant.
And with the quiet authority of an enlightened soul,
The sage touched the creature gently.
In a moment,
All the powers dissolved.
All the forms fell away.
And standing there again was the same small dog who had once taken shelter at the sage's feet.
Confused,
Ashamed,
Stripped of all ego,
The sage pointed away from the hermitage and said,
Go,
You forgot your nature,
You forgot your humility.
Power was given to protect your life,
But you use it to feed your pride.
The dog lowered its head and walked away into the forest,
Not angry,
Not proud,
But humbled.
And this is where we see that humility is the only protection that stays with us in every form of life.
Let me know,
What did you learn from this ancient story?
Thank you for listening.
Have a great day.
Take care.
God bless you.
