The Nature of the World
A couple brought their dead son to cremate him in the cremation ground.
The parents placed the body on the ground and were sitting beside it. Seeing this, an eagle, being a scavenger advised them to cremate the body quickly.
It said, ‘Sir! Your dearest son who was alive so long and now he is no more. The human body is so impermanent! There is no use sitting and crying over the dead body. There are a lot more tasks waiting for you back in the city.
Moreover, this is a deserted place and there are evil spirits around. After sunset, the evil spirits become active and will trouble you. So leave the dead body here and get back as soon as possible’
The parents felt enlightened and awakened by the advice of the eagle. They had almost decided to leave the corpse of their son and get back.
In the corner was standing a fox, witnessing the whole conversation. It stepped in and spoke up. “Sir ! It was your one and only beloved son, and now he is no more. Till yesterday you were seeing his beautiful face every moment. Henceforth, you can never come back another day to see your dead son. Stay here for as long as you want. Admire his beauty all day today. Sit around him. Experience his physical proximity for one last time.”
The parents were moved by the parental love and affection that the fox talked about.
Children, now, let us analyze the scene a bit:
Was the eagle concerned about the security of the parents or was it really imparting the lessons to the them? No! It wanted to eat the dead boy sooner to satisfy its hunger before the ‘cunning’ foxes devour it.
Was the fox empathizing with the love that the parents had for their son? No! It wanted to make sure that it could have the corpse in full to eat it all by itself, for it knew the eagles get blinded after sunset.
Thus, both the eagle and the fox though seemed to advise the couple for their goodness, in reality, they have an ulterior motive, seeking personal gains from it by changing the situation to their favour.
Moral: We should be cautious of the world. People in this world are always self-centered. In any situation they try to twist favour for their benefit to make the most out of it.
Note: The above story is adopted from the giant Hindu epic Mahabharata.
