Different interpretations of a well known story!
A long time ago, there lived a wise man along the banks of a well known river. One day, after a heavy downpour, as the wise man was walking along the river, he noticed a scorpion floating downstream. The scorpion was trying desperately to stay afloat in the water to keep himself from drowning, but the force of water was too much for him. He would come up for air, but the force of the water would again submerge him, and he would have to struggle hard to come up for air again. Observing the serious situation of the scorpion, the holy man went into the river and extended his hand to the scorpion to pull him out of the raging river. No sooner had his hand reached the scorpion, when the scorpion bit the wise man. Feeling the pain, the wise man was taken aback, but he still did not give up. He extended his hand again to the scorpion, only to be bit again. At this point the wise man thought for a minute and came up with a different strategy. He went ashore and brought a broken tree limb and extended it towards the scorpion. No sooner had the limb reached the scorpion, when he grabbed it. The holy man then brought the limb with the clinging scorpion to the shore and left it on dry land, thus saving the scorpion from drowning. In the meantime, a crowd had gathered by the river, and they watched the pain and the determination of the wise man to save the scorpion?s life. As the wise man was walking towards his hut, they asked him, ?Sir, why is it that you kept on helping the scorpion when all he would do is to bite you in return?? At this point our wise man smiled and said "Even the scorpion at the moment of drowning is not ready to give up its nature to bite. How can I forget my nature of compassion? I can't be less than the scorpion. I must be Me. This is my nature. Everything has its own nature."
The same story told by the Scorpions
There is a small village of scorpions living near a river. One day an elder scorpion is telling a bedtime story to young scorpions of the village, as follows:Kids! Always beware of human beings. They have no respect for life. We animals only kill for food or if we are attacked. But human beings kill not just for food, but sometimes just for fun. We animals never kill our own species. But human beings kill their own species if others do not agree with them. Take pride in being an animal, always respect life. Kill only for food or if you are attacked. Let me give you an example.One day it was raining heavily. Our river came alive and the water was singing and roaring with joy. I was thrilled to see all this joy around me and decided to take a dip and join the river waters for a small trip. Thus I walked up to the river banks, and jumped into the singing waters. I would take a dive under water, come up for fresh air and dive again. It was simply wonderful. The pleasant atmosphere, the singing waters, the forest coming to life at the sight of plenty of water, was just plain wonderful. It just cannot be described in words.As I was just floating around and having the time of my life, I saw a man at the river bank just staring at me. I did not like the look in his eyes. And then I saw him jump into the river and come towards me. That raised my concerns and I feared for my life. He came right at me and tried to grab me. This is not good, I told myself, but I still did not want to hurt him badly. After all, I am an animal and I respect life. I thus just gave him a warning shot and bit him slightly to keep him away from me. He backed off but then again came back to grab me. I still did not get mad and just gave him another warning by just biting him a little harder. He then backed off and went ashore. But to my horror. he came back with a large stick to beat me. At that point I really got angry. Before the stick could strike me, I jumped out of water and grabbed it. I kept hissing at him to keep reminding him to leave me alone or else I would not be kind the next time around. He finally got the message and left me on the river bank. Once he was gone I jumped back in the river and continued my joy ride.
The same story told by the Scorpions
There is a small village of scorpions living near a river. One day an elder scorpion is telling a bedtime story to young scorpions of the village, as follows:Kids! Always beware of human beings. They have no respect for life. We animals only kill for food or if we are attacked. But human beings kill not just for food, but sometimes just for fun. We animals never kill our own species. But human beings kill their own species if others do not agree with them. Take pride in being an animal, always respect life. Kill only for food or if you are attacked. Let me give you an example.One day it was raining heavily. Our river came alive and the water was singing and roaring with joy. I was thrilled to see all this joy around me and decided to take a dip and join the river waters for a small trip. Thus I walked up to the river banks, and jumped into the singing waters. I would take a dive under water, come up for fresh air and dive again. It was simply wonderful. The pleasant atmosphere, the singing waters, the forest coming to life at the sight of plenty of water, was just plain wonderful. It just cannot be described in words.As I was just floating around and having the time of my life, I saw a man at the river bank just staring at me. I did not like the look in his eyes. And then I saw him jump into the river and come towards me. That raised my concerns and I feared for my life. He came right at me and tried to grab me. This is not good, I told myself, but I still did not want to hurt him badly. After all, I am an animal and I respect life. I thus just gave him a warning shot and bit him slightly to keep him away from me. He backed off but then again came back to grab me. I still did not get mad and just gave him another warning by just biting him a little harder. He then backed off and went ashore. But to my horror. he came back with a large stick to beat me. At that point I really got angry. Before the stick could strike me, I jumped out of water and grabbed it. I kept hissing at him to keep reminding him to leave me alone or else I would not be kind the next time around. He finally got the message and left me on the river bank. Once he was gone I jumped back in the river and continued my joy ride.
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How many times we take for granted that whatever we know is the total knowledge? Do we ever stop to think that what we see and think to be the reality may not be the only reality and there could be another reality? Is this not one of the major sources of conflict in the world that we want to impose our solution on someone else? How often do we realize that even though our intentions may be to help some one else, if we do not take their environment and motivation and their reality into account we may end up doing more harm than good?
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