THE FOOLISHNESS OF FANATICISM

1077. Be not a bigcH like Ghantakarna. There was a man who worshipped Siva but hated all the other deities. One day Siva appeared to him and said, " I shall never be pleased with you so long as you hate other Gods." But the man was inexorable. After a few days Siva again appeared to him. This time He appeared as Hari-Hara— a form, of which one half was Siva and the other Vishnu. At this the man was half-pleased and half-displeased. He laid his offerings on the side representing Siva, but nothing on that representing Vishnu. When he offered the burning incense to Siva, his beloved form of the Deity, he was audacious enough to press the nostrils of Vishnu lest he should inhale the fragrance. Then Siva said, " Your bigotry is ineradicable. By assuming this dual aspect, I tried to convince you that all Gods and Goddesses are but the various aspects of the one Being. You have not taken the lesson in good part, and you will have to suffer for your bigotry. Long must you suffer for this." The man went away and retired to a village. He soon developed into a great hater of Vishnu. On coming to know this peculiarity of his, the children of the village began to tease him by uttering the name of Vishnu within his hearing. Vexed by this, the man hung two bells on his ears, and when the boys cried out, " Vishnu, Vishnu," he would ring the bells and make those names inaudible to his ears. And thus he came to be kown by the name of Ghantakarna or the Bell-eared. . f

1078. Four blind men went out to see an elephant. One touched the leg of the elephant and said, "The elephant is like a pillar.' The second touched the trunk and said, " The elephant is like a thick club." The third touched the belly and said, " The elephant is like a big jar." The fourth touched the ears and said, " The elephant is like a big winnowing basket." Thus they began to dispute hotly amongst themselves as to the shape of the elephant. A passer-by, seeing them thus quarrelling, said, "What is it you are disputing about?' They told him everything and asked him to arbitrate. The man said, " None of you has seen the elephant. The elephant is not like a pillar, its legs are like pillars. It is not like a winnowing basket, its ears are like winnowing baskets. It is not like a stout club, its trunk is like a club. The •elephant is the combination of all these—legs, ears, belly, trunk and so on." In the same manner, those who quarrel (about the nature of God) have each seen only some one aspect of the Deity .

1079. A frog lived in a well. It had lived there for a long time. It was born and brought up there. And it was a small little frog. One day another frog that had lived in the sea came and fell into that well. The frog of the well asked the new-comer, "Whence are you? " The frog of the sea replied, " I am from the sea." The frog of the well questioned, "The seal How big is that?" The frog of the sea said, " It is very big." The frog of the well stretched its legs and questioned, " Ah! is your sea so big?" The frog of the sea, " It is much bigger." The frog of the well then took a leap from one side of the well to other, and asked, " Is it as big as this, my well? " 44 My friend," said the frog of the sea, " how can you compare the sea with your well ? ' The frog of the welf asserted, ' No, there can never be anything bigger than my well. Indeed, nothing can be bigger than this ! This fellow is a liar, he must be turned out. Such is the case with every narrow-minded man. Sitting in his own little welL he thinks that the whole world is no bigger than his well.