Think before acting

A Viveka will never do any Kaaryam without Sameeksha (thinking, careful examination).

Long time ago, there used be a King in a city by name “purika”. He was a Para-himsa-rata. He used to do himsa of other creatures. Because of this in his next janma, he was born as a Gomaayu (jackal). However due to the Punyam and Gnyaanam the King acquired, the Gomaayu had puurva-janma-smruti.

Gomaayu used to have great pashchaattapam for his Ahimsa-svabhaavam. Hence it decided to leave Himsa in this janma atleast. It never used to do Himsa of others. Even as aahaaram it used to take only fruits which, by themselves, fell on the ground. Later it started taking only water. It used to always speak Satyam only. Like this, with Dhruda-vratam, it used to lead an Ahimsaayuta-jeevanam.

As for other jackals, the Gomaayu’s home was in Rudra-bhuumi (smashaanam). It never used to leave its janma-bhuumi and used to always stay there and show Krutagnyata to Bhuu-maata. However other Gomaayu in the neighbourhood never used to understand the actions of this one. They used to do many “hita-bodhas” to it; but the Gomaayu never used to leave Ahimsa, Satyam and always used to have Indriya-nigraham, Shuchitvam and Gnyaanam. Like this many days passed by.

Once, the King, a Shaarduulam (tiger), realizing the greatness of this Gomaayu, came near it and said “O Soumya! I came to know about your Vignyaanam. You deserve to be my Mantri and serve this Raajyam. You can also enjoy all the pleasures of a King”. With great Vinayam the Gomaayu replied “Mrugaraja! Only a Gnyaani, Sajjana deserves to be in the position of a Mantri. Else it will lead to the downfall of the Kingdom. I dont have any interest in the Bhoga-bhaagyas of a King; however I will accept to be your Mantri and do Desha-seva. But your previous servants will have Iirsha on me. They might create differences between you and me. Hence I will be your mantri only if you trust me 100%”.

The Shaarduulam accepted and they together did Dharma-paalana of the Vana-raajyam. As Gomaayu expected, the other servants of the King developed Iirsha, Matsaram on the Gomaayu. Once out of Matsaram, they hide the Shaarduulam’s lunch in Gomaayu’s house. When the Shaarduulam ordered them to find who stole his food, they bring it out from the Gomaayu’s house proving that the Gomaayu only stole the food! Believing in the Kapata-naatakam of the animals, Shaarduulam immediately orders that the Gomaayu must be killed.

Knowing that his child is acting without thinking, the mother of the Shaarduulam said “O son! This is looking like a Kapata-naatakam. You must always think before acting and never take decisions in haste. Paapaatmas always hate the people who have shuchitvam, Muurkhas hate Panditas, Adhaarmikas hate the Dhaarmikas. Some Panditas, who are equal to Bruhaspati, also give false-evidence. We must be careful about these people. Even if we see something, without examining we must never accept it without thinking. A person who acts without thinking will always have pashchaattaapam. Remember that you only carefully examined the sadgunams of the Gomaayu. Also dont forget all the help it did for your Raajyam. I think giving such shiksha to this Gomaayu is not good”.

Listening to this Hita-bodha of his mother, Shaarduulam then thought carefully and left Gomaayu without punishing. Gomaayu then thought it is dangerous to be in the company of a King who is an Asameekshaa-kaari and left the place. Later the Shaarduulam’s Raajyam also perished because of a dushta-mantri.

Morals in the story:
We must never act without Sameeksha. The Shaarduulam, even being a King, ordered to kill the Gomaayu without thinking.
The importance of Ahimsa, Shuchitvam, Satyam are well shown by Gomaayu. Though it took birth as a Gomaayu, it never left these sadgunas.
A person’s nature, behaviour depend a lot on the teachings of his mother, parents. The mother of the Shaarduulam saved him from unnecessarily punishing the Gomaayu.