A hermit offering prayers at a river bank ...saw a scorpion ... scorpion about to die a drowing death ... hermit saved it ... the scorpion stung him on the fingers... the hermit again saved it ... a man watching the hermit got suprised ...
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The saint and the scorpion
By - SWAMI CHIDANANDAMay 16, 2011, 00:00 IST
The saint and the scorpion
The saint and the scorpion
One day a sadhu went to the river to bathe. There he noticed a scorpion struggling in the water. Scorpions cannot swim and the sadhu knew that if he did not save the scorpion, it would drown...
Therefore, carefully picking up the scorpion, the monk rescued it from drowning and was just about to set it down gently on land when the scorpion stung his finger. In pain, the sadhu instinctively flung his hand and the scorpion went flying, back into the river. As soon as the sadhu regained his composure from the sting, he again lifted the scorpion out of the water. Again, before he could set the scorpion safely on land, the creature stung him. This drama went on for several minutes as the sadhu continued to try to save the life of the drowning scorpion and the scorpion continued to sting his saviour’s hand before reaching the freedom of the riverbank.
A hunter watched as the saint carefully and gingerly lifted the creature out of the water, only to fling it back in as he convulsed in pain from each fresh sting. Finally, the hunter said to the sadhu, “Forgive me for my frankness, but it is clear that the scorpion is simply going to continue to sting you each and every time you try to carry it to safety. Why don’t you give up and just let it drown?”
The sadhu replied: “My dear child, the scorpion is not stinging me out of malice or evil intent. Just as it is the water’s nature to make me wet, so it is the scorpion’s nature to sting. He doesn’t realise that I am carrying him to safety. That is a level of conscious comprehension greater than what his brain can achieve. But, just as it is the scorpion’s nature to sting, so it is my nature to save. Just as he is not leaving his nature, why should I leave my nature? My dharma is to help any creature of any kind – human or animal. Why should I let a small scorpion rob me of the divine nature which I have cultivated through years of sadhana?”
In our lives we encounter people who harm us, insult us, plot against us, whose actions seem calculated to thwart the successful achievement of our goals. Sometimes these are obvious acts, such as a co-worker who continually steals our ideas or speaks badly of us to our boss. Sometimes these acts are subtle – a friend, relative or colleague who unexpectedly betrays us or who we find has been surreptitiously speaking negatively about us behind our back.
Slowly we find that our own actions, words and thoughts become driven by anger and pain. We find ourselves engaged in cunning thoughts of revenge. Before we realise it, we are injuring ourselves by allowing negative emotions dominate us. They insulted us or plotted against us or sabotaged a well-deserved achievement at work. But we injure ourselves more deeply and more gravely by allowing our hearts and minds to darken.
One day a saint went to a river to bathe. There he noticed a scorpion struggling in the water near him. Scorpions cannot swim and the saint knew that if he did not save the scorpion, it would drown.
Therefore, the saint carefully picked up the struggling scorpion trying to rescue it out from the water. But as he was just about to set it on land, the scorpion stung his finger.
The sharp pain from the sting made the saint instinctively flung his hand and the scorpion went flying back into the water. As soon as the saint gained his composure from the pain, the saint attempted to rescue the troubled creature again. But, as earlier the scorpion stung him again before he could safely keep it on the land. The affair repeated for several times as the saint continued his attempt to save the scorpion while the creature attacked its savior every time.
The saint’s disciples who were watching the event for a while and were worried for the saint who was now staggering from the pain. The disciple requested the saint to leave the vicious creature on its own. The saint ignored the request from his disciples and continued his attempt to save the scorpion until he finally succeeded.
The disciples carried the reeling saint to his hut, treated him for his wounds and waited for the saint to get well. After the saint regained his consciousness, one of the disciples asked him why the saint lets the scorpion attack him several times and continued to help it.
The saint replied, “My dear child, the scorpion did not sting me out of malice or evil intent. Just as it is the water’s nature to make things wet and fire’s nature to burn, it is in the scorpion’s nature to sting. The ignorant creature kept stinging me because its comprehension is not great enough to realize that I was trying to help him. But, just as it is the scorpion’s nature to sting, so it is my nature to save. Just as he did not leave his nature, why should I leave my nature? It is my duty to help any soul in need. I should not let the stings from a scorpion rob me from performing my duty as a savior. ”
In our lives, we will encounter people who may harm us intentionally or unintentionally. We should never let our actions, thoughts and words to be affected by the negativity in others. We should continue to perform our duty with love and honesty, even if others do not reciprocate our righteous actions.
The darkness in others heart should not be allowed to penetrate into the lightness of our hearts.
