A woodpecker, a close friend of
the sparrow, heard her crying and moved by her grief asked her, “Why are you
crying, my friend? Wise men do not grieve for what is lost or what is dead or what
is past. That is the difference between a learned person and an unlettered
man.”
The female sparrow said, “The
wicked elephant has destroyed my offspring. If you are a true friend of mine
suggest a way to kill him. In my view, he who harms a person in trouble or he
who ridicules a person in sorrow deserves to be punished and he who punishes
such a person has no rebirth.”
“What you say is right,” said the
woodpecker. “He is a friend who comes to your aid when you are in need. Everyone
tries to be friendly when you are prospering. You will see how resourceful I
am. I have a friend who is a fly. With his help we can kill the elephant.”
Taking the female sparrow with
him, the woodpecker called on the fly and told him, “This is my dearest friend.
A wild elephant has squashed her eggs. You must somehow find a way to kill that
elephant. We need your help.”
The fly said, “I have a friend
who is a frog. Let us go to him and seek his help also.” The female sparrow,
the woodpecker and the fly went to the frog and narrated the entire story of
the sparrow's grief.
The frog said, “What is an
elephant before a united crowd like us? Do as I tell you. O' fly, go to the
elephant when the sun is high in the sky and hum a sweet tune into his ears.
When he closes his eyes in ecstasy, the woodpecker will scoop his eyes out. He
becomes blind and thirsty and will look for water. I will go to a quicksand and
begin croaking there. Thinking that there is water, the elephant will come
there and sink into the quicksand and die.”
All the four played out their
roles according to the frog's plan and caused the death of the elephant.” At
the end of the story, the female pheasant told her husband, “That is how together
the four friends killed the elephant.”
Impressed by his wife's wisdom,
the husband said, “Okay, we will call our friends and with their help crush the
Sea.'
As their friends, the cranes, the
peacocks, the cuckoos and other birds, gathered, the male pheasant told them
the story of how the Sea had killed their offspring and how necessary it was to
drain him out. At the end, he said, “We cannot do this job. Let us go to
Garuda, Lord Vishnu's vehicle, and tell him all that has happened. He will be angry
over what the Sea has done to his species. He will surely take revenge on the
Sea.”
Wailing and weeping, all the
birds went to meet Garuda and told him, “O lord, we need your help. The Sea has
destroyed the eggs of the pheasant pair. This is a blow to all the bird
community. If you do not intervene, he will destroy our entire tribe. Wise men
have always said that one wicked person will be an inspiration to all others
with evil intentions.”
Moved by their story of grief,
Garuda thought to himself, “These birds have a legitimate grievance. I will go
and punish the Sea.' Meanwhile, an envoy from Lord Vishnu came and told Garuda
that the Lord had sent him as He wanted to travel to Amaravathi on a divine
mission. The envoy asked Garuda to accompany him at once.
Garuda told the envoy, “No, I
cannot come. I am not a useful servant. Let him take someone else. Please
convey my regards to the Lord.” Surprised at Garuda's words, the envoy said, “O
Garuda, you have never uttered such words about the Lord. Did the Lord slight
you in any manner? Let me know.”
“See, this Sea, the Lord's habitat, has
swallowed the eggs of the pheasant pair. If the Lord does not punish the Sea
for this, I shall not serve Him. This is my decision and you may convey this to
the Lord,” said Garuda.
Informed of Garuda's pique,
Vishnu told himself, “Garuda has reason to be annoyed with me. I shall go
myself and receive him with respect. If the king is satisfied he can give only
money. But when the master honours his servant, the servant is ready to
sacrifice his life for the sake of the master. Therefore, it is wise that I
should visit and appease him.”
When Vishnu arrived to meet him,
Garuda felt guilty that he had said harsh words about the Lord and said, “O
Lord, the Sea who enjoys your protection has stolen the eggs of my servants and
thus insulted me. Because of respect for you, I delayed taking action against
him.”
“True, learned men say that a
master is responsible for the misdeeds of his servants. Such misdeeds hurt the
master more than the servant. Come with me. I shall recover those eggs from the
Sea and make the pheasant pair happy again. Later we will go to Amaravathi,”
said Lord Vishnu.
The Lord then took out his
thunderbolt and aiming it at the Sea warned him, “You wicked man, return the
eggs to the bird pair. Otherwise, I will turn the sea into a desert.”
Frightened, the Sea returned the
eggs to the pheasants. The male bird handed them to his wife.
“From this story,” Damanaka told
Sanjeevaka, “it is evident that he who challenges an enemy without knowing his
strength perishes in the end.” “True, but how do I know that Pingalaka has evil
designs against me? We have been very friendly. That makes it difficult for me
think of killing him,” said Sanjeevaka.
Damanaka said, “He stares at you
in anger if he has evil thoughts in his mind. Otherwise, you may safely think
he is the same old affectionate friend. But if you decide to leave the place do
it after sunset. Our elders have said that one must sacrifice an individual for
the good of the community, give up caste for the good of the village and
surrender a village for the good of the country. It is desirable to save money
so that one can spend it in a crisis, spend money to save his wife and give up
both his wealth and wife to save himself.”
After he gave this advice to
Sanjeevaka, Damanaka went to see Karataka. Hailing him, Karataka said, “What
happened to your mission?” “I have just finished sowing the seeds of discord
among the two friends. The rest is in the hands of God,” said Damanaka. “Let me
know how you did it.”
“I have carried tales from one to
the other and succeeded in dividing the friends. You will not see them again
together.”
“Oh, you have not done anything
good. You have separated two good friends. You have made them hate each other.
A wicked person knows only to harm but not mend.”
“You do not know political
science. However strong you are, unless you kill the enemy or the disease at
the very outset, your enemy or the disease will kill you in the end. Sanjeevaka
stole the ministership from us and so he is our enemy. I won the king's
assurance for him and brought him to the court of the king. Today, he has
ousted us from our office. That is why I have plans to kill him. If he wants to
save himself, he should leave this place. Wise men, like Chaturaka, do no
hesitate to torment others to achieve their goal. Fools like the lion cannot
enjoy even what they have won.”
On Karataka's request, Damanaka began telling that story.
-END OF THE STORY-
The Panchatantra is an Indian collection of interrelated animal tales written in Sanskrit poetry and prose and arranged inside a frame narrative known as the Panchatantra, an old Indian collection of interwoven animal stories. As a result of centuries-old oral tradition, it has been estimated that the surviving work was composed between 200 BCE and 300 CE. In some recensions, the work's author is identified as Vishnu Sharma, while in others, the text is assigned to Vasubhaga, both of which might be pen names for the author. According to a Hindu text, traditional literature is founded on ancient oral traditions and includes "animal tales that are as old as we can comprehend," according to the author.
According to the New York Times, these stories are among the most well-known in the world, and they are "perhaps the most often translated literary product of India," as the newspaper states. A variety knows it of names in many cultures. Panchatantra is Hindu mythology that has been translated into almost every native language of India. There are 200 variations of the text accessible in over 50 languages worldwide, with the original in Hindi being the most popular. At least one version of the tale made its way from China to Europe around the 11th century.
"The Duel Between Elephant and Sparrow," a Sanskrit tale from the Panchatantra, tells the story of a woodpecker and a sparrow which, with the help of their friends, a tiny grin and a frog, exact vengeance on a giant elephant who, in a fit of spring fever, destroyed the sparrow's nest and crushed her eggs. The four friends devise the following strategy to dispatch the elephant: First, the elephant is entranced by the lovely sound of the buzzing gnat in his ear, causing him to close his eyes in enjoyment. As a result, the elephant is forced to fall to the brink of a deep hole, where a woodpecker swoops in and pecks out his eyes, leaving him to perish. A panicked elephant rushes to the location of the croaking sound, where he is crushed to death in a hole of water. As you can see, the tiny gnat has just begun buzzing, and the elephant has been lulled into an excellent condition, his eyelids fluttering. The woodpecker is going off to peck out his eyes while the sparrow is perched on a leaf, paying close attention.
The narrative revolves around the ideas of vengeance and the potential of little animals to bring down significant issues with ease. The Sparrow, the Elephant, the Woodpecker, the Gnat (Lute-Buzz), and the Frog are the main characters (Cloud-Messenger)
The story is an example of moral criticism seen in the struggle between the elephant and the sparrow. Moral Criticism evaluates the worth of a piece of literature based on the moral lesson or ethical instruction it contains. The conflict between the elephant and the sparrow ended tragically for both of them. If I were to be fair, I would say that the sparrow was utterly unfair. The elephant only accidentally smashed her eggs because he was in such a fit of illness. The sparrow must not do this since it is possible that her eggs do not want her to do it as well as she does.
There have been certain instances in which we have made blunders toward others, but we did not choose to do so; it was an accident. And we have no way of knowing how the individual with whom we have made a mistake would respond to our error. However, we cannot reverse the accident that has already been done. And the only way out is to express regret to the other person.
Things are not fair, and even if you are not at fault, you will be penalized. We know from the tale that the elephant is being pursued. Before retaliating against the elephant, the sparrow needs first to learn the reason for his behavior. However, I feel sorry for the elephant, but I believe the sparrow is an excellent parent, helping him get retribution for losing his offspring. The lessons I've gained so far have been to first recognize the truths that have occurred before committing harm to others.
Source: https://www.scribd.com/document/181952239/The-Elephant-And-The-Sparrow-doc
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