If
you are the slow moving kind, you are bound to have
heard the fable of ‘The Hare and the Tortoise.’
The hare and the tortoise decided to race one day. The
hare being a much faster animal could have easily won,
but for some reason, after running for some distance,
he promptly goes to sleep. While he slept, the tortoise
plodded along and finally won the race. This story has
been used time and again to bring out the moral of plodding
perseverance. “Never give up my son, even if you
are a little slow. Look at the tortoise…persevere
and at the end, you will always win.” Thus encouraged,
the backbenchers apply themselves with vigor. Nevertheless,
a seed of doubt lingers in their dull mind. Having seen
the hares of their class perform, they dimly wonder
when it is that the hare goes to sleep. They are not
too sure of this part of the fable, as from what they
have seen, the hares of their class are clearly are
not the kind to fall asleep on their work.
So, has someone been cheating the tortoises of the world
by false promises? It would indeed appear so. Any adult
will readily admit that the hares of the world go chugging
on to the very end and always win. So what gives?
Now,
the fable makes perfect sense if we ascribe a deeper
spiritual meaning to it. The hare is obviously our modern-day
materialist (that would be you and me), while the tortoise
is probably the rare introspective sage sort amongst
us, caught up in spiritualism and what not. Of course,
the Bhagavad-Gita prefers a more severe classification
and calls them the ‘divine and the demoniac.’
It actually makes perfect sense especially when you
realize that the elaborate description given in the
Gita of the demoniac, is a perfect profile of the modern-day
materialists (again, you and me), who indeed is our
racy hare. Take a look.
“The
demoniac do not appreciate the concept of self-realization.
Instead, they are attracted to this impermanent world.
They say that the world is produced of sex desire and
that gratifying the senses is the prime necessity of
life. They are thus bound by a network of thousands
of desires, and absorbed in securing money through various
schemes.” They think, “I am richest man,
powerful and happy, surrounded by aristocratic relatives.
Thus I shall rejoice.” The Bhagavad-Gita concludes,
“Thus perplexed by various anxieties and bound
by a network of illusion, they become too strongly attached
to sense enjoyment and fall down to hell.” (BG
16.6 to 20)
Wow,
how perfectly true! This is indeed a perfect description
of the modern-day man!
The tortoise or the divine, on the contrary, are attracted
to cultivating spiritual knowledge and have all good
qualities. In fact, the Bhagavad-Gita even has a verse
that compares the divine to the tortoise.
Yada
samharate cayam kurmo nganiva sarvasah
indriyanindriyarthebhyas tasya prajna pratisthta
“One
who is able to withdraw his senses from sense objects,
as the tortoise draws its limbs within the shell, is
firmly fixed in perfect consciousness.”
We
could stretch this analogy a bit further and go on to
ascribe other divine qualities to the tortoise such
as: its hard-shelled body: which perhaps holds a similar
steel-trap mind capable of meditation; its deliberate
steps: its unwillingness to rush into activities that
will implicate him in karma; etc., etc. In essence,
the tortoise represents one who doggedly perseveres
for self-realization. The operative word here is indeed
self realization. Selective and superficial goodness
has little relevance.
Now,
the race itself represents the race of life. Needless
to say, the hare takes off like the wind. Greedily grabs
everything in sight, accumulates wealth, becomes successful,
and what not. The tortoise lags way behind in such pursuits.
But let’s not jump to conclusions here, much less
forget that the tortoise eventually won the race. Actually,
the tortoise is not slow by any stretch of imagination.
Nor for that matter, is he lazy or laid back. It is
just that he has set his sights on something far superior,
and therefore has scant regard for the wealth and power
and prestige of this world, which has indeed attracted
his long eared friend so.
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