Uneducated
and the fool Kalidasa sat on a tree branch, hacking away at its trunk with his
axes. A sage passing by warned Kalidasa, “Fool, the moment this tree falls, you
will fall with it—and perhaps perish alongside it.” Convinced by the sage’s
words, Kalidasa climbed down. He would later become a great scholar and writer.
Kalidasa, in his literary works, beautifully described the love between humans
and animals, birds, creatures, and trees and flowers. He portrayed the
splendour of nature with vivid elegance.
Today’s
Yayati sought to taste the bliss of heaven right here on earth. He built
a house of cement and concrete and filled it with wooden furniture, cupboards,
and panelling. Every amenity—air conditioner, microwave, refrigerator,
television, washing machine, computer—ran on electricity. A petrol-powered car
waited in his garage. Yayati believed himself to be almighty, and for sport he
hunted the forest’s creatures until they vanished from the land.
To
satisfy his every craving, he stripped forests bare, gouged deep into the
earth, and wounded her to extract vast mineral wealth. He mined coal by the ton
for power and drew petrol from the earth’s blood to fuel his vehicles. The air
grew foul, the water toxic, and disease spread unchecked. Instead of heavenly
joy, Yayati now suffers hellish torment.
In
desperation, Yayati sought refuge with the sages. They told him, “Yayati,
liberation from this torment demands that you honour the right to life of every
creature—animals, birds, plants, and trees alike. Cease drinking the earth’s
blood and wounding her body. Nothing less will free you from your suffering.”
The
question remains: will Yayati heed their counsel, or will he, driven by his
lust for paradise, continue to endure the pains of hell?
*Yayati
is a king from the ancient epic Mahabharata who once craved the pleasures of
heaven during his lifetime. His desires knew no bounds until he finally
awakened to the truth, renounced all worldly pleasures, and embraced the life
of an ascetic.
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