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| Sunday, 28 November 2004 |
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Sunday parable The parrot and the woodapple tree by Sunanda Mahendra A community of parrots lived happily in a certain forest. They had a good leader, who would advice the rest of the parrots about the climate and any impending danger. He would advice them on good behaviour and moderate living. The rest of the animals who lived in the forest also came in search of advice from this leader parrot. So they also called him as Gira pundita or the wise parrot.
"I advice you to leave this tree as soon as possible because the climate is changing and the tree is full of dried twigs and will soon become like a stump." "What about you our leader, are you not going to leave the tree?" asked the community parrots. "No I can't leave the tree so soon" "If that is so, why should we leave you alone?" "I want to live on this tree and see that I die with it. But you all are so young and energetic, you have to find another place". The parrots were rather worried about this. "I insist that you leave me alone, as I am making a vow of truth or satyakriya to bring down the rains once again so that all living creatures in this forest can live happily." The community of parrots reluctantly left the leader, the wise parrot, on one of the uppermost dried branches of the wood apple tree and went in search of a better place. They also came one by one to see the leader parrot perched on the stump like an old prophet. Sakra, the god of gods saw all these from a distant. He descended from the heaven in the guise of a stork and asked the wise parrot. "Why do you stay on this dying old tree when you can go to a better place like your community, and why starve on this old tree?" At this the wise parrot uttered. "This is the tree where I was born and from where I saw the world around me. This gave us all the happiness on earth, gave us shelter, protected us all throughout our life span. As such we have to be grateful to this wood apple tree. I'm going to be with this tree until the rains come down, and may this be an act of truth." Sakra, the god of gods, was quite happy at the wise parrot's utterance. Without questioning more, he brought rains down on to the forest. Gradually the leaves grew and flowers bloomed and fruits appeared. The community of parrots returned. This story is found in the great collection of Jatakas, where the wise parrot is denoted as the future Buddha. The story had enveloped in folklore to teach the virtues of gratitude. |
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As time passed, the wise parrot felt that the forest climate was
changing gradually. The branches of the woodapple tree were drying and up
above the sky blazed hot, making it uneasy for any living creature. The
fruits of the woodapple tree fell one by one. The wise parrot summoned a
meeting of the parrot family.
