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Sunday, November 24, 2024

The Great-Hearted Monkey

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Many years ago, on the bank of the great river Ganga, there lived a huge population of monkeys in a forest. They were thousands in number, and all day long, hopped and moved around in the forest. However, their most favourite place was a huge mango tree that bore juicy, sweet mangoes. Their leader had warned them: “You should not let a single fruit fall on the ground. Eat each of them, or else, let them hang on the branches for tomorrow.” 

“Why should not the mangoes fall, My Lord?” asked one. 

“If they fall, they will drop into the river. The river will carry them away, down to the plains, where human beings live. If they discover that there’s such a fruit like this, they will surely come in search of it. They will disturb our peaceful settlement here,” said the leader. The monkeys were satisfied, and decided to follow his instructions.

However, one of the branches of the mango tree hung low, towards the river. A colony of ants had built a nest, which hid one of the ripe mangoes from the monkey’s eyes. So, it ripened and fell into the river. It was taken downstream by the rapid flow of the river. 

Two fishermen caught the fruit in their nets. They were surprised to see such a thing. They had never seen it in the past. They looked here and there. Coincidentally, their king Brahmadutta was bathing in the river. He rushed to him, bowed their heads and said, “My Lord, we caught such a thing in our net.”

King Brahmadutta took the fruit in his hand. It was soft. He at once guessed, some divine power had sent the fruit down the river from the Himalayas. He was tempted to tested it. O, it was extremely delicious.  

The king thought he should not delay in finding the course of the fruits. So, he summoned his guards  and some courtiers, and sailed upstream in search of the divine fruit. They passed through many valleys and glades, and finally came to the spot, where the tree stood. The king was extremely delighted to see more of such fruits hanging from the branches. He took no time to reckon that the fruits were all ripe, and more delicious than the one that flowed downstream to his fisherman. 

“Let’s put up here, under the tree, for tonight,” he said to his men. They agreed, and the party settled down under the shade of the huge mango tree.

Around midnight, a group of monkeys came and climbed the tree. They had no information about the presence of the king and his men under it. They hopped from branch to branch, picking up the best of the fruits they could, and eating them up. Their clatter disturbed the King, and he woke up. He shouted to his guards, “Shoot at the beasts, and eat them up!” The guards made plans that another day, they would enter the forest and hunt for all the monkeys living there. 

On hearing a human sound underneath, the monkeys darted away, and reported their leader. “Don’t worry; I will save you,” he said, and set out to take stack of the the situation. 

Next night, when the King’s men had slept, the leader of the monkey came to the tree, and jumped off to the other bank of the river. He found a bamboo shoot growing there. He tied its tip around his waist, and tested if he could make a bridge from this bank to the tree top, so that his monkeys could escape. But alas, the shoot was a few inches shorter. So, he himself lay in the gap, and asked his monkeys to cross the river, stepping upon his back. All the monkeys escaped to safely. 

But, in the group of the monkey, there was a wicked one, by the name Devadutta. He hated his leader. So, when it was his turn to step on the leader’s back, he pressed so hard that the leader’s back broke, while he himself jumped to safety. The leader started crying in extreme pain, while still hanging from branch. 

King Brahamadutta had been observing the entire spectacle. He felt extremely sorry for the leader, and asked his guards to help him come aground. He gentled wrapped the wounded area with a soft cloth, and with a lot of love asked why had taken such a great risk to save his subjects. 

“They are my children, My Lord. As their chief, it is my duty to save each one of them.”

Bhrahmadutta, who was himself a King, had never thought in that line. He was shocked. “As a King,” the monkey added, “I must always be mindful of my subjects’ safety and happiness, even at the cost of life.” Saying this, the monkey leader took a long  breath, and closed his eyes. 

“What punishment do you prescribe for the wicked monkey. We will take the action you like.” 

“I forgive him,” said the leader, and died. 

The last words of the monkey changed the heart of King Bhrahmadutta. Since that day, he started ruling his kingdom with a lot of love and compassion for his subjects. As long as he lived, he gave no room for compliant to any of his subjects. The happy subjects always sang in the glory of their great king.

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