The Great Good Elephant King
(Generosity and Ingratitude)
Once upon a time, the Bodhisattva was
born as a magnificent elephant of splendid beauty. He was jade white in colour
and glowed like polished silver. His feet were as smooth and bright as the finest
lacquer, whilst his red mouth glistened like the best scarlet silk. His eyes —
reflecting five colours of blue, yellow, red, white and crimson — shone and
sparkled like precious jewels.
But, the brilliance and splendour of
the elephant’s physical form was only a pale reflection of his inner beauty.
For the Bodhisattva had practised the Ten Perfections: energy, determination,
truthfulness, wholesomeness, renouncing the ordinary world, even-mindedness,
wisdom, patience, generosity, and loving-kindness for many lifetimes.
When he grew up and became an adult
elephant, all other elephants in the Himalayan forests travelled to his kingdom
to follow and serve him. Before long, his kingdom contained a population of
80,000 elephants. Such a large nation was crowded and filled with distractions.
In order to live more quietly, he separated himself from the rest and went to
live alone in a secluded part of the forest. The majestic elephant was known to
all as the Great Good Elephant King because of his wholesomeness and purity. In
the meantime, a forester from Benares had travelled into these Himalayan
foothills.
He was searching for things of value
that he could trade in Benares. But after a while, he got lost in the huge
forest. He ran back and forth trying to find his way home without success.
Soon, he became exhausted, and thinking that he would die in the forest,
started to tremble and cry.
The Great Good Elephant King heard
the piteous cries of the poor lost man. He was filled with pity and compassion.
Wishing to help him in any way he could, he began walking through the forest
towards him. However, the man was so terrified that he ran off when he saw the
gigantic elephant approaching. When the wise elephant king saw this, he paused.
Seeing this, the forester also stopped in his tracks. When the Great Good
Elephant King began walking towards him again, the man started running, and
once again he stopped when the elephant halted.
At that point, the man thought, “This
is a noble elephant! When I run, he stops. And when I stop, he walks towards
me. No doubt he has no harmful intentions towards me. He must want to help me
instead!” This realisation gave him the courage to stop and wait.
“My human friend, why are you
wandering about and crying in panic?” asked the elephant while he lumbered
slowly closer.
“Lord elephant,” said the man, “I
have lost my directions and now am hopelessly lost in this vast forest. I’m
worried that I will perish here!” To bring comfort and help to the man, the
Great Good Elephant King took the forester to his own secluded dwelling place.
It was there that the forester stayed for several days eating the finest fruits
and nuts in all of the Himalayas. Finally, one day the great elephant king
said, “It’s time you go home, my friend. Don’t be afraid. Sit on my back and I
will take you to the land where people live.” Saying that, the kind elephant
trudged towards the land of men with the forester on his back.
“What if people were to ask me where
I was all this while. I must be able to tell everything,” thought the man when
he rode comfortably on this glorious being. So he noted all the landmarks he
had passed by while he travelled on the virtuous elephant king. Soon, the
elephant king and the man came out of the thick forest near the highway to Benares.
“My good friend, take this road to Benares. Please don’t tell anyone where I live,
whether they ask you or not,” requested the Great Good Elephant King. With
these parting words, the gentle elephant turned around and lumbered back to his
secret dwelling.
The man had no trouble finding his
way back to Benares. One day, while browsing around in a bazaar, he chanced
upon some ivory carvers. These craftsmen carved ivory into delicate and
beautiful statues and ornaments.
“Would you buy tusks that come from living
elephants?” he asked.
“What a question! Everyone knows that
the tusks from a live elephant are much more valuable than those from a dead
one,” exclaimed the ivory carvers.
“In that case, I will bring you some
tusks from a live elephant,” said the forester.
Greedy for money and without any
gratitude towards his saviour — the kind elephant king — the man packed a sharp
saw together with his other provisions, and set out for the home of the Great
Good Elephant King.
“Oh, my dear human friend, what
brings you back here again?” asked the elephant king kindly when he saw the
forester.
“My lord elephant, I’m a poor man who
makes a very humble living. As times are hard, I have come to beg from you just
a little piece of your tusk. With it, I will be able to earn some money to keep
my belly full.” Pitying the man, the kind elephant king agreed to the
forester’s request. “I will give you a big piece of my tusk, my friend. Did you
bring a saw with you?”
“Yes, my lord,” answered the
forester, “I have brought a saw.”
“All right then,” said the generous
elephant king. “Cut from both my tusks!”
And so the gentle elephant king bent down
on his knees and offered his spectacular silvery-white tusks to the man.
Without the slightest tinge of regret or shame, the man lopped off big pieces of
ivory from both tusks. The Bodhisattva picked up both pieces with his trunk and
said, “Good friend, I’m not giving you my lovely tusks because I dislike them
or want to get rid of them. Nor is it because they are not valuable to me. But
a thousand times, even a hundred thousand times more lovely and valuable are
the tusks of wisdom, which leads to the realisation of all Truth.”
When the elephant gave his tusks to
the man, he made a wish, a silent wish that his perfect generosity would eventually
lead him to the greatest wisdom. The man went home happily and sold both pieces
of ivory. But it didn’t take him long to squander his money. So once again he
returned to the Great Good Elephant King.
“My lord, the money I got by selling
your ivory was only enough to pay off my debts.
I’m still a poor man who has barely
enough to eat, so please oh generous one, could you give me the rest of your
tusks?” he begged.
Without hesitation, the elephant king
offered what was left of his tusks. The man immediately cut off the remaining
tusks, right down to the sockets in the elephant’s skull and left without a
word of thanks! This wonderful and kind-hearted elephant meant no more than a
bank account to him! He took the precious ivory back to Benares, sold it and
quickly spent all his money.
Wasting no time, the forester
returned for a third time to the Himalayas to seek out the Great Good Elephant
King. “Oh noble elephant king, it is very hard, indeed, to make a living in
Benares. Have pity on me and let me have the rest of your ivory — the roots of
your tusks,” begged the forester.
As perfect generosity holds nothing
back, the elephant king kindly acceded to his request yet again, and offered
what little stumps of ivory he had to the man. The ungrateful betrayer did not
care the least bit for the elephant. He stepped onto the magnificent trunk
which was like a thick silver chain, climbed up on it and then sat between the
pure white temples on top of the great head which resembled a snowy Himalayan
dome. Next, he brutally dug in his heels to rub and tear away the tender flesh
from the stumps of the once-glorious tusks. After that, he used his blunt
wornout saw to hack the ivory roots out of the noble skull! It is said that
there are many worlds out there — the hellish world of torture, the world of
hungry ghosts, the world of animals, the world of mankind, as well as numerous heavenly
worlds — from the lowest to the highest. In all these worlds, there are
millions of beings who, at one time or another, have been born and lived as
elephants. And some who narrated this story said that all who had lived as
elephants before felt the pain of the Bodhisattva — the Great Good Elephant
King — although they did not know the reason.
Getting what he had come for, the forester
departed carrying the bloody ivory stumps. He was not the least bit grateful or
respectful to the elephant king for what he had done. Instead, he thought,
“This elephant has outlived his usefulness since he has no more ivory for me.” It
seemed the vast mighty earth, strong enough to support great mountains and bear
the worst filth and stench could not bear a minute more of the forester’s
ingratitude and cruelty. For when the man was out of sight of the Bodhisattva,
the earth suddenly opened up beneath the man. Fire from the lowest hell leaped
up, engulfed him in bright red flames and pulled him down to his doom!
The moral is ✏ The ungrateful stops at nothing, and digs his own grave in the end.
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