Do not harm any body. But hiss at them so that nobody will harm you.

[Guest guest]

We all might have heard the story of a snake as told by Swami. A snake was causing fear to the people around. It used to bite the passers by. One day a sanyasi happened to pass through the path where the snake used to hide. As usual, it started hissing and advancing menacingly towards the 'sanyasi'. But the 'sanyasi' was unperturbed. He advised the snake to restrain its anger and he asked it to avoid causing harm to the people around. Somehow, the snake absorbed the good sermon and from that day onward it became very docile. Seeing its present temperament, the street urchins and others started pelting stones at the snake when it came out to search for its prey. Hence fearing the intruders, it remained inside its hole, became weak due to hunger. Another day, the same 'sanyasi' passed through the way and he accosted the creature. When he found it was too weak even to move, the sanyasi felt sad. He enquired the snake, "why it has come to such a sad stage?. The snake told the sanyasi, "as per your advise, i stopped harming others but people around do not allow me to come out even for my food. They beat me with stones and sticks. Hence i am suffering from both hunger and bruises. The sanyasi chided the snake, " I told you not to harm or bite any body, but i never told you "not to hiss or freighten those who try to harm you". A great lesson can be learnt from this beautiful story. We may be compassionate with others but at the same time we should not allow others to cheat us. Sairam.