Yoga Vasishtha tells the story of a huge elephant who lived in the Vindhya Hills. He had enormous tusks that looked like the thunderbolts of heaven. One day, the elephant was caught in an iron trap laid by an elephant catcher. The animal tried to break out of the trap for three days but failed.
The elephant catcher watched him from a distance. In great suffering, the elephant opened his mouth wide and uttered a roar like thunder. Then, he exerted the force of his tusks and managed to break out of the trap.
The hunter, who was watching this from far away, climbed a tall palm tree. When the elephant passed under the tree, the hunter jumped down, aiming to land on its head. Unfortunately, he missed and landed on the ground near the elephant’s feet.
The elephant could have easily trodden over the hunter, but it thought that was not bravery to trample over a fallen enemy. It kindly spared the life of the hunter and made its way back into the forest.
After the elephant had gone away, the hunter slowly got up from the ground. He was relieved to see himself alive and surprised to note that despite the fall from the palm tree, he was unhurt. He felt sorry that his attempt to capture the elephant had failed. He felt like a treasure seeker who had seen the treasure only to see it slip away from him. He decided to try again. He roamed the jungle and finally found the elephant resting under a shady tree.
The hunter dug a circular ditch near that place. He covered it with green branches and leaves. One day, the elephant was roaming in the jungle when he came to the ditch. Due to the branches and leaves, he could not see it. As soon as he stepped on them, he fell headlong. The pit was deep, and the elephant was trapped. It remained trapped there till it died.
The elephant died because it did not kill the cruel hunter the first time. If the elephant had put an end to him, it would not have fallen into the deep pit. However, at that time, the animal was happy just at the thought of getting back its freedom. It did not think about the root cause of the problem, the hunter, and did not do anything about him.
The lesson for us is that when we make a mistake, we must learn from it and make sure the root cause is removed so that we don’t commit it again, as the proverb says, ‘to stumble twice against the same stone is a disgrace’.