JAINS IN AUSTRALIA - Taali te Putha insaan

A Visual depiction of Man's life

Following is a poem in Punjabi depciting the life of a man and his futile attempts. By : Surinder Jain, Sydney, (December 2004)

Our srciptures tell of a story. A man was walking when he was chased by a mad elephant. The man ran for his life and fell into a well. The well was very deep and at the bottom of the well were many pythons waiting to swallow anyone or anything that falls in it. A huge tree was growing at the top of the well and many of the roots of the tree had protruted into the well. While falling, the man grabbed one of these roots by his legs and was hanging upside down by it. Hanging there, he saw pythons at the bottom waiting for him to fall down and the mad elephant waiting for him to come out of the well. Then he saw, two mice, one black and one white were nibbling above him on the very branch that he was hanging from. With every nibble, the mice were gnashing away on the root. Scared and hopeless he had been hanging there for many hours, hungry and thristy, when he felt a drop falling on his lips. Wihtout thinking twice, he sucked the drop of honey. A bee hive on the tree had a hole and honey drops were falling down every now and then in thre well. The man was so hungry, so thristy that he forgot all about his predicament and eagrly started waiting for the next drop of honey. The man had been hanging upside down, unaware of his condition, fully absorbed in the next drop of honey that is about to fall.

Our srciptures also say that this story is that of every human being. The mad elephant represents our accumulated karmas which generate passions in us and drive us like mad. Chased by the passions generated by our own desires and hatered, we run like mad.

The well into which the man falls, represents this world into which we are born by our karmas. The root we are hanging by is our life which is constantly cutting away by time represented by day and night, the white and the black mice. Pythons at the botton represent the death which is inevitable and is ensured by time. The enjoyment we experience in this world through sense gratification is the honey, which absorbs our attention fully. In search of further sense gratification, we have totally forgotten our situation and are living from one sense gratification to the next.

The author of the poem above has taken the story of the scripture further. He has narrated the inability of the man to get out of his karmic bondage even after becoming aware of it.

Taali te putha me tangya pya see, Meethe de chaske ch rangya pya see
Ajdeh te hathi nu pulya pya see, Sansar moh wich lootya pya see
Hanging upside down on the branch, I was fully absorbed in the taste pleasure of the nector falling from above. Having forgotten the mad elephant, the raging pythons waiting to swallow me at the bottom and the mice making my fall inevitable, I was being robbed of myself by the petty pleasures of the world.

Din raat katre chuhe ja rahe see, Jisme kamjor kare jaa rahe see
Algarz masti asi jee rahe see, Bekhud shahad nu asi pee rahe see
The two mice representing time were nibbeling away on my life.
My body was becoming older and infirm as time was passing away. Unconcerned, I was living for the next moment. Unaware, I was living for the next drop of nector.

Achanak ik bhund chamki karak ke, dung maar sutya menu tarap ke
chees uthiya badan which farak ke, seetkaar nikli jo tali pakar ke
From no wehere flashed a ferocious bee, it stung me causing unbearable pain. My body was quivering with pain of the sting and I was hanging helplessly by the branch in severe pain. This blow of bee stings was quite unexpected. I was used to sucking the honey and wondered what has gone wrong, where has this swarm of stings come from, why are they stining me, what have I done wrong to deserve this. I start cursing the bees for their stings.

shahad te dung ne joda samajhde, mitthe te bhunda da rishta samajh ke
dekhya har ik tali te latke, saruri na-rab de bande ne rab de
Nector comes from the same bees that are stinging me and that one is inevitable without the other. Pleasure comes from the same things that stings us I understood through my ordeal. Looking around, I was amazed and relieved to see that I am not the only one hanging there. On every branch are hanging others like me, stung by bees but braving it all for the next drop of nector as their reward. All these people created by the divine for a divine purpose of their life. They have all forgotten HIM and are intoxicated by his lower nature, the worldly pleasures.

chees meri sun lage kain sare, sahad waal tyan rakhi tu payare
andaze nazar dunga kar tu sare, tayho guzara howega payare
My cries of pain brought many advises from other hangers on. The all advised me with their tongues and faces swolled with stings, that the only way to live here is by remembering the next drop of nector and its taste. Try to ignore the stings, then only you will be able to enjoy and survive this world.

hakeem ik mainu mile jo nayare, dunga the malham banawanga saware
per main shahad thoda jine sare, chakh laan jayin na payare
Then I heard the advice of a self appointed doctor, who promised me a cure for the stings. He has a potent ointment that he uses to protect himself from the pains of the stings. He promised to give it to me. But before anything else, he reabsorbed himself waiting for his next drop. He asked me to wait till he comes out of his own trance.

sir chuk dekhaya khun de kinare, hathi sawar ik mastana mauj mare
dekhya main mastana ne shukar gujare, kadon da wadeekan main khun de sahare
I raised my head and noticed someone on the bank of the well. A care free man riding an elephant noticed my upward glance and felt very happy. I have been waiting here from time immemorial and am glad, you have finally heard and noticed me. The man on the elephant represents a true Guru (guide). Unlike veryone else driven by their karmas (elephnat), This man is the master of his elephant i.e. he is driving his actions rather than the other way around. He has watching the helpless condition of people in the well and has been calling out for me, but I was too absorbed in the wordly pleasures to notice him. Now that I have realised that the world is not pleasure alone and am looking for help, he has galdly come forward to get me out of thsi hell hole.

Saman yaad aya jado main see api, na karma da mara, na punni, na paapi
fikar na jeevan da na marna syapi, sada trapat rehnda se apana jawabi
My sat guru reminded me of a time when I was free. A time when I was not being driven by my lust, my actions were not binding me either ina good or bad way to thsi world. A time when I was not fearful of future living or impending death. A time when I was alwasy content in myself.

taali de ute chapaki jo mari, kande te jawan de asa sawari
hilli je tali te pai gayi bimari, kosan laga her ik lamke sansari
Striving to get of the well, out of the wordly binding causing pain, I tried to jump up the branch I had been hanging on. My efforts caused an uproar in the tree as everyone else hanging by the tree was getting disturbed. When one tries to get out of the wordly affairs, he causes an upraor. Those dependant on him are afraid, they are being abondoned. Those who have always professed that one must stay and endure the sufferings of the world find my efforts as a challange to their way of life.

hilna na tali to tu shadwari, khabar je tu niklan de kiti tayyari
aziza tu pool ja ubari, mushkil intaha aandi na wari
People of the wordly affairs, warned me of dire consequences if I try to upset the status quo. People who love me advised that I am on a very difficult road to no known destination. My own lust and passion raised their ugly head and tied me down to the tree.

hathi sawari kare mainu sainat, lamki sansari kasan je mushka
dunga te mithete chuhe da mara, samajh kuch nayi anda kare ki vichara
The elephant rider, my sat guru indicated me to come out of the well. Afraid of my fellow beings opposition and condemnation of my efforts, afraid and tied down by my own passions, bitten by the desire for more nector, hanging in between life and the death, I have become impotent and weak against my own negative tendencies and am unable to make up my mind on what is good for me.