In a jungle, there lived a jackal by the name of Chandarava. One day he was very hungry, so he risked going into the city to find food. There he found himself surrounded by barking dogs. They set upon him and chased him. To save his skin, he ran into a nearby house. A big vat of indigo dye was lying there. He jumped in to hide but discovered that his whole body was dyed Indigo as a result and he no longer looked like a jackal. Terrified he rushed out of the vat and out of the house where the dogs were waiting for him. But when he came out, the dogs were unable to recognize him and ran off terrified.
The jackal went back to the jungle. The indigo dye would not come off. Back in the jungle, when the animals, the lions, tigers, elephants, wolves and the rest of them, saw the indigo-colored jackal, they ran away in terror and said to one another, ‘Let’s run away for we don’t know the strength of this animal or what to expect of him.’ When the jackal saw the frightened animal he had an idea. He called them back and said, ‘Oh! Animals! Why are you running off? Don’t be afraid the Lord of Creation has made me himself with his hands. He has told me, “the animals have no king, so I have crowned you as a king. Go to the earth and protect them well.”’
‘That’s why,’ he continued ‘ I’ve come here. From now on you all shall live in my kingdom, under my protection.’ When the animals heard this, they surrounded him and said, ‘Master, we await your command.’ The jackal immediately assigned specific duties to all animals, but he said he would have nothing to do with jackals as he was afraid that they would recognize him. The jackals were all chased away. The lion and the tiger used to go out hunting and bring food before the jackal. He would have his fill and then distribute the remaining to other animals he chose.
He was quite happy and in this way, quite some time passed. One day, the jackal heard in the distance the howl of pack of jackals. He was spellbound, his eyes filled with tears of joy, he stood up and began to howl. When the lion and the other animals heard the howl, they realized who he really was. They said angrily to each other, ‘the despicable jackal has fooled us! We will kill him!’ When the jackal heard this he tried to escape but was chased and killed by the angry mob of animals.
The moral is that you cannot change who you really are by changing your outer appearance. If you have to change, then start changing from the inside out. Change your habits and the way you think rather than changing your appearance or the way you look. If you make only outer changes you may fool others temporarily. But sooner or later your true self will show up and your game shall be up.
Credit: This is based on a Panchantantra story.
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