The Culprit

Sandman

The Culprit
An Indian Folk Tale

There once lived a pundit by the name of Poornananda in a village far away.

He had two disciples-- Nagendra and Krishna.

One day while the two were coming to the village from the city, Naga (Nagendra's nickname) picked a fight with a horse cart driver. The fight reached flashpoint and Naga, unable to contain himself any longer, slapped the horse cart driver. The driver fell down.

Poornananda, who happened to witness the incident, came to the horse cart driver's rescue.

" What have you done Naga? Is this what I taught you?"

Feeling ashamed of himself, after hearing his guru's words, Naga fell at his feet and begged forgiveness. But Krishna was watching all this with glee.

"Nagendra was a big bully. It's good that you came along, guru. This incident is a shame even to me," Krishna said.

On hearing this Poornanada's face turned red. "One is a big bully. But what about the other? Quietly watching the fight with glee! So you, too, are equally guilty."

Krishna hung his head in shame.

Moral: Jumping to conclusions doesn't make for happy landings.