Getting thirsty on Seeing Water
- A wanderer is desperately in need of water to quench his thirst.
- On seeing a blazing fog, he mistook it for water.
- --
- He thirstily ran after it.
- Oh! Water…
- Then he finally reached the Indus River, he stared at the flowing water without drinking it.
- Since you are so thirsty and looking for water, why don’t you drink the water from the river?
- I can never finish all that water in the river so I may as well not drink any at all.
- Drink water to quench the thirst, why not?
- There is so much of river water, how could I finish it? If I couldn’t finish it, why should I even drink it then?
- The stranger laughed aloud at him.
Ha! Ha! Ha!
Explanation:
There are heretics, acting against all senses and reasons, since they are unable to keep all the discipline (vinaya), they refuse to accept any of them. As a result, they will never attain the path of enlightenment and thus subject to transmigration in time to come. They are just like that stupid thirsty fellow who gets laughed at by his contemporaries. |
