Awakening

Author(s): Padmasagarsuri
Publisher: Arunoday Foundation

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An old woman was returning to her village from a city. Evening came. Some traveller who was coming down the road said to her; "Mother! Go back. There is a wild forest ahead. When the sun sets, the king of the night will kill you." The old woman went to another village, with that traveller. But a lion which lay hiding itself in a bush, heard the traveller's words. It wondered, I am the king of the forest. Who could be this king of the night? How is he? How strong is he?"
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Sometime later, a potter came there searching for his donkey which was missing. In the darkness, he thought that the lion was his donkey and beat on its back with his stick. The lion thought that he must be the king of the night, and that no one else would have dared to beat it.
The potter dragged the lion to his shed and tied it to a peg among his donkeys. In the mornig, his wife saw the lion and screamed with fear. Aroused by her cries, the potter also came there and he began to shake with fear on seeing the lion among his donkeys.
The lion realised that it was the king of the forest as well as the king of the night. Breaking loose from the shed, it returned to the forest. It became free.
Our soul also is like a lion bound to a peg among donkeys. It has the power of attaining endless know