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8. PETROL-WATER
There was a fire in a building. It appeared as if the rising flames from the fire were trying to touch the sky. In that building, lived two brothers, who got into an argument. The elder brother blamed the younger brother, “It was your mistake due to which the fire broke out.” The younger brother was not to be outdone. He said, “How was it my mistake? It was definitely your mistake.” The neighbours protested, “First extinguish the fire.” Both the brothers refused to do so, saying, “No, let us first resolve whose mistake it was, then only shall we put out the fire.”
What should we call the brothers? Sane or insane? Where is the question? Both are mad because by the time it would be decided whose mistake it was, everything would be reduced to ashes. Then how would it matter, whether one could conclude as to whose mistake it was. This fact suggests that the first duty is not to ascertain who erred. It is to put out the fire. The learned say that just as a fire can break out in a building, there can be a fire of anger in one's soul. When such a fire breaks out, our first duty is to put an end to it. It is inopportune to say at that time that, “You abused me so I retaliated with anger”, in order to decide whose folly it was.
Fire can be extinguished by sprinkling water over it. By fueling it with petrol, it becomes more inflamed. The same is true of the fire of anger. Which is that water, which when sprinkled, pacifies the fire of anger? And
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