The first approached the elephant
And, as he slid
Against its vast, robust flank,
He exclaimed, “God bless me,
An elephant is like a wall!”.
The second, feeling a tusk
exclaimed “Oh! Oh!
Round, smooth and sharp!
To me, this elephant
Looks like a spear!”
The third went towards the animal,
took the undulating trunk
in his hands and said:
“For me, the elephant is like a snake”.
The fourth reached out an impatient hand,
Palpa the knee
And was convinced that an elephant
Resembled a tree!
The fifth having casually seized the ear, said:
“Even to the blindest of the blind,
This elephant marvel
Is like a fan!”
The sixth groped for the animal
And, grabbing hold of the tail that swept the air,
Perceived something familiar:
“I see,” he said, “the elephant is like a rope!”
So the 6 blind men
Discussed long and passionately,
Falling into one excess or another,
Insisting on what they believed to be right.
They didn’t seem to get along,
When a wise man, passing by,
Heard them arguing.
“What are you so agitated about?” he said.
” We can’t agree
on what the elephant looks like!”
And each of them told him what they thought about it.
The wise man, with his little smile, explained to them:
“You’ve all said the truth!
If each of you describes the elephant
so differently,
It’s because each of you has touched
A very different part of the animal!
The elephant really does have the features
That you’ve all described.”
“Oooooooh!” everyone exclaimed.
And the discussion came to a screeching halt!
And they were all happy to have told the truth,
For everyone held a piece of the truth.
***************************************************************************************
In Jainism, it is explained that truth can be affirmed in seven different ways.
You can thus see how rich this religion is.
It teaches us to be tolerant of others regarding their views.
This enables us to live in harmony with people who think differently from us.
Jainists call this syādvāda”, “anekāntavāda” or the theory of multiple affirmations.