Elephant in
scriptures, mythology, epics and Reality :
Elephants are the biggest Land Mammal and
VEGETARIAN too.
Lord Ganesha – Greatly revered Indian deities and the Lord of Wisdom - bears
an elephant head. The elephant head symbolizes great intellect and wisdom.
King of Gods Indra is believed to have a white elephant named Airavat as his
vehicle. Elephants used to be symbol of royalty – Emperors and Kings used to
ride during processions and in war on elephants.
White elephant is a religious symbol
in Buddhism . Buddha’s mother dreamt of a white elephant. And then the preacher
of peace Gautam Buddha was born.
In epic
MAHABHARATA, an elephant named Ashwatthama (incidently the same name
as the name of Son of Dronacharya- revered teacher of Kaurvas and Pandavays) is
at the centre of a turning point. Kaurvas and Pandavas fighting in battle of Kurukshetra, an
innocuous lie in the middle of battle announcing Ashwatthama was dead, actually
meant to dishearten Kaurvas army commander Dronacharya, by creating impression that
his son was dead, where in fact , it was the elephant that had got killed.
However this Startegic announcement had the desired effect of lowering
Kaurava’s army commander morale, and hence weakening their army battle
position.
In Islamic tradition, the year 570, when the Prophet Mohammad was born, is
known as the Year of Elephant. In that year, as recounted in the Muslim
sources, Abraha, ruler of Yemen (most likely a viceroy for the Axumite of
Ethiopia), sought to conquer Mecca and demolish the Kaaba, reportedly in
retaliation for the previous Meccan defilement of a cathedral, Abraha had
constructed in Sana’s. He launched an expedition of forty thousand men, led by
a white elephant named Mahmoud (and possibly with other elephants - some
accounts state there were several elephants, or even as many as eight).
However, his design was foiled when Abraha's elephant reportedly refused to cross
the boundary of Mecca
and sat down. It could not be persuaded otherwise, either by reason or
violence. The accounts state that if the elephant was turned towards Syria or Yemen it would walk without
hesitation, but when it was turned towards the Kaaba it would kneel on its
knees as if it would adore the city that its master was intent on destroying.
"Al-Fil" ("The Elephant") - 105
th Sura (chapter)
of the Koran - commemorates this event with the verse: "
Hast thou not
observed how thy Lord dealt with the owners of the Elephant? Did He not bring
their stratagem to nought?"
……..and the REALITY is…
BUT the worldly lure has its negative impact, elephants are being killed for
the commercial advantage of their Dead Body, Ivory, Tusks, and other body parts
used for commercial gains.
A regional political party in India – the Bahujan
Samaj Party - has an elephant as its election symbol. During their rule, lot of
Public money poured into constructions of Massive stone parks, with long arrays of elephant statues. The constructions Look
grand… and can be said to add another Tourist attractions in Lucknow….. but
Recent developments and reports revealing the corruption aspect of the whole
constructions, bringing forth the Bad intentions
involved in the whole process. People involved in this, are just not only
tarnishing the Humanity, but in the
process
THE DOCILE & HUMBLE ELEPHANT IS WOUNDED .
Photos by - Kuldeep Singh
Source of Facts - Internet
