30. A Bride for Ganapathy

Some incidents witnessed by Ganapathy when he was a boy had a deep impact on his thinking.

The river flowing on the outskirts of his village would become dry during summer. During that period, Ganapathy would play on the riverbed along with his friends. 

Sometimes, he and his friends would sit on the riverbed and chat.

Near one bank of the river, there was a large pit which contained water. That water had not dried up because the river was deep at that place. Water snakes would dwell there. A few boys would catch those snakes, hold them tightly by their necks and then throw them far. Some others would hang them using a noose made from the rope-like roots hanging from the banyan tree on the branch of the river. Others would enjoy the ordeal suffered by the snakes by clapping their hands and laughing aloud.

Ganapathy was pained to see the torture the snakes were subjected to. At one point of time, he stopped going to the river bed to avoid witnessing those gruesome scenes.

One day, he decided to abstain from eating meat. His parents tried to dissuade him from carrying out his decision, but he didn't relent. His mother taunted him asking, "Do you think that you are a Brahmin*?" 

Ganapthy said, "One doesn't have to be born a Brahmin, to abstain from eating meat. Killing living beings is not acceptable to me."

When it was time for Ganapathy to get married, his parents searched for a suitable bride for him. Ganapathy met one of the prospective brides selected by his parents and spoke to her.

"I have one request for you. In our home, we should not use devices like mousetraps, mosquito coils, insect sprays and other such things for killing insects and other creatures. Will you agree to this?" asked Ganapathy.

"Are you suggesting that we should allow ourselves to be bitten by mosquitoes?" asked the girl, half in surprise and half in disbelief.

"If we keep our home and our environment clean, mosquitos won't be able to thrive at our home. We can sleep inside a mosquito net. For preventing mosquito bites, we can apply an ointment on our skin. If a mosquito bites us, we will be inclined to crush it with our palm against our body. I won't say we shouldn't do so. But should we go on an offensive hunting living creatures?"

The girl said, "I am sorry" and left.

Ganapathy had the same experience with a few other girls also.

Once, when Ganapathy discussed his idea with a Brahmin friend of him, the friend said, "Where did you get this idea? Our scriptures say that killing a creature that could harm us is justified. This is what I have heard from the elders in my community." 

It is another matter that neither he, nor the elders from whom he has heard this concept would have been able to specify where such a thing was mentioned in the scriptures!

Ganapathy said, "It is one thing to kill a being in self-defence, but going all out to kill living beings appears abominable to me."

"I hear that there is an opening in the United Nations Organization in mosquito eradication division. I suggest you apply for this job. If you get that job, you will be forced to work towards killing mosquitoes. If you go around the world killing mosquitos for a couple of years, perhaps you may have a change of heart!" said the friend, sarcastically.

Frustrated, Ganapathy's parents have stopped looking for a bride for him. If you come across a girl who would accept the condition set by Ganapathy for marriage, please get in touch with him!

*South Indian Brahmins are vegetarians by tradition.

Thirukkural
Section 1: The Path of Virtue

Chapter 3
The Greatness of the Ascetics

Verse 30 (In Tamil)
andhaNar enbOr aRavOr maRRevvuyirkkum
sendhaNmai pUNdozugalAn

Meaning:

A Brahmin (a virtuous person) is one who pursues the path of morality. He showers love on all creatures.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'uyirgaLidaththu anbu vENdum' by the same author)

Verse 31 

Verse 29