Intelligence .v. Common Sense

I was reading a “Panchatantra” story to my 6 year old son during this lockdown period due to COVID 19 on saturday evening. The title was “The Scholars and the Lion”. The title picture shows that.

“Panchatantra” stories are short stories read to kids. The word “Panchatantra” is a combination of the words Pancha – meaning five in Sanskrit, and Tantra – meaning weave. It is an interweaving of traditions and teachings into a text.

The “Panchatantra” is a “niti-shastra” or text books of niti. The word “niti” means roughly the “wise way to act”.

In the story there are 4 scholars, 3 are very well read and clever. The 4th one was also well read but also had common sense. They see a dead lion in the jungle with all its skins and bones. The 1st scholar says, let’s bring the lion back to life and he adds, he can put together the skeleton perfectly. The 2nd one says he can cover the skeleton with flesh, blood and skin. The 3rd one say he can give life to the body so that it becomes a living creature.

The 4th said nothing but said please don’t do it, I trust your knowledge and capability. You all together have the power to bring a dead beast back to life, however I am not sure if you have the power to change the nature of the beast. A lion never eat’s grass and a lamb will never eat flesh”.

The 3 intelligent scholars despise the 4th scholar. The 4th scholar asks the permission to run up the tree. The 3 scholars bring the lion to life and as expected are eaten up by the lion.

4th scholar saves himself with common sense. He was wiser.

When now I see the pandemic with COVID 19, I can see similar parallel. Whether this coronavirus is genetically engineered bio warfare weapon by tweaking the RNA of flu virus by a country or a result of bad eating habits of race, the world is paying the price.

The beautiful world was created with balance.

Human beings are supposed to have higher intelligence than other living beings on planet. However being driven with evil desires of showing or gaining supremacy or being driven out of greed or fear, and see what a mess have been created for the world at large.

Never seen influenza virus so virulent in summer.

A Frankenstein has been unleashed which the world is finding it difficult to contain. Somebody gave life to the beast without understanding the nature of the beast.

We as human race never seem to learn be it the destructive power of a #atombomb, to inhumanity of #naziholocaust, to pandemic due to #covid19.

The world truly needs more people with common sense & humane centric thinking than with more intelligence. Intelligence without a human centric thinking is catastrophic.

Hope we learn without going through such a bitter experience every time.