02/26/2025
Elephants are one of my favorite animals. Once an Asian Elephant is fully grown there are no natural predators. Their strength and size makes them perfect for moving large objects such as fallen trees. In fact, in many parts of Asia, they were used to carry timber before bulldozers existed.
As you can imagine, keeping domesticated elephants can fraught with difficulty given their size and strength.
In India, they tether baby elephants (or calves) to a pole with a rope. This is done to protect the calf from wandering into the jungle where lions and tigers await. They can also get into a lot of mischief and cause unwanted destruction. The rope is sufficient to keep the calf from harm and destruction.
As the elephant grows to maturity, they use the same rope to keep the elephant in place. The elephant has no idea that the rope is no longer a sufficient barrier and could easily be snapped. Their old preconditioned notions of the rope keep them from even attempting it. And so, we see a magnificent creature who is unaware of its own power and strength, held captive by an old association with rope.
What rope is holding you back? Come to Exploring the Veda, Part 1 to see the reality of your long held beliefs.
