On Being Humane

The Rise of King Balasimha

When the king of Virpur died, his son Balasimha ascended the throne. As he was very young, he had little experience of the world. The royal priest advised him, “My lord, those who rule should understand the depth of humanity in man. I will tell you more about this later.”

The Cautionary Tale of the Spy

One day, a royal spy approached the king and said, “Sire, while passing through the forest, a man warned me, ‘Quick, climb the tree; a tiger is coming this way!’ So I climbed the tree, and shortly after, a tiger passed beneath us. Then we got down from the tree.”

The priest then inquired, “Did the man who warned you to carry any weapons?” The spy replied, “Yes, he did.” The High Priest commented, “Sire, that man possesses little humanity. Although he warned you of the tiger, he did not attempt to protect anyone by confronting it; he was only focused on saving himself.”

A Lesson in Compassion

Some days later, another man came to the court and recounted, “Sire, there is a wealthy man with a servant whom he mistreats. One day, while whipping the servant for a minor fault, a passerby objected. The wealthy man retorted, ‘He is my bonded slave, and I have the bond to prove it. I can treat him as I wish.’”

The passerby snatched the bond from the wealthy man and tore it up, declaring to the servant, “Friend, go your way. You are now free.” The priest, who had listened to this incident, said, “Sire, that rich man lacks humanity; he is cruel. However, while the passerby showed some humanity by setting the servant free, he should have considered the servant’s future before making that decision.”

The Bandit’s Choice

Some time afterwards, a group of merchants came to complain about a bandit who had robbed them of their goods. However, the bandit spared their lives, stating, “If I kill them, then there will be no one left for me to rob.”

Upon hearing this, the High Priest remarked, “That bandit has a semblance of humanity; it is only his nefarious profession that mars his actions from being completely humane.”

A Shocking Encounter by the River

A few days later, a royal guard brought two individuals before the king—a rich man and a poor man. The guard explained, “Sire, this rich man pushed the poor man into the river. I jumped in after them, but the poor man managed to save the rich man.”

The furious king asked the rich man, “Why did you push this man into the water?” The rich man responded, “Sire, this man is my neighbor. I took his land and set fire to his cottage. Today, he confronted me near the river and questioned my actions. In my anger, I pushed him into the river, but in doing so, I lost my balance and fell in as well. Not knowing how to swim, I was in danger of drowning, but he saved me.”

The priest interjected, “Sire, this man is full of humanity. His compassion is so powerful that it has transformed even a cruel man. He embodies the highest form of humanity among us. It is through compassion that we can convert the wicked into righteous individuals.” Balasimha began to understand the true essence of humanity.

The Lesson of Wires and Insulators

You may have noticed telephone and electric lighting wires on wooden crosspieces atop tall poles. These wires do not actually rest on the wood; instead, they are fixed to white objects resembling upside-down teacups. There is a crucial reason for this—made of copper, the wires must not touch any conductive object, as that would cause the current to fail, disrupting telephone calls and electric lighting. To prevent this, the wires are secured to insulators made of porcelain, which do not conduct electricity.