Those Who Revived a Tiger

The Quest for Miracles

Long ago, three young friends studied together in the Ashram of a guru. They were fascinated by miracles and worked hard to master the art of performing them. Time and again, the guru warned them against their obsession with these occult arts, saying, “Try to be good, try to be wise, and try to know what is truth. Miracles will never lead you anywhere near such goals.”

Ignoring the Guru’s Wisdom

However, the guru’s advice fell on deaf ears. The three friends, with the help of rare books from the guru’s library, learned to perform a variety of miracles. Eager to show their powers to the world, they begged the guru for permission to embark on a tour of several lands.

“My dear boys! The time is not yet ripe for you to move about by yourselves,” the guru warned. But the young men replied, “We are grown up enough, O guru, to take care of ourselves. Please allow us to go. Our glory will soon reach your ears from all directions. And rest assured, we will introduce ourselves as your pupils, which will surely bring you fame.”

“Never mind my lack of fame,” said the guru. “But if you are so eager to go, then take my servant Bhola with you. Treat him as one of you and heed his advice if he offers it.”

The Journey Begins

The young men resented the guru’s decision to send an illiterate boy like Bhola with them. The guru’s instruction to treat him as their equal was a blow to their pride, but they could not protest. Eventually, they set out from the seclusion of the Ashram into the wide world.

As they walked, the three scholars discussed various topics: how to give wings to a frog, how to create a live snake from a string, and how to make ghosts perform a folk dance. Occasionally, they cast contemptuous glances at Bhola, who was quietly carrying their luggage.

The Encounter in the Forest

The road led them through a forest. At noon, they sat down under a large tree and ordered Bhola to cook their lunch. Eager to showcase their knowledge, they couldn’t sit still. They spotted some crumpled, scattered bones and one scholar exclaimed, “With the supernatural powers I have, I can bring these bones together and reconstruct a complete skeleton. Then we can see whether it belonged to a man or an animal.”

He chanted some hymns and sprinkled a little water on the bones. To their astonishment, there lay the complete skeleton of a large tiger.

The Catastrophe Unfolds

Excited, they danced around the skeleton, and the second friend announced, “With my power, I can instantly endow it with blood, flesh, and skin!”

Bhola, who stood apart, aghast at the scene, shouted, “Do not do something so foolish! Wait for a more sensible occasion to demonstrate your powers!” But the scholars ignored his advice. The second young man uttered his hymns, and in a minute, the bare skeleton transformed into a robust tiger.

“Now, do you wish to see what I can do? I can breathe life into it!” claimed the third scholar.

“Please do! It will be such a wonderful creature!” encouraged the other two, disregarding Bhola’s warnings.

Bhola searched for a suitable tree to climb. As he scrambled to the top, the tiger yawned, stretched its massive body, and let out a thunderous roar before pouncing on the unprepared scholars, who huddled together in fear.

The Final Reckoning

In a matter of moments, the tiger devoured them, satisfying what seemed to Bhola as a century of hunger. Once the danger had passed, Bhola quickly descended the tree and ran all the way back to the Ashram without stopping.

On hearing his report, the guru sighed and muttered, “Pity!”