selfishness

 

काक आह्वयते काकान् याचको न तु याचकान्।

काकयाचकयोर्मध्ये वरः काको न याचकः॥

सुभाषितरत्नभण्डागारे॥

kāka āhvayate kākān yācako na tu yācakān|

kākayācakayormadhye varaḥ kāko na yācakaḥ||

subhāṣitaratnabhaṇḍāgāre||

This is a nice quote from the great reservoir of Subhashitams called Subhashitaratnabhadagaram- figuratively and literally meaning the treasure house of great sayings. If one starts quoting from that ocean, one would easily spend his whole time without repetition.

The meaning of the Slokam

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The crow, when it discovers food, just cries aloud and enthusiastically calls all its clan to join him. However, a beggar (who is a man too) would never do that.( He would rather try to grab the entire thing).That is the difference. The crows are far better than beggars are.

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This simple analogy reiterates the utterly selfish nature of humankind.

The crows are so spontaneous.

They are happy to find nice things, and they are eager to share too.

Most of the beings on the surface of earth too are like that.

Even if they kill, they would do that for survival or in self-defence.

However, even if he has more than the reasonable needs and expectations, the man who is supposed to possess the sixth sense, is selfish.

He would love to grab, hoard, and he would rather find pleasure in ensuring that his own species do not get, their share.

We are not likely to find any selfish crow anywhere.

Perhaps once in a million, we might find a person who is not selfish.

The slokam talks of beggars as being selfish. Nevertheless, in reality most human beings, be it beggars or kings, mendicants or monarchs, are all selfish.