Hypocrite!

Duryodhana thro’ Uluka sent Yudhishthira a message by relaying a story which once Narada told Dhritrāshtra

Once there was a wicked cat that lived by the side of the Ganga. One day, to fool the animals around him, the cat announced: My dear friends, I'm going to renounce all work. By practicing piety & austerity, I'll purify my heart. To make a show of being a great devotee, the cat stood on the banks of the river with folded hands, as if absorbed in meditation upon Supreme Lord

As a result, within a short while, the cat managed to gain trust & confidence of all birds living there. When the birds came & congratulated him for his change of heart, the wicked cat felt as if his purpose was already accomplished. After seeing the birds worshiping cat, the mice also came & admired his saintly behavior. In fact, the mice decided that virtuous cat should become their protector, so that they could roam about free from fear of their enemies

Addressing him as uncle, the mice came before cat & begged him to become their king and refuge. The cat replied: My dear mice, to engage oneself in performing austerities while at the same time giving protection to others seems contradictory. But, because you have requested me to do so, I must agree, provided you promise to obey my commands. I want you to carry me to riverside each day, for I've become very weak because of my penance

The mice agreed & then assigned their elderly and youthful members to carry the cat. Thereafter, wicked cat began eating mice carrying him. As he became fatter & stronger, the number of mice decreased. Upon seeing their population-dwindling, the mice assembled to ascertain the cause

A wise mouse named Dindaka advised: My dear brothers, go to river & wait for me while I accompany the cat to see if he does anything mischievous. The mice agreed to this plan, but it so happened that while going to river, the cat ate Dindaka. Once again, the mice called for a meeting. This time, an elderly mouse named Kilika said: My dear brothers, this cat is certainly a great hypocrite. Even though he is our enemy, he is pretending to be our virtuous friend

As evidence, I have brought some of the cat's stool so that you can see how it contains animal hair. How could this be possible if the cat were subsisting only on fruit and roots, as he claims? Besides, Dindaka has been missing for eight days. I'm sure that the cat is eating us all. After hearing this, all of the mice panicked and scattered in all directions

Duryodhana continued: O Yudhisthira, you are just like this cat, for you pretend to be virtuous and yet act in such a way as to destroy all your kinsmen. Now give up your hypocritically gentle behavior and fight, for we are not the mice that you think we are

We all at times apply standards to others which we refuse to accept for self. This is a sign of immaturity & lack of self-awareness.It’s a red flag & needs to be avoided at all cost

Let’s not be a hypocrite

Thoughts? #gameoflife