The Ramayana narrates a highly educative story in its last
canto on the dangers of vanity of power and position.
Once, a dog came to the palace of Sri Ramachandra (Lord Ram) seeking
justice. The dog sustained severe injury of a blow on the head.
On enquiry he told that a brahmana of high birth had hit him
in an angry mood. The man was summoned, and he confessed his sin. An ideal king
that Sri Ramachandra was, he sought the plaintiff ’s opinion on the verdict of
punishment.
The dog humbly implored that the brahmana be made the chief administrator
of a certain monastery named Kalanjara.
All the courtiers of the palace were struck with wonder at
the liberality of the dog and could not check the temptation of asking the
reason thereof.
The latter explained that he himself adorned that post in
his last birth. He was an honest person, pious, and possessed of many qualities
of the head and heart. Yet unfortunately he fell prey to delusion and went the wrong
way. As an atonement of his bad deeds he had fallen to the present condition of
dog birth.
Such being the case with him, what could be the plight of
the irksome, envious, vain brahmana who had hit him! The vanity of power and
position would throw him all the more into delusion. Hence the request!
This anecdote is an eye-opener for us all. With its
practical, penetrating insight into the nature of human mind, it cautions
mankind against the dangers ahead. The human species is the greatest and
noblest of all creations. But if one fails to value human dignity and remains
engrossed in sensual pleasures, if one clamours for power to exploit others; if
one attaches undue importance to the bestial law of survival of the fittest
through cut-throat competition, keeping up with one’s obsessions and envy, then
one cuts a poor figure in maintaining a human identity for long. And one would
have to face the miserable consequences.
Source - The Lure of Power by Swami Kritarthananda – an article
published in the Prabuddha Bharata magazine August 2018 issue.
The story is found in Valmiki Ramayana, Uttara Kanda, Sarga 70–1;
The Ramayana: Uttarakandam, ed. Manmatha Nath Dutt (Calcutta: Manmatha Nath Dutt,
1894), 1749–54.