Man in the Dark Well!

A scene flashed in front of my mind. It was a powerful image for me! I was so moved by it. It was hanging in techno-colour animation image in my mind. The image haunted me for nearly four days, and I was trying to figure out where had I learned about this scenario but couldn’t find it. Maybe the reader in you will recognize it.

Life is that honey of pleasure which a human being sense with danger lurking all around them. Let me walk you through the image, maybe you will know the source?! There is a huge shady tree and above it is buzzing honeycomb with worker bees busy with collecting honey from the flowers. A sudden feeble call for help can be heard from nearby, that it disturbs the peaceful buzz of activities around the honeycomb.

Quite close to the tree is a huge well that has dried up and a tiger is prowling and growling as if hungry for a long time. A small nut pelts the tiger, and the eye moves upward you find three things. A human being is hanging on the branch of the tree which is growing on the walls of the huge well. His eyes reflect the hood of a cobra in his iris which is twisted around the branch and moving towards him.

To heighten the situation of fear is the fact that the tree is slowly buckling under the hanging man’s weight. The man shuts his eyes to reduce his fear of the moment when he senses a liquid dropping on his lips. The liquid is so tasty that he appreciates it even in the difficult situation. The taste of the honey dripping from the honeycomb brought happiness to the man. This image has been in my head for the past four days.

I don’t know if life and its mortality is just such a honey that it comes at the price of all the latent fears and danger lurking around the human being. I told this image in my mind to many people and all they told me that it is described by the ancient poets of South India. I truly want to find out who described such a scene. The funny part is that even now I can see a cartoon version of the image in my head with the royal robe floating in the peripheral vision. Does anyone know who told this example of life and its joy making its presence felt in a human being?

Answer: Bhagavatam Stories

PS: The above image of a man hanging from the tree branch is from Bhagavatam Stories. Man in a dark well

http://www.bhagavatam-katha.com/story-men-in-a-dark-well-of-this-world/