The Story of the Squirrel
When I was younger, my Aunt lent us the full video series of the Ramayan by Ramanand Sagar.
It was my first real visual understanding of the epic tale of Lord Ram.
The series was such a hit in India and for the diaspora globally that despite being aired for the first time on Indian TV in 1987, people still, to this day, assume the actors are the Gods incarnate.
That they have some divine connection to the avatars they played.
It must be wonderful to know you’ve struck the right chord with your audience.
Even now, when I pray to Hanuman, or say ‘Jai Shri Ram’, it’s very easy to visualise the actors who played them both in the series.
What can one do?
The experiences you grew up with contribute to your view now.
The idea of contribution has featured in the message of the Ramayan.
When we consider the role of the Vanar Sena (the monkey army) and its contribution to help Lord Ram rescue Mata Sita from Lanka, we see their contribution as pivotal to the story.
But there is another contributor too.
A squirrel.
When Lord Ram and the Sena wanted to cross the waters to reach Lanka from India, it constructed a bridge (or Setu) using big boulders and stones.
In the video series we see the jovial Sena write Lord Ram’s name on each one as they placed them along the water.
In this, a squirrel started to assist the monkeys by adding small pebbles into the gaps.
The monkey army started laughing at the squirrel; ridiculing its small attempt.
The stones were much larger and made the most impact in the creation of the Setu.
Whilst the Sena laughed, Lord Ram took another view and thanked the squirrel for its contribution in the construction of the bridge.
To him, the addition of the pebbles made the bridge stronger.
To thank the squirrel, Lord Ram ran his three fingers down its back which created three stripes as a mark of his blessing.
It is said this is how the Indian palm squirrel earned its stripes.
Lord Ram made the point of explaining, through his actions, that however small the contribution, it added to the bigger picture of the rescue operation.
It makes sense why Lord Ram is seen as the ‘Maryada Purushottam’ - the best amongst honourable men.
Contribution has an interesting etymology, and to understand it, you would need to split the word into two parts.
We can trace back the second part to the Proto-Indo-European root *treyes, which relates to the concept of three or a group and reflects the idea of bringing things together.
*treyes formed the foundation for the Latin word ‘tribuere’ meaning ‘to allot’ or ‘to pay’.
The first part of the Latin term ‘com’ meaning ‘together’ forms the Latin word ‘contribuere’ meaning ‘to bring together’, ‘to add’ or ‘to contribute’.
The term further evolved from the Latin word to the Old French and into Middle English as ‘contribucioun’ before becoming ‘contribution’ in Modern English.
The story of the squirrel is such a beautiful reminder of the smaller steps and the little things that contribute to a much larger mission.
But Lord Ram’s acknowledgment of the contribution also serves as a lesson too.
That we should recognise all contributions.
However small.
Because they all have an effect on the bigger picture.
Puja I love this! Very thought provoking.
I was immediately reminded about a similar story, or concept. I can't remember where it comes from, oops!
Something about two posts are strong, but a third, forming a triangle is stronger: it accounts for more variables and invites more dynamism; similar to biodiversity creating a stronger and healthier environment.
💜