An elephant bathed in a river and was travelling along its route.
As it approached a bridge, it noticed a pig completely drenched in dirty mud from opposite directions.
The elephant calmly moved to one side, allowing the filthy pig to pass, and then proceeded on its way.
“See how large I am; even the elephant was terrified of me and stepped to one side to allow me to pass,” the dirty pig later boasted to its buddies.
When they heard this, several elephants questioned their friend’s actions. ‘Was it due to fear that you moved to the side?”
“I could have easily crushed the pig beneath my leg,” the elephant said, “but I was clean, and the pig was quite dirty.” Moreover, crushing it would have made my leg muddy, something I wanted to avoid. As a result, I stepped away.”
Moral: A wise person will avoid contact with negativity not out of fear but out of a wish to avoid impurity, even if they are powerful enough to eliminate it. We do not need to react to every opposing viewpoint, every word, or every scenario.
