Parables of Wisdom
Elephant and the Blind Men
हाथी और छह अंधे · હાથી અને છ અંધ
Six true answers, and not one of them whole
- 4 min full story
- 2 min children's telling
- For all ages
Six friends who cannot see meet an elephant for the first time, and each is certain he knows exactly what it is. A quarrel begins, until someone helps them see what each of them is missing.
What it teaches Anekantavada Humility Open-mindedness
Read the children's telling free
In a little village at the edge of a forest lived six friends who had been blind since birth. They knew the world by sound, smell and touch: the song of the river, the smell of rain, the voice of every neighbour. Every evening they sat together under a big banyan tree and talked.
One day a traveller came to the village with an elephant. "Let us find out for ourselves what an elephant is like," said the eldest friend. The kind keeper said, "Come closer, friends. She is gentle. You may touch her." He led each friend to a different part of the elephant.
The first man touched her broad side. "An elephant is like a wall!" The second touched a smooth tusk. "No, it is like a spear!" The third held the curling trunk. "It is like a big snake!" The fourth felt a flapping ear. "It is like a fan!" The fifth hugged a thick leg. "It is like a pillar!" The sixth held the swinging tail. "It is like a rope!"
Each friend was sure he was right, and sure that the others were wrong. Their voices grew louder and louder. Soon the six old friends, who had never quarrelled before, were almost angry with each other.
Then a wise man came walking down the road. He listened, smiled, and said, "Every one of you is right. And every one of you is also wrong. Each of you touched only one part. Put all your answers together, and you will know the whole elephant."
The friends thought about this for a long time, and then they began to laugh. "We each held a piece of the truth," said the eldest, "and each of us thought his piece was all of it." They walked home arm in arm, friends once again.
Jain teachers call this anekantavada, which means the truth has many sides. Each of us sees from where we stand. So when we see something differently from someone else, we can say, "From my side, it looks like this," and then listen kindly to what the other person has found.
Read it in JainStory See plans
To carry into the day
My view may be true and still be only a part of the truth.
To talk about together
Can you remember a time when you and someone else were both right about something, but from different sides?
Retold for JainStory from the traditional narrative and checked against published Jain sources. Details vary between tellings.