PEOPLE engage in violence because they do not think about the effects it brings. In this connection, there is a story about a farmer who kept many animals. Most of the animals got along peacefully, except for two goats that were always fighting. It disturbed the peace of the whole farm. The other animals complained to the farmer about the two fighting goats and asked him to resolve their problems.
The farmer called together the two goats and told them that they were disturbing everyone else on the farm. The farmer said to the goats, “You have to stop fighting. People do not want to come to the farm for goods because of the disturbance. The sale of farm products has dropped because of your fighting. I am going on a trip and want you to resolve your problems, so that when I return, you are peaceful.”
The farmer then went out of town and hoped that when he returned the goats would get along. As soon as the farmer left, the goats began to fight again. They rammed each other hard with their horns, and ended up breaking off their horns. By the time the farmer returned from the trip, both goats had broken horns. He called them together and said, “I have asked you to get along with each other. Instead, I return and you have been fighting and now you both have injured yourselves. I request you both to stop fighting. I am going on another trip. Please be peaceful. When I return I want you to have worked things out so that you both get along well.”
As soon as the farmer went away, the goats began fighting again. They were knocking each other over by pushing each other hard with their strong bodies and biting. Soon, their bodies were bruised beyond repair. When the farmer returned he said, “You are both hurting yourselves in the attempt to hurt each other. Please stop this.” The farmer had another trip, and begged them to resolve their problems and be peaceful since they were now both hurt badly by their fighting.
When the farmer left, they fought so hard that they hurt each other’s legs and both of them could not use their legs anymore. When the farmer returned he saw them lying on the ground still looking angrily at each other. The farmer said, “You have now destroyed almost everything about each other except for your tails. I suggest you resolve your problem or there will be nothing left of either of you.” When the farmer left, they fought so hard that they finally destroyed each other. There was nothing left of the two goats except their bones. When the farmer returned he did not see the goats, so he asked the other animals where they were. The other animals on the farm explained that the two goats had fought each other to death. They took the farmer to the place where only the bones remained. The farmer said to the other animals, “As you can see, each of the goats was so intent on destroying the other goat that they ended up destroying themselves. This is the fruit of violence. Each goat thought it would hurt the other goat, but both of them were destroyed in the end. Violence hurts ourselves more than the other person.”
This lesson is a powerful one that we can take to heart. Whenever we set out to hurt someone, we think we are hurting another person. But there are ramifications that extend far beyond our own violence. It spoils the atmosphere for everyone else, and it ends up coming back to hurt us. We cannot avoid the reactions of our actions.
There is a law in the universe that tells us that whatever we think, say, or do will come back to us. This is known in the East as the law of karma. This law of karma states that whatever we think, say, and do comes back to us. If we are violent to someone in action it will come back to hurt us. Either the other person will respond to hurt us, or the law of karma will have some repercussion that will come back to us.
Thus, in our attempts to hurt someone else with words or deeds, or even the power of our thoughts, we can expect that they will boomerang back to us. So, it causes us to think twice and thrice before we utter any harsh words to anyone. That is why the Golden Rule is so powerful. It says, “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” It means that whatever we do to others will come back to us.
Sant Rajinder Singh