The Brahman’s Goat

Mitra Sharma, a village scholar, was given a strong young goat to care for. As rain began to fall, he lifted it onto his shoulders and hurried home along a forest road.

Three hungry tricksters saw him. The first stepped from a side path and cried, “Why are you carrying a dog?” Mitra Sharma laughed and continued. Farther on, the second called the goat a calf. At the next bend, the third insisted it was a donkey.

Hearing the same strange claim in different forms made Mitra Sharma uneasy. “Can my eyes be wrong?” he wondered. He nearly left the goat beside the road.

Then the goat bleated and tugged affectionately at his scarf. Mitra Sharma took a breath. He placed it beside a clear pond, examined its horns, hooves, beard, and reflection, and asked a passing shepherd to confirm what he saw.

“That is certainly a goat,” said the shepherd. The tricksters, who had been waiting to take it, hurried away. Mitra Sharma understood their plan.

He reached home safely and told the village children, “Many voices can repeat one lie. That does not turn it into truth. When doubt appears, stop, observe, and ask a trustworthy person.”