The hermit and the mouse

There was a temple of Lord Shiva (God of destruction) near a southern city called Mahilaropyam.

A holy sage used to live and look after the temple. He would visit the city everyday for alms, and return in the evening for meal. He collected more than he required for himself, and would keep the excess in a bowl, and distribute it among poor workers, who cleaned and decorated the temple in return.

A mouse, who lived in a hole in the hermitage would creep in everyday and steal some of the food from the bowl. When the hermit realized that a mouse has been stealing the food. He tried all ways to stop it. He hung the bowl as high as he could, and even tried to beat the mouse with a stick, but the mouse would find some way to reach the bowl and steal some food.

One day, a mendicant came to visit the temple, and the sage. But the hermit was absent-minded and looked for an opportunity to hit the mouse with his stick, lest it come again. This made the mendicant angry, "I will not visit your hermitage again, for you are giving only vague and abstract replies to by queries. You seem to be pre-occupied with something more important than talking to me!"

On the other hand, the mouse was very depressed on realizing the entire store of food that it had accumulated for so long had been lost. It felt deeply dejected, and lost all its confidence.

During this time, the sage charged it with a stick. It was so depressed, that it was not able to react quickly, and was hit. It was not a deadly blow, but it was hurt. Somehow, it managed to escape and left the temple at once. It decided not to return to the temple again.

Moral: Strike at the source of the enemy's power to destroy him.