Once, when Lord Rama and his brother Lakshmana went to take bath in the Pampa Lake, they thrust their bows and arrows into the ground on the bank. Coming out of the water, Lakshmana took out his bow and found its tip stained with blood.
Rama said to him: “Look, brother! Perhaps we seem to have hurt some creature unknowingly.”
Lakshmana dug up the earth and found a big bull frog underneath. It was dying.
Rama said to the frog with great sorrow, “Why didn’t you croak? We could have tried to save you. You croak lustily enough when you are in the jaws of a snake.”
The frog said, “O Lord, when I am attacked by a snake I croak, saying: ‘O Rama, save me!’ This time I found that it was Rama himself who was killing me; so I kept quiet.”
– Tales and Parables of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhamsa
Image of postage stamp on Lord Rama and his brother Lakshmana issued by Nepal on the occasion of Ramnavami in 1967. Courtesy https://indiastamp.blogspot.com/
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (1836-1886) was a Hindu mystic from India whose parable-based teachings espoused the ultimate unity of diverse religions as being means to enable the realisation of the same God. After his demise, his chief disciple Swami Vivekananda popularised his ideas and founded the Ramakrishna Order, which provides spiritual training for monastics and householder devotees, and the Ramakrishna Mission, which is involved in charity, social work and education.