A large herd of elephants lived in a forest in the Himalayan foothills. They were led by a magnificent white elephant. He was very fond of his old blind mother. When the elephants went out looking for food, he sent some fruits to his mother with some of his fellow elephants. But those greedy elephants ate up the fruits, and when he returned, he found his mother starving.
He was so disappointed with his herd that he left it and stayed home to take care of his mother. He took her to live on a mountain with a beautiful lake. One day, a man came there, frightened and lost. He was a forester from Banaras; he had got lost in the forest. The white elephant knew the forest very well, so he offered to lead him back. The elephant led him to the edge of the forest near the city.
It so happened that the King’s elephant had grown old and then died. The King was looking for a suitable elephant in his place. The forester remembered the white elephant. “I’ll get a reward if the King likes him,” he thought. So, he told the King about the white elephant.
The very next day, the King set off with his soldiers, all of them led by the forester, to fetch the elephant. He saw them coming and knew that the ungrateful forester must be responsible for this. If he tried to struggle, there would be a lot of destruction and perhaps some of the King’s men would die. So, the white elephant did not put up a fight. But he was miserable about leaving his old mother helpless. She heard the sounds and then heard them all go away. Her son did not return that night, so she fell asleep weeping.
The white elephant was kept very well and decorated with a lot of rich cloth and jewels. The King was jubilant at owning him. But soon, he noticed that the elephant always looked sad. He asked the elephant the reason for his sadness and then learnt about his old, blind mother, alone in the forest.
The King was very compassionate. He sent the elephant back to the forest and to his mother. The white elephant was delighted to return to his home. His mother too was so happy and gave her blessings to the kind King. He often visited them there and when the elephant died, the King installed a statue of him and held an elephant festival every year.
