Pandit and the Cat

There lived a Pandit (or called Poojari which means the person who perform the rituals at the temple) in a small village. One day this Pandit got a cute pet cat.   Pandit loved this cute cat and decided to take it to home.  This cute cat used to eat with the Pandit and sleep with him. Wherever he goes, the cat follows him.  Pandit loved the cat and took care of it.

As part of the worship ritual, this pandit has to offer milk to his God in the temple.  As soon as the cat sees the milk, it drank it. It was become a problem for the pandit.   This cat doesn't know whether it is offered to God or not. When ever the cat sees the milk it started to lick the milk as usually pandit gave milk to the cat.

But the milk which offered to God is not for the cat.   Few times the cat came and drink the milk which has to be offered to the God.  To avoid such embarrassing situation Pandit started to tie the cat to a tree before he perform his worship rituals. It was his habit to tie the cat before he perform the pooja (worship). After the worship, he release the cat. Years passed and the the pandit died. His son started to perform the worship rituals. He continued the custom of tie the cat before the worship.

And it become the part of the worship ritual. Years passed and the the cat also died. Now the children of the pandit does not know why they tie the cat before the worship. They thought and felt to complete the ritual, they have to tie a cat. They couldn't find a cat in their village. They felt that their worship is not complete and did not find satisfaction. So they brought a cat from the near by village. After brining the cat, they tied it to a tree and did their worship ritual. Now they are satisfied.

We are like this.  Many of us does not know why we are doing certain thing, still we do it as a ritual.