One day a farmer’s donkey fell into a well. The animal cried sorrowfully for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally he decided that since the animal was old and unable to do its job well, it was just not worth taking the trouble to rescue the donkey.

He invited his neighbours to come over and help him cover the well that was dry. It needed to be covered anyway. They grabbed a shovel each and began to throw earth into the well.

The trapped donkey realised what was happening and brayed piteously. Then he calmed down. After dumping a few shovel loads, the farmer looked down the well.
He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey would shake it off and take a step up.

As the neighbours continued pour in the earth, the animal would shake it off & take another step up. Pretty soon everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped over the edge of the well and walked out happily.

The animal in the story did his ‘karma’ without getting disheartened. And the result? He found freedom & happiness. Every day each one of us is engaged in our little Kurushetras. We all fight battles every day. Life is a struggle and all kinds of hindrances come. These hindrances are : Kaam, Krodh, lobh, moh, and ahankar --- i.e., lust, anger, greed, attachment, and ego, appearing in different forms at different times. These enemies have to be vanquished in order to advance towards our goal of self-realisation.

The right approach is to take support/ help of our Guru & get over the problem and take step forward. We can get out of the deepest well of trouble just by perseverance & calm delibration & continuous prayer. Like the donkey in the narrative, stay calm instead of grumbling, shake off the problem and move up towards the goal.