The best parable is what happened to Arjuna, the valorous fighter, when he stepped into the Kurukshetra battlefield to fight.
He was totally unnerved. He said he would retreat. Saying so, he kept his bow and arrow down, and sat on the chariot behind Krishna, his charioteer. Arjuna’s mind was paralyzed, intelligence enfeebled. His body trembled. Krishna exhorted him pointing it was not right and cannot be allowed. Krishna explained how the whole world and creation carry an indestructible, eternal, thread of divinity, binding all people together. Body alone is perishable, but the inner presence that animates the body, is imperishable. Live on this understanding, finding everything and all alike and together. You may defend yourself, but not attack anybody first or assault anybody unnecessarily. Resist evil you should. Otherwise evil will destroy you. Goodness, Equalness, and Oneness constitute propriety. Any affront to these should be opposed and disallowed in the human kingdom.
Arjuna heard Krishna, corrected himself. His mind and heart expanded. The lack of divine connectedness had enfeebled Arjuna and made him abandon his weapons. When he got corrected, he stood up to his duty well.
This is the way divine connectedness works. Open yourself to it unreservedly. Install goodness and fondness in the heart. And be full and abundant. Resolve to live well, helping and serving others, and fulfilling the intentions of Nature.
Other parables:
1) Yadu and Avadhoota, Janaka and Ashtavakra, King Rahoogana and Bharatamuni. In the last instruction Krishna gave in Dwaraka to Uddhava, Krishna cites the instance of his predecessor Emperor Yadu’s dialogue with an avadhoota, a mendicant.
Yadu was travelling. On the way he found an avadhoota. From the very looks of the mendicant, the emperor recognized that he was a great ascetic. Yadu stopped the chariot, got down, fell prostrate at the ascetic’s feet and said, “In this beaming youth, with such resplendent face, you are moving without any anxiety or concern, like a huge tusker immersed in a river, the least affected by the powerful current of the river. Be kind enough to tell me, Sir, what makes you do so? Where from did you gain the lofty vision, which enables you to meander like this?”
The avadhoota said he moved freely and learnt many values, lessons, and messages from various sources. His own intelligence was his teacher. His intelligence showed him 24 teachers, ranging from mountain, sea, wind, fire and trees, to a young girl, an arrow maker, a prostitute in Mithila and many others, and finally, his own body. The avadhoota’s narration was full of spiritual wisdom, a parallel to which is seldom found. (Source: Srimad Bhagavatam, Skandha 11, Chapters 7-9)
2) Sage Ashtavakra, who had eight bends in his body, once went to Janaka’s palace. The King was holding a session with his illustrious assembly of the wise. Seeing the gait of the visitor who walked with great difficulty with eight bends, the whole assembly burst into laughter. In derision, the Sage also burst into laughter. King Janaka was surprised. He could understand the behaviour of his assembly. But how did the King Janaka was surprised. He could understand the behaviour of his assembly. But how did visitor, who was mockingly laughed at, also laughed. The Sage replied, “Everyone’s body is shaped by Nature and is indeed a gift of Nature. None can claim any superiority on account of his body or the looks. Seeing my deformed body and my shaky gait, why did your assembly laugh? And they are all supposedly men of wisdom and knowledge! If this is what the wise have to display, then it is indeed laughable that these are the people who advise you on a daily basis. You are a great king, famed for your wisdom. I laughed seeing how a king of your stature sits on the throne advised by such a foolish assembly. What kind of advice can they possibly give, and how dare you accept it and act? I wonder how you can ever stoop to this level of incompetence!” Janaka was stupefied, but enlightened too. He fell prostrate before the Sage and sought knowledge of the Self in its true essence.
A dialogue followed, in which the Sage enlightened the King in Self-realization.
This shows how great, responsive even emperors of our land were, when it came to spiritual enlightenment and Self-knowledge. (Source: Ashtavakra Samhita, an important ancillary text in Vedanta)
3) King Rahugana was once travelling in a palanquin. Along the way, the carriers of the palanquin wanted an extra person to relieve them in turn. They soon found a hefty man on the road. His name was Jada Bharata. The King asked Jada Bharata to relieve one of the carriers of his palanquin. The stranger readily agreed. The King’s retinue soon found the new comer markedly slow. This displeased everybody and irritated the King. Rahoogana chastised Jada Bharata for his inattention and inefficiency. Jada Bharata initially kept quiet, but later responded: “I am trying to be careful not to trample over small living creatures on the ground. You are threatening to punish my body but know that it is of little consequence to me, for I am not the body. I am the unaffected soul.” After exchanging a few words, the King came to know that Jada Bharata was an enlightened person. He alighted from the palanquin and prostrated before Jada Bharata, begging his pardon. The King also asked Jada Bharata to enlighten him about the Self. Jada Bharata obliged. The whole retinue of the King was surprised beyond measure. India has a number of legends of this kind, all revolving around the inmost Self. This story appears in Chapter 10 of 5th Skandha of Srimad Bhagavatam.