Awareness of Purpose

Around one thousand types of mantis have been discovered worldwide. They range in length from one inch to seven inches. Their colours vary according to their environment— for example, brown, red, or green. Once, a man made a small kitchen garden on open land near his house. In small plots, he planted coriander, chilies, eggplant and tomatoes. When the plants grew and became lush, one day he noticed two large, doublecoloured insects in one of the beds. He feared they would eat and damage his vegetables. At once, he caught both insects and killed them. That evening, a friend came to visit him. He was a botany teacher at the local college. The man proudly told him, “Today two big insects entered my kitchen garden. They wanted to eat my vegetables, but before they could do any damage, I killed them.” He described the incident in such a way that his friend became curious about what the new insects might be. He asked, “Are the dead insects still there? Let me see them.” The man then showed both insects to his friend. After looking at them, the friend said, “You acted very foolishly. Don’t you know, this is a mantis? And a mantis is not a plant-eating insect—it is well known as a carnivorous insect. It had come here by nature’s arrangement to help you. It was against its nature to eat any vegetables. It would not have harmed your plants at all. Instead, it only eats