<P> The Rigveda, dated to have been composed between 1500 and 1200 BCE, states "Reality is one, though wise men speak of it variously ." According to Paul J. Griffiths, this premise is the foundation of universalist perspective behind the parable of the blind men and an elephant . The hymn asserts that the same Reality is subject to interpretations and described in various ways by the wise . In the oldest version, four blind men walk into a forest where they meet an elephant . In this version, they do not fight with each other, but conclude that they each must have perceived a different beast although they experienced the same elephant . The expanded version of the parable occurs in various ancient and Hindu texts . Many scholars refer to it as a Hindu parable . </P> <P> The parable or references appear in bhasya (commentaries, secondary literature) in the Hindu traditions . For example, Adi Shankara mentions it in his bhasya on verse 5.18. 1 of the Chandogya Upanishad as follows: </P> <P> etaddhasti darshana iva jatyandhah </P> <P> Translation: That is like people blind by birth in / when viewing an elephant . </P>

The story of an elephant and blind man