the elephant vanishes

I think the author tries to tell us that the vanishing of something in our lives, which might not be easily recognized. I think the elephant might represent the unity and the balance and the vanishing of the elephant shows the vanishing of the unity and balance of people, but which is not easily notified by people. In the book, it says that if something which is not pragmatic, it does not count much. The elephant in book does not bring much economic benefits to the people of the town and people easily forgot the vanishing of the elephant. I think people focus more on the visible things which really makes effects in our lives. The author says that the pragmatic the seller try to be, the more successful the seller does. I think many people will look at something's appearance but not the balance or unity inside the thing. I think people can see something visually but they can not capture the inner balance of something. The vanishing of the elephant makes people feel the disappearance of the physical elephant, but people do not notify the vanishing balance which is inside the balance. I think human beings might have limitation to figure out the invisible loss, which can be balance or unity.

Queation:
The author says that the elephant vanishes not escapes and why the author has to emphasizes the elephant vanishes instead of escapes?

The author talks about the unity and balance. How do you know your inner feelings is imbalanced and how do you try to make it balanced?