Honesty

A king in ancient times, by the name of Mahendra, was famous for his wisdom and righteousness. People in his kingdom were very happy because their great king ruled justly, and looked after the needs of his subjects.

Alas, each episode of happiness has its flipside also. The law of the opposites is relentless. Heat and cold, pleasure and pain, happiness and unhappiness; they revolve and put in an appearance in turn.

King Mahendra was also subject to the law of the opposites. The king had one regret. He had no children. The question about the successor to the throne was worrying the king. His ministers were becoming anxious because the king was advancing into old age and his subjects were also becoming unsure about their own future.

To solve the question about the successor to the throne, King Mahendra thought of looking for a person with good character. He announced throughout his kingdom that people were invited to the palace grounds and from amongst the people present a successor to the throne may be chosen.

People flocked to the palace on the appointed day. King Mahendra addressed the people and told them that he would hand out seeds to each person present. The seeds were to be planted and whoever brought back the best-grown and most colourful flowers would be chosen as the crown prince. A person that can take care of plants and make them prosper can also make the kingdom prosper.

The people took the seeds and went back home.

Some weeks later, people started bringing flowerpots with some amazing results. There were happy plants all over the palace grounds and the plants were displaying their bright smiles through their colourful flowers of great variety. Each pot plant was bearing the name of the owner written in big bold letters on a tag that was attached to the plant. Some of the ministers even appointed a team of judges to help select the winner on the appointed day.

One man, however, had not succeeded in growing any plant in his flowerpot. There was just the soil and not even a tiny plant in his flowerpot. When he brought his empty flowerpot to the palace grounds, people stared at him in disbelief. Some even ridiculed him. His flowerpot with no plant in it was drowned in a sea of colourful flowers. There was no plant to which he can fasten his nametag. He simply attached the tag to the side of the flowerpot.

The whole palace ground was turned into another Vrindavan
garden. There were rows upon rows of flowers of the most magnificent varieties that one ever saw and the colours were breathtaking. The judges thought amongst themselves that it would be a difficult task to choose the winner. Such was the enthusiasm of the people.

On the appointed day, the whole population turned up at the palace grounds. Speculations were rife as to which flowerpot would get chosen. The ministers looked at the judges and the judges again went into last minute consultations. The harbinger then announced the imminent arrival of his majesty, king Mahendra. There were loud cheers as the king entered the royal pavilion erected specially for this occasion. Long live the king! Long live the king! The people started singing in chorus. The king was then seated on his throne.

The king asked the ministers to brief him about the efforts of the people and the ministers told the king about the incredible variety of flowers that were brought back by the people. One minister announced to the people that his majesty had decided to walk amongst the plants to savour the wafting scents of the flowers and to behold the beauty of the colourful flowers.

Accompanied by his ministers and by the palace gardener, the king was walking and observing each flower pot and now and again made some comments about the spectacular colours and the pleasing aroma that permeated the palace grounds. Upon completing his tour, the king returned to the royal pavilion.

The final hour had arrived. The time for announcement about the successor to the throne was approaching by the minute. The king rose from his throne to address the people. There was a pin drop silence. People felt their heartbeats quicken. The expectations were very high and so were the high standards of the flowerpot entries. The ministers were looking at the judges who signalled that they were ready to announce their decision.

The king started to address the people. In a sombre tone, king Mahendra enquired about one failed entry where the flowerpot had only soil in it and asked its owner to come forward and explain to him. A man right at the back of the huge crowd raised his hand and started making his way towards the royal pavilion. He could hear people making caustic remarks about him. His ears were getting full with sarcasm and stinging words that were being tossed about by the people. An expression of timidity began to creep upon his countenance as he came face to face with his majesty, king Mahendra.

The king requested an explanation as to why his flowerpot had no plant. The man answered that he had tried his best, even adding more fertilizer and carefully watering the seeds, but that he was disappointed and sorry that he could not grow anything. The king stood up and told the people present that he had chosen his successor. It was none else than the man whose effort at growing flowering plant from the seeds that were given to him by the king was a total failure.

The people were incredulous and the ministers and the judges were dumbfounded. With a look full of puzzle on their faces, they awaited an explanation from the king. King Mahendra placed his hand upon the shoulder of the man that was chosen as his successor and spoke to the people.

The king said: I was looking for a man with character and I have found him. I had all the seeds roasted before I gave them out. This fact was kept a secret. It was not possible for any seeds to germinate. People who received the seeds from me bought other seeds for their flowerpots when they did not see any plants growing in their flowerpots. I was on the lookout for that honest person who would produce the correct results and when I saw that one flowerpot without any plant, at that moment I knew that I had found that honest man. The man with the strength of character displaying purity of heart, fearlessness, straightforwardness, truthfulness, absence of crookedness.

The people were taken aback. The ministers and the judges stood there with their heads bowed in agreement. The minds of the people were filled with wonderment and satisfaction. A sense of authority prevailed when king Mahendra bestowed the title of the crown prince upon the man whose honesty won over the hearts of the people.

The king, who was learned and full of wisdom, concluded his address by saying that he was searching for a man, who possessed the Divine Wealth (Daivy Sampat), to become his successor.

The description of this Divine Wealth is given in the first three verses of the 16th Chapter of the Bhagavad Gita.

From the Bhagavad Gita, chapter 16.
Translated by Swami Shivananda
The Divine Life Society, Rishikesh

Fearlessness, purity of heart, steadfastness in knowledge and Yoga, almsgiving, control of the senses, sacrifice, study of scriptures, austerity and straightforwardness.
-Gita, Ch.16, verse 1.

Harmlessness, truth, absence of anger, renunciation, peacefulness, absence of crookedness, compassion towards beings, uncovetousness, gentleness, modesty, absence of fickleness.
-Gita, Ch. 16, verse 2.

Vigour, forgiveness, fortitude, purity, absence of hatred, absence of pride- these belong to the one born of a divine state, O Arjuna.
– Gita, Ch. 16, verse 3.

Source: http://hinduism.co.za
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Old Farmer MacDonald

There was an old farmer, Old MacDonald – who had a good size farm in Utah. Old MacDonald had built up his farm over many years and was proud of his achievement. He lived there with his wife and two young daughters, who were both crazy about horses.

Every year Old MacDonald did a bit more to improve and enhance his farm, times were hard, but he still managed to put some time and money aside for these improvements – However, he had an old barn in the corner of the yard, which was very dilapidated, for the animals – pigs, horses, cows and sheep, There were holes in the roof where the rain came in, there were big holes in the sides of the old barn, where the bitter North wind blew in – chilling the poor animals sheltering. The dirt floor was full of holes, uneven and uncomfortable to stand or lie on. Every year, Old farmer MacDonald promised to repair the barn, and every year something more important came up, preventing him. It was all a question of priorities.

At the end of this year, farm MacDonald had had a particularly good harvest, but like previous years, something else came up, and he did not get round to repairing the old barn. The winter set in and it was one of the hardest, coldest in many years. One particularly bad night the North wind was howling, the rain turned to hail and snow and was unrelenting. Everywhere was frozen solid. The farmer and his daughters got up the following morning to survey a bleak white landscape. They made their way out to the old barn to tend to the animals as usual. The farmer watched as his eldest daughter approached the stall where her favourite horse was – and there was her horse, frozen solid – stone dead. The little girl was heart broken, and the farmer cursed that he had not managed to get around to repairing the barn in time for the winter.

That Spring, as soon as the worst of the weather abated, the farmer set about building a “state of the art” barn across the yard from the old barn. It had an insulated tin roof, thick weather resistant walls, and a beautiful soft floor. Each animal had it’s own feeding stall, with automatic feeders and fresh water on tap. It was the best barn in the whole state of Utah. The animals were taken to their new barn, and settled in, thinking how much better this barn was than their old barn. The farmer, Old MacDonald knocked down what was left of the old barn, and stacked the timber in the far corner of the yard. All that was left of the old barn, was an imprint in the ground of where it had stood.

A few weeks after the new “state of the art” barn was finished the weather took a turn for the worse. A freak snow storm came down on the state of Utah, and as the night closed in, the North wind again started to howl, the snow and ice fell in great quantities and the temperature dropped to well below freezing. Old farmer MacDonald, decided to check on his animals in this terrible storm. He pulled on his wellies and threw on a thick old winter coat, pulling his hat well down to protect him from the elements. As he opened the door, a great gust of wind, nearly prevented him from leaving the farmhouse, but he managed to make his way out and into the yard. He then started to make his way across the yard, bent almost double against the driving wind and snow.

Eventually he made it to the new “state of the art” barn, and got inside, where it was warm, dry and providing excellent shelter from the cold icy “polar” weather outside. But, as his eyes became adjusted to the light, he noticed that there wasn’t a single animal to be seen. He couldn’t believe his eyes and took a few seconds to have a good look in all the stalls, to make sure that the animals were definitely not there! Dazed and bewildered, the Old MacDonald, pulled his hat down and headed back out into the foul weather in search of his poor animals. As he made his way across the yard, he suddenly caught sight of the animals. They were all huddled together, freezing cold, and standing in the outline of the old barn. Old MacDonald carefully led them back to the new barn and settled them in, out of the storm.

Which just proves that sometimes, old habits are hard to change…..let coaching ensure you don’t get left out in the cold.

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The Farmer and the Stork

A Farmer placed nets on his newly-sown plowlands and caught a number of Cranes, which came to pick up his seed.

With them he trapped a Stork that had fractured his leg in the net and was earnestly beseeching the Farmer to spare his life.

“Pray save me, Master,” he said, “and let me go free this once. My broken limb should excite your pity. Besides, I am no Crane, I am a Stork, a bird of excellent character; and see how I love and slave for my father and mother. Look too, at my feathers–they are not the least like those of a Crane.”

The Farmer laughed aloud and said, “It may be all as you say, I only know this: I have taken you with these robbers, the Cranes, and you must die in their company.”

Moral:
Birds of a feather flock together.

The Farmer and the Snake

One Winter a Farmer found a Snake stiff and frozen with cold.

He had compassion on it, and taking it up, placed it in his bosom.

The Snake was quickly revived by the warmth, and resuming its natural instincts, bit its benefactor, inflicting on him a mortal wound.

“Oh,” cried the Farmer with his last breath, “I am rightly served for pitying a scoundrel.”

Moral:
The greatest kindness will not bind the ungrateful.

The Farmer and the Fox

A Farmer, who bore a grudge against a Fox for robbing his poultry yard, caught him at last, and being determined to take an ample revenge, tied some rope well soaked in oil to his tail, and set it on fire.

The Fox by a strange fatality rushed to the fields of the Farmer who had captured him. It was the time of the wheat harvest; but the Farmer reaped nothing that year and returned home grieving sorely.

The Farmer and the Cranes

Some Cranes made their feeding grounds on some plowlands newly sown with wheat.

For a long time the Farmer, brandishing an empty sling, chased them away by the terror he inspired; but when the birds found that the sling was only swung in the air, they ceased to take any notice of it and would not move.

The Farmer, on seeing this, charged his sling with stones, and killed a great
number.

The remaining birds at once forsook his fields, crying to each other, “It is time for us to be off to Liliput: for this man is no longer content to scare us, but begins to show us in earnest what he can do.”

Moral:
If words suffice not, blows must follow.