Priceless Apologue

 Once upon a time, there lived a man whose name was Ramesh. Ramesh was hardworking and earned his daily wages. He used to observe people around him and get thoughts about how happy the people around him were and how only he had problems in his own life. He used to grieve about his life's miseries all day long. One day, a great sage from the Himalayas arrived in his town. Ramesh headed to meet this sage and find the solution to his problem. He met the sage and began shedding tears over his problems. The wise sage knew that Ramesh must understand the importance of life and his existence. The sage assured him that he would find a solution to his problem and told Ramesh to visit him the next day. Ramesh happily returned home and slept peacefully that night, thinking that night would be his last night worrying about his problems.

The next day, Ramesh proceeded to meet the sage. The sage told him that he would give him a boon. A boon that allows him to become whoever he feels is satisfied with life. Ramesh was excited about receiving this boon and began searching for a competent individual to enter their body and get rid of his sufferings once and for all. He went all around the town, searching for the right individual. He saw a dealer happily trading his goods and counting the money he had earned. Ramesh considered this dealer a wealthy, delighted person and entered the dealer’s body. Ramesh, inside the dealer’s body, went to the dealer's bungalow that night and was stunned upon seeing the bungalow and the luxurious life the dealer was relishing. He was satisfied with choosing the dealer. The next day, the dealer was summoned by his master. When Ramesh, in the form of a dealer, went to meet the master, he was startled by seeing the master’s home and his lavish lifestyle. He thought let me enter the master’s body, as the master is more blessed than the dealer, and entered him. The next day, the master was summoned by the king. The King questioned him about the financial condition of his country, and the master was unable to answer. So Ramesh thought for a second "Why live inside a body that has to be answerable? Let me enter the king’s body who rules this country and be happy for whole lifetime". Ramesh soon entered the king’s body. The next day, King was relaxing under the sun in his garden. The King began to sweat after some time. At that instant, Ramesh thought "Why live inside the king’s body, who is harmed by the mighty rays of the sun? Let me be the mightier and merrier sun". In the wink of an eye, Ramesh had entered the sun. He was proud that he was the largest and most powerful being on earth. The next day, the clouds arrived and obstructed the sun. Ramesh began to think the clouds were mightier than the sun as they were blocking the rays. "Let me become a cloud," and the next second he was a cloud. The next day, there was a tornado moving near the clouds, and it carried away everything that was on its way. Ramesh again thought "A tornado is mightier than the clouds" and became a tornado. He felt the most powerful when he carried away everything that was in his way. After a few minutes of his activity, he realized the mountains never moved and felt the mountains were mightier than a tornado. And the next moment, he had entered a rock inside the highest mountain. He felt happiest on top of the mightiest mountain. The next day, he felt someone attacking him. He felt pain all around his body. He wondered who was it and left the rock to enter the human who was hitting him. He was himself, the sculptor.

 

Ramesh had learnt his lesson and went to meet the wise sage. He met the sage and told him, "Sadhu, the life that I had assumed to be the most miserable is one of the most auspicious life. Everybody’s life on this earth is significant and has its own shortcoming." The wise sage smiled and replied, "I had given you the boon to enter everybody’s body on this earth to understand that nobody’s life is carved out perfectly on this earth. All must work hard, trust, pray God to bless them, and be grateful for all that God has given them in their lives. Go and live your life to the fullest and with utmost gratitude towards God."

 This is one of the most eye-opening moral stories I have ever read or heard in my life and will be my most cherished story. 

Courtesy: Kannada channel