Katha 02 – Man, bucket and water – F

One man used to get half bucketful of water every day.

But that is not the rule.

It is possible that sometimes he would get two or even three buckets of water, and sometimes he might not get even half.

And it is not even his right to get at least half. So he can’t blame. And of course, there was nobody to blame.

One day he got no water at all.

And on some other day he got two buckets of water. So he didn’t blame  

One day one man got no water.

And on next day also he got no water. And for many days he got no water at all. But there was nobody to ask for, nobody to provide and nobody to blame. So he didn’t blame. And he died.

And there was a man who got no water at all for many days. So he blamed and blamed. And he died. He also died.

But everybody dies. So, we can only say, he died early.

One man used to get half bucketful of water every day.

But again there is no rule.

So, one day he got one bucketful plus more. The bucket was overflowing and he had no other bucket. He had to keep it overflowing and the water was wasted.

But as such he had no use of it. So the excess water was a waste anyway.

One man used to get half bucketful of water every day.

But one day he got more and the bucket was overflowing and overflowing and overflowing. The water was pouring down and there was a flood of water. He drowned in the water and died.

But everybody dies. So, we can only say, he died early. Or, can we? What is early, timely or late?  

Katha 02 – Man, bucket and water – E

One man used to get half bucketful of water every day.

So every day he used to say, today I have got only half a bucketful of water. When will I get full bucketful of water?

Then one day he got full bucketful of water.

So he was satisfied and happy.

One man used to get half bucketful of water every day.

Every day he used to say, today I have got only half a bucketful of water. When will I get full bucketful of water?

Then one day he got full bucketful of water.

Then he thought, what if I get two buckets of water today… I will be more satisfied and happier.

So, one man actually got two buckets of water one day. Then (as you may have guessed correctly) he thought what if I get three buckets of water today… and he actually got three buckets of water on next day. So he thought … and he actually started to believe in the power of Positive thinking.

So, one man actually got three buckets of water one day. Then (as you may have guessed correctly) he thought I am not satisfied. What if I get still more … and he actually got more. So he thought … and he became greedy. The more he got the more unsatisfied he became. That made him unhappy. And one day he got less and he became still more unsatisfied and unhappy.

So, one day one man told him, happiness has nothing to do with what and how much you get. Look at me.

Katha 02 – Man, bucket and water – D

One man used to get half bucketful of water every day. Every day he used to say, today I am happy with half bucketful of water.

But I am not satisfied. What if I get full bucket?

So he tried and did efforts and got more and more buckets of water. But he didn’t know what to do with excess water.

Other man also did more efforts and got more and more buckets of water. He used it properly to fulfill the needs. He was happy and everybody was happy.

But he was not satisfied. He had an ambition and he made progress.

And he started to believe in the link between efforts and fruit and between ambition and progress.

And there was another man who wished and got many buckets of water.

He believed in the power of wishing and Hope. He was convinced that efforts are not needed.  

But there was another man. In spite of need, strong wish and tremendous efforts he couldn’t get more water.

Unsatisfied he was. And he was also unhappy.

And there was another man who didn’t get any water. He didn’t even knew why he was dying.

Then there came Lord Krishna. He saw all these men and many others and thought.

Then he dissociated fruit from efforts. Because they were not associated in the first place and how could he possibly preserve faith in life?

But there is another point. We don’t know whether Lord Krishna needed water and how much he used to get daily.  

Katha 02 – Man, bucket and water – C

One man used to get half bucketful of water every day. So every day he used to say, today I got half bucketful of water. I am a happy man.

But I am not satisfied.

Then he thought, can anyone be happy but unsatisfied at the same time?

But anyway, he felt that way.

So every day one man used to say, today I got half bucketful of water. I am a happy man.

But I am not satisfied. What if I get one full bucket of water? I will try.

I got half bucket without efforts. With some efforts I may get full. What’s the harm in trying? Let me try.

So he tried and got full bucket of water. He said, now I am happy. But with more efforts I may get two. Let me try.

And he got two.

So he believed in efforts.

He did more efforts and got more and more buckets of water.

But he cannot understand what to do with extra buckets of water.

But there was another man. He also did more efforts and got more and more buckets of water. He used it properly to fulfill the needs of his family as well as people, animals and plants around him. And he used it economically because he new the efforts behind every extra bucket.

Everybody was happy and he was also happy. But he was not satisfied. He thought, probably I think big, I have ambition, that’s why I did more efforts.

And I made progress. And with me everybody progressed. 

He started to believe in progress.

And he started to believe in the link between efforts and progress.

And there was another man who was happy but unsatisfied with half bucket of water.

He thought, what if I get one full bucket of water? I got half bucket without efforts. What’s the harm in wishing? I will wish.

So he wished and got full bucket of water. He said, now I am happy. But with more wishing I may get two. Let me wish for more.

And he got two.

So he believed in the power of wishing. And he of course believed that efforts are not needed to get more. In fact he didn’t know what efforts are.    

And there was another man who was happy but unsatisfied with half bucket of water.

With wishing for more he got one and with efforts he got two. But with strong wish and tremendous efforts he couldn’t get more water.

He lost his faith in wishing.

He lost faith in efforts.

He lost faith in ambition and progress.

Unsatisfied he was. And he was also unhappy.

Katha 02 – Man, bucket and water – B

One man used to get half bucketful of water every day. So every day he used to say, I am a happy man. Today I got half bucketful of water.

One man used to get half bucketful of water every day. Every day he used to say, I get only half bucketful of water. I am not satisfied. When will I get full bucketful of water?

(These lines are similar to the famous example of Half-full Glass of Water.)

And there was another man who used to get half bucketful of water every day.

But seeing the bucket half full and half empty he couldn’t decide whether he was happy and satisfied or unhappy and unsatisfied. Or, happy but unsatisfied or unhappy but satisfied (whatever that means).

There was a man. He used to get half bucketful of water every day.

So every day he used to say, I am not satisfied. What should I do?

Then he brought a smaller bucket. It was full with the same amount of water.

So he said, now I am satisfied. I have full bucket of water.

One man used to get half bucketful of water every day.

So, instead of one big bucket he brought two small buckets.

Now he was getting one (small) bucketful of water.

But another bucket always remained empty.

So he was very satisfied with one full bucket of water. But he was equally unsatisfied with second empty bucket.

One man used to get half bucketful of water every day.

In exchange of larger bucket he brought a smaller bucket. Now it was full with the same amount of water. But he was not satisfied. Why? He didn’t know. So, he brought another bucket. Now he had two small buckets.

Now he was getting one (small) bucketful of water.

But another bucket always remained empty. So he knew now why he was unsatisfied.

Not a bucket but he brought a reason to be unsatisfied.

Then, he thought, as an afterthought, I needed more water, not the bucket. I should have asked for extra water instead of bringing another bucket.

Then again he thought, as every afterthought, this thought was also useless. But he was unhappy all the same.

Katha 02 – Man, bucket and water – A

There was a man. He used to get half bucketful of water every day. He used it very economically for drinking and cleaning. He remained fairly clean, healthy and satisfied till end.

There was a man. He used to get half bucketful of water every day.

He used it for drinking only. This was more than enough to quench his thirst. Besides, he passed lots of urine. This made him clean inside and satisfied. But he was very dirty outside.

One man used to get half bucketful of water every day. He used to take bath every day and tried to keep his body as clean as possible with that much amount of water. But he was burning in thirst and died clean within few days with extreme dehydration.

Then he didn’t need even half bucketful of water.