Katha 22 – Man, Cherry and – C

There was a man. One day he got a cherry. He showed it to another man.

Another man said, “Cherry is not a thing to show off. I also have an apple. It is big and sweet also”. 

First one said, “I am not showing off. I found it. I am just showing it to you. I wanted to share it with you. But it seems you don’t need it”.

There was a man. One day he got a cherry. He showed it to another man.

Another man said, “Cherry is not a thing to show off. I also have an apple. It is big and sweet also”. 

First one asked, “Is it a thing to show off?

Another man said, “Certainly. Till nobody is showing me a bigger thing, say, a pumpkin or watermelon.”

Then the first man tried hard almost for his life and got an apple. He showed it to another man. 

Another man said, “Apple is not a thing to show off. It gets finished after eating or decays if not eaten. See, now I have this shining piece of metal. One cannot eat it and it doesn’t decay. So it remains”.

First one asked, “And what is its use?”

Another man said, “I don’t know. But I don’t bother as long as it keeps shining”. 

Then the first man tried hard to get the shining piece of metal. But he died unsatisfied without getting it.

Katha 21 – Man, Cherry and Apple – B

A man once got a big pumpkin. It was so big; it wasn’t necessary to show it.

Another man said, “Wow! You have got a big pumpkin. You have become a really great man now. Nobody has ever got anything like this before.”

First one said, “No, no! It’s not my greatness. I went this way by chance. But I walked till my feet bled. Then I got this. And that also because of my extremely good luck. Such big pumpkins are very few in this world. And I know many people who couldn’t get one, though they walked more than me, till death.

Then another man said, “Wow! You are really very lucky to get such a big pumpkin. You have become a great man.”

First one said, “No, no! It’s not my greatness. And even though I found it, this pumpkin is not mine. It is from god’s garden. It belongs to all. It is for everyone.

Then he called all of them and distributed it amongst them.

Then all of them said to each other, “he is really a great man”.

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.