Katha 22 – Man, Cherry and – B

The man, who was rich because of cherries and apple, got another cherry one day. To show his greatness he showed it to another man.

Another one said, “Wow! You have got another cherry. You have become greater. But see, with luck, I have also found this small cherry”.

The rich man said, “Let me see … Yes! It is indeed a small cherry. But you are a small man. You don’t have any use of it. Let it be with me. Besides, I am a big man, so it’s my right to have it”.

Then, the man, who was rich because of cherries and apple, became richer.

The man, who was rich because of cherries and apple, got a pumpkin one day. It was so big, it wasn’t necessary to show it. Still he called others and said, “See, I have got this Big Pumpkin”.

Others said “Wow, what a big pumpkin”.

Rich man said, “Yes. I am great that’s why I got this also”.

Others said, “You have become great. You are lucky”.

Rich man said, “Yes, of course. I am great. That’s why my luck is also great. My luck is greater than all your lucks added together. That’s why I got this. And only great men like me have the right to be lucky and to have cherries, apples, pumpkins and everything. Such big pumpkins are very rare. So now I have become one of the few greatest men in the world”.

Then, all other men having nothing but only bad lucks greeted him with big applause.

Katha 22 – Man, Cherry and – A

There was a rich man.

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

Another man said, “Wow! You have got a cherry. You have become a great man now.”

First one said, “Yes! I am a great man. That’s why I found this. It’s mine”.

Another one said, “You are lucky”.

First one said, “And you don’t have it. So I am definitely greater than you”

One rich man found another cherry. He kept it side because he had eaten one.

Another man said, “Wow! You have got another cherry”.

First one said, “Yes! I am a great man. That’s why I found this also. And of course it’s mine".

Another one said, “You are lucky”.

First one said, “Yes. Luck comes to great men only".

Another one said, “What are you going to do with it?”

First one said, “Of course I will keep it in my cherry collection. That will grow my treasures".  

So the rich man had many cherries. Or, those cherries made him rich. Cherries were dry, wrinkled and foul smelling. Because he hadn’t ate them.

So there was a rich man with a cherries and it was not needed to tell it. The foul smell of cherries was sufficient to spread the fact.

One day the rich man found an apple. He showed it to another man.

Another man said, “Wow! You have got an apple. You have become a great man now”.

First one said, “Yes! I am a great man. I had cherries. That’s why I also got an apple. And, of course, it’s mine. Now I am greater”.

Another one said, “Yes, you are lucky”.

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 21 – Man, Cherry and Apple – A

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

Another man said, “Wow! You have got a cherry. You have become a great man now.”

First one said, “No, no! There is no greatness in having this cherry. I was going on this way and I was a bit lucky. So I found this. We will eat it together. Then its sweet and sour taste will linger in our mouths. It will be fun.”

Then he gave half cherry to another man. Both ate it. The taste lingered for some time and the happiness in their eyes lingered even longer.

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

Another man said, “Wow! You have got an apple. You have become a great man now. But I have got only this small and sour cherry.”

First one said, “No, no! It’s not my greatness. It was my luck that I got this apple. If you would have gone this way, then you also could have got an apple. Now we both will eat it together.”

Then he gave half of the apple to another man. Another man also gave him half cherry and both ate cherry and apple happily.

One day one man got an apple. He showed it to another man.

Another man said, “Wow! An apple! You have become a great man now. I have only this cherry.”

First one said, “No, no! It’s not my greatness but luck. If you would have gone this way, then you also could have got an apple. Now we both will eat it together.”

Then he gave half of the apple to another man.

But another man didn’t give half of his cherry to first one.

Katha 03 – Man, pen and his sayings - D

One man got a pen. He had something to tell. So he wrote a lot. But nobody paid any attention, then and afterwards. This was the future and it was inevitable. But he didn’t know that. So he continued to write a lot. He thought he was doing something different, something useful, something precious, something great. Thus he wasted his life.

One man with a pen had something to tell. But he had a vision. He knew what would happen afterwards. Still he continued writing –hoping against hope- /with _wedi_ false _ hope.

One man with a pen had something to tell. But he knew the future. So he didn’t write.

One man with a pen had something to tell. He also knew the future. So he broke the pen and used the nib as an ear-cleaner. Thus he spent his life cleaning his ears. This was another, but may be a better way of wasting life.

One man with a pen also knew the future.

Still he urged the man in front to read. But it was useless.

He urged and urged and even tried to force many more people to read. But nobody listened and nobody read.

On the contrary, they unanimously declared him an idiot.

One man with a pen also knew the future.

So, after writing, he grabbed the neck of the man in front and pressed his head and then hit it hard in his writings.

He tried and tried till he became tired and in the attempts broke the head of the man in front.

But it was not possible for him to make the man in front to read.

One man with a pen wrote a lot. Afterwords he came to know what happened afterwords. Then he committed suicide by stabbing himself with his pen.

One man with a pen also knew the future. Still he wrote. After completing his writing he stabbed the man in front with his pen and put a full stop with the point of nib coming out from the back and dripping with blood.  

One man with a pen also knew the future. So he threw his pen and took a sword. With the sword he killed the man in front who won’t listen. But if the man in front is dead, who will listen? But this he realized afterwards.

Katha 03 – Man, pen and his sayings - C

One man got a pen. He wrote a lot. But he had nothing to tell.

Second one wrote a lot. He had something to tell. But he couldn’t tell it.

Third man wrote a lot. He had something to tell. He could tell it also. But nobody understood it.

Forth one wrote a lot, he told what he had to tell and everybody understood it. But it was useless for them.

Because --

It was of no use to one.

Second one was reluctant to use it.

Third one was unable to utilize it.

Forth one was adamant. He didn’t want to use it.

Fifth one was blind.

Sixth one was blind by choice. He refused to read.

Seventh one was ignorant.

Eighth one was idiot.

Ninth one was an imbecile.

Tenth one had different opinions.

Eleventh one was wise himself.  

And twelfth one had something different to tell and he was writing it also. 

There is another story also.

One man wrote to tell something. But it was useless.

Because ---

One was blind.

Second one was unable to read.

The third one could listen but the written material made no sounds.

The language of the fourth one was different.

The fifth one’s language was same but he used different script.

The sixth one didn’t know, something useful for him was written.

The seventh one didn’t have approach to ‘what was written’.

The eighth one was denied the access to ‘what was written’. 

Someone said against ‘what was written’ and forced the ninth one against reading it.   

And one made it a point that ‘what was written’ should not reach those for whom it was written.

So again, what’s the use of telling or writing something?

Katha 03 – Man, pen and his sayings - B

One man had something to tell. He remembered it by hard. But only he remembered it. The ‘something he wanted to tell’ died with him.

So another man taught ‘the something he wanted to tell’ to his son. After his death his son remembered. And he taught it to his son so he also remembered. But by that time it was outdated.

Still he taught it to his son. … And it continued for generations. And it continued to be more and more outdated.

After all, everything that everyone wants to tell is not “Vedas” or “Bhagwat-Geeta”.

And in the process, many generations forgot to tell something that they wanted to tell. Or didn’t they want to tell? Or had they nothing to tell?

What’s the use of telling something that evaporates, looses meaning, becomes outdated, becomes incomprehensible and nobody wants to hear?