There was a village A where x and y lived. x was a fisherman and was very successful too. y was also a fisherman but was the least successful of his tribe. So, in an obovious attempt to improve his career, he worked out a plan to copy x. He made the same investment, used the same equipments, fished in the same territories and followed the same strategies that x followed only to find out that suceess has a different formula. Meanwhile, x who was well aware that he was being copied by y, being so successful started leaning towards spirituality and was eventually troubled with the question of what “the ultimate truth” is.
It was then words spread around about a sage who was so intellectual that he was believed to be capable of solving anyone’s problems. And happy that he got an opportunity finally to reverse his fortunes, y decided to seek the sage’s counsel. What the sage told him nobody knew, but soon y returned to his original ways and this was the talk of the town. x too, seeing all this, and especially after the story of y became popular, decided to seek the sage’s advice.
But people found that the sage was too much into meditation after his meeting with y and this actually made x restless and he, therefore, decided to go and meet y with the hope of finding out the elusive truth which he believed y might have an idea about. There he was, trying to get a glimpse of the wisdom that y might have acquired. x started off straight by asking y about his meeting with the sage. To this, y gave a wry smile, and said that to know about that x should have to meet the sage and not him. y continued saying that what he knew was something that didnt require an effort to be understood and that what he wanted to know from x was probably not known to even x himself. He said he cannot disclose what the sage told him. However hard he pressed, y wasnt ready to throw up anything more.
Disappointed and confused, he left for his home. On reaching home, he was pleasantly surprised to find the sage waiting for him there. In a sudden shift of moods, he was once again happy and started thinking that the sage should actually have known about his questions and had come there to answer them. But it was the sage who spoke first. “Mr x , i know you are a successful fisherman, but can you do me a favour” was what he spoke. x was startled and replied that he was ready to do anything for the sage if only he can answer his questions. To this the sage said, “My dear x , i assure you that i will answer your questions. Meanwhile, mine is a simple request. There is a friend of mine who is also a fisherman like you. However hard he tries he ends up the loser and he is left with nothing now. Can you take him into your fold and make him successful like you?”
x was confused and asked the sage who that friend of his was. To this, the sage replied that it was y and asked him what his questions were. x asked all his questions hearing which the sage asked him to come and meet him after a week at his place. He started from x’s home to his place where y was waiting for him anxiously.
P.S: Thanks to Vivekanandan.
