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NandiSootra
sniffing the ground, dig out the earth there. "The king accepted the advice and issued necessary instructions. Some distance farther the army found a good source of fresh water. With the help of the Vainayiki Buddhi of the experienced soldier the army came out of the painful situation.
8. The Attributes - A merchant appointed a servant to look after his horses and promised to give him two horses of his choice as remuneration. The young man accepted the terms and started working. During the course of his working he fell in love with the merchant's daughter. The servant was intelligent and clever. He asked the girl - "Which of the horses is the best?" The girl explained - "Generally speaking all these horses are good and pedigreed. But the horses that are not disturbed even by the sound of stone filled drums thrown from tree tops are considered best and have all the attributes of the best horse.
Accordingly the servant examined all the horses in the stable and selected the two best horses. When it was time to take remuneration, he asked for those two horses. The merchant was in a fix - "These two are the best and the most valuable horses of the lot I have. Giving these horses would be a great loss to me." He tried to persuade the servant to take any two horses other than the two he had selected, but he refused to compromise.
The confused merchant went inside the house and told his wife - "This servant is very clever and intelligent. He has selected the best two of our horses. Rather than to lose all our wealth, it would be better to marry our daughter to him and force him to stay with usforever."
This infuriated the wife - "Have you gone mad? You want to marry our dear daughter to a servant?"
The merchant explained - "If we lose those two valuable horses we will incur a great and irreparable loss. The horses are not only immensely valuable but also auspicious for us. Moreover, the servant is a virtuous person. By making him our son-in-law we will save our horses and at the same time get a sincere man to take proper care of our horses and increase our stock. Getting such a handsome andintelligent husband, our daughter will also be happy and shall remain with us always." At last the wife gave her consent and the merchant married his daughter to; the servant. They lived happily ever after. The Vainayiki Buddhi helped the merchant save his wealth.
9. The knot In Patliputra once there was a king named Murund. One day some other king sent three strange and puzzling things to him and asked him to provide a solution. The things were an endless cotton thread, a bamboo stick without a knot, and a lidless box.
The king showed these things to all the members of his assembly and asked them to explain. Each member examined the three things carefully. After that expressing their surprise and showing their inability to provide any explanation they all returned to their respective seats. The king now invited Padliptasuri and asked - "Bhante! Can you explain these strange things?" Acharyashri carefully looked at the three things and understood that the joints and knots of the three objects were skilfully concealed by applying shellac of matching colour. He asked the king to arrange for a large pot filled with boiling water. When the pot was brought the three objects were placed in boiling water. The shellac cover melted away. The lighter end of the stick emerged out of water and its knots became visible. The end of the endless cord also became visible. In absence of the shellac covering the lid of the Aagam- 44 -NandiSootra ~77 ~ Compiled by- Deepratnasagar
