________________
PHILOSOPHY OF SOUL
161
THAT IS YOURS WHAT YOU SPEND IN CHARITY
In a certain village inhabited by people of devotion a religious preacher arrived. They wished, he should stay there during monsoon, so the preacher was requested by the people led by the mayor of the city.
When the religious lecture was over the preceptor asked the mayor, "Hallo, how are you? I hope you are happy. What wealth do you possess"? He replied, "I possess about a million of golden coins".
Now the preceptor knew well from reliable sources that the mayor-merchant did possess three millions of golden coins. So he thought the merchant was a miser and would not spend anything for the cause of charity. Still he inquired again. "Well, How many sons have you?" The merchant replied, "Lord, I have only one son". Now it was a well-known fact that he was the father of three sons. So the preceptor was so much disappointed with the false statements made by the merchant that he thought of leaving the town. He instructed the other monks to that effect.
In the evening the people assembled for the "Pratikramana" rites. They came to know of the preceptor's preparations to leave the town. So they informed the mayor-merchant. The said merchant came over to the preceptor but suddenly due to some cholic pains he became unconscious. The merchant's friends informed the sons of the merchant of their father's condition. Thereupon the youngest son ran up to the father with the medicines. On recovering, the merchant asked, "Did you inform my all the sons of my condition?" They replied in positive, and added that the first son when informed said that it was the usual trouble with his father and so it was not necessary to run after him every now and then. The second son when informed said that he was busy and promised to go, very shortly, but the youngest son when informed left all the work and arrived there with the necessary medicines.
All this account was heard by the preceptor who was present there. The merchant said, "Lord, I said in the morning that I have only one son. You might have felt that I told lies, but now you are convinced that I have only one son. Similarly out of my three millions of golden coins I have spent only one million in
