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The flame of avarice
49
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In the morning, Kapila was brought into the king's court. His clothes were tattered and his eyes were dark pools of despair. As soon as the king saw him, he realized that here was a poor man who must have come for the gold, but was caught inadvertently.
So the king asked Kapila, “Why were you wandering about in the night?"
Kapila answered, “Annadātā, I have been wandering for months, but have not got the gold. So today I came early hoping to get the gold, but these guards caught me. They have beaten me mercilessly.” Saying this, Kapila broke down.
The king asked kindly, “Two grams of gold is not much at all. Tell me brother, what do you actually need in life?"
This set Kapila thinking. "What shall I ask for? Two grams of gold. But will that be enough? Why not ask for a kilogram or two? But that too will get over soon enough! May be ten or twenty kilograms, so that I can make enough jewellery for my wife. Then our life will be peaceful. But does my hut befit such wealth? Why not ask for a palace as well? But what is a palace without estates? Better to ask for a village. But just one village? If I have to ask, I'd might as well ask for a state!" And thus we see how man's desires are endless.
Kapila's desires kept increasing. At last, when a state also seemed less to him, he decided to ask the king for his kingdom. Look at the web of desires!
Suddenly he came to his senses. As soon as he thought about asking for the kingdom, light dawned within him. The contemplation on gold turned into self-contemplation.
Kapila started thinking, "Oh, what has become of me! A great man has shown kindness towards me and in return, I wish to possess his entire wealth. How can I stoop so low? It is not appropriate to misuse someone's generosity."
Thus, Kapila entered into a deep meditative contemplation. The delay in his reply filled the king's mind with suspicion. He
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