Jain Story Book

Author(s): Manu Doshi
Publisher: Manu Doshi

Page 15

Manorama was young and attractive. Kapil also was young and got attracted to her. Both of them fell in love with each other. Study was almost forsaken and Kapil spent most of the time in staying attached to her. They had not to worry about the food, because they could maintain themselves on the groceries that were sent by Shalibhadra. But after a while, Manorama got pregnant. Now they needed money for taking care of the pregnancy as well as for the would be child. Kapil was however too naive for earning. As they badly needed money, Manorama told him that the king of Shravsti gave two grains of gold every morning to the person who blessed him first of all. She therefore advised him to go to the palace early in the morning and bless the king. Kapil agreed to do so.
The next day, Manorama waked up Kapil early and straight sent him to the palace. He could however gather that some one else had already blessed the king before him. The second day he asked her to wake him earlier. But he found again that he was late. That way he tried consecutively for eight days and every time he turned out to be late. He was much disappointed by his failure and made up his mind to get up very early on the succeeding day. For that purpose he spread his bed in the varanda. It was the dark half of the month and when Kapil got up after the midnight, the moon was coming out of the horizon. He mistakenly took it as the time for day break and ran towards the palace. A policeman on duty saw that and thought him to be a thief roaming at midnight. He therefore arrested him. Kapil tried to explain the correct position but the policemen would not listen. He simply said to Kapil to state whatever he liked in the court the next morning.
At the appropriate time Kapil was taken to the royal court. He had never been in a court and his whole body was trembling out of fear. The king marked the fright writ on his face and thought that he might not be a culprit. He therefore asked Kapil to explain how he had to come to the court. Kapil told everything that had happened. The king was amused to hear his story. He however got pity on dumb Kapil who could take moonrise as the sunrise. In order to get him out of his miserable condition, the king offered him to grant anything that he would ask for. Kapil was glad to listen that but he stayed dumbfound. As the king asked for the reason for remaining silent, Kapil replied that his mind was still perturbed and he requested the king to allow him some time to think about. The king asked him to sit in the adjoining garden and to think what he desired to get.
Kapil went to the garden and began to think what he should ask for so that he could live happily. Two grains of gold, that he had been out for, was very insignificant. He thought that he should ask for five gold coins. But again thought that they would not last long. He considered asking for 25 coins but then thought that they would hardly last for a couple of months. He therefore thought of asking for 100 coins, but again thought that the amount would last for a year or two and then he would face the same miserable condition. 'Why not ask for 1000 coins?' he asked himself. But he again thought that he may beget more children and raising them would need more money. So he thought of asking for 10000 coins so that he would not have to worry for the rest of his life. But then the idea came to him that he would come across different occasions when he would be required to spend and then nothing would be left to him. He therefore thought of asking for 100,000 coins so that he can live out of the interest from that. But that amount may not yield enough interest to live happily forever. He therefore thought of asking for a million gold coins.
He stopped there a while. He was pleased to think that by getting that much amount he could live like a respectable man. But then thought that there are many millionaires and being only one of them would not be worthwhile. He thought of having some outstanding position where he could exercise control over others. He therefore thought of asking for half of the kingdom. That would however make him at par with the king, while he would like to stand ahead of him. Ultimately, he therefore thought of asking for the entire kingdom.
Simple as he was, the last idea virtually shook him. He thought, "I had been here for getting two grains of gold and the kindness of the king has led me to the idea of turning him into a pauper. What nonsense! No, that's not fair; let me ask for million coins only. But how do I deserve that