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Kapil could not sleep at night. He started dreaming of all the things he could do with two grains of gold! Deep in thought he lost track of time and started walking towards the palace. A guard saw him walking around at midnight and arrested him thinking he was a thief.
In the morning Kapil was presented to the royal court. The king noticed the fright written on his face and thought that he might not be a thief. He therefore asked Kapil to explain why he had to come to the palace at midnight. Kapil explained that he was very poor and hoped the gold would help to buy food. In order to get him out of his miserable condition the king offered to grant him whatever he desired. He was extremely glad and speechless upon hearing this.
The king asked him to sit in the adjoining garden and to think of what he desired.
Kapil went to the garden and began to think about what he should ask for so that he can live happily. Two grains of gold that he had been looking for was very insignificant. He thought that he should ask for enough so he will never have to worry about earning money.
His thoughts took him from 2 grains of gold to a point where he wanted to ask for the whole kingdom and still wanted more.
He thought, “I came here to get two grains of gold and the kindness of the king has led me to the idea of turning him into a
beggar. What nonsense! No, this is not fair! At last, the direction of his thoughts changed. He came to his senses and realized
that his desires and greed were out of control.
His entire perspective of the world had changed by then. He fully understood how attachment and the wildness of greed could lead one astray. He reflected, “I came here to Shravasti to gain knowledge but attachment for Manorama made me forsake it. That attachment has led me to worry about the future and that in turn led me to
LIVING VALUES
