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64. PUNYA MORE THAN ANYTHING
ELSE
A Prince Brahmadatta by name had three friends. One was a minister's son. The other, a rich merchant's son and the third of a retail trader's. They were discussing the question of who lived by what. The prince said he lived as a prince because of the accumulation of punya in his earlier cycles of life, whereas the minister's son confined himself only to the present life and said the source of his wellbeing was his intelligence. The merchant's son said he owed his success to his physical charm and general bearing. The trader's son however pointed out that successful life depended entirely on the willingness to work. They said they would put to test all these propositions. They therefore went to another city where no one knew them. They camped in a garden outside the city.
When they felt hungry, they told the trader's son to go and get food for them all. He went to the market place where he saw a grocer's shop and the old grocer busily attending the customers. There were many buyers. There was some festival on that day. The old shopkeeper found it difficult to cope with the crowd and the trader's son readily helped him. The shop-keeper saw that he had made good business that day with the help of the young man. He asked him whether he lived in that town or came from outside and when he knew that the young fellow was an outsider, the shop keeper asked him to lunch. The trader's son said that he had three other friends. The shop keeper extended the invitation to them as well. They all ate their meal and were satisfied.
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