THE FOUR BRAHMIN BOYS
There's a story of four brahmin boys who were looking for wealth, so they went
up into the Himalayas. Brahmin means devotee, but they were interested in
getting wealth. They were thinking, "I've just come out of gurukula training,
now we have to get some wealth, and then we can get married and have a happy
life." So they went to one sage who was living
near the Himalayan mountains, and they asked him, "My dear sage, we have heard
that you are all-knowing, so please tell us where we can find wealth." The sage
said, "All right. So now I will put in each of your hands one ghee wick, a
cotton ghee wick. You just hold that in your hand, and you walk up into the
Himalayan mountains. Wherever this wick drops during the course of walking up
the mountain, at that spot if you dig you will find something valuable. You
will find precious metal up to the value of gold." So they were very happy, and
they went up into the mountains holding their wicks. One of the wicks dropped,
so the boy dug there and he found copper. "Oh, copper. Very nice." The other
boys said, "Why just copper?" "No no," the boy said, "I am satisfied. The sage
said, wherever the wick drops, so this is my quota. God has given copper." So
he took that and went down. The other boys continued, and another wick dropped.
When they dug they found silver. "Ah, silver, very nice. Even more valuable."
The boy whose wick had dropped was very satisfied, but the other two said,
"Well silver's alright, but the sage said up to gold." "Anyway," the boy said,
"I've found silver by God's grace, so I'm taking that." So the other two
continued, and one of their wicks dropped. He dug, and he found gold. "All
right," one said, "here it is, the gold. Enough for both of us." The last one
said, "Yes, but I still have my wick. It hasn't dropped yet." The other one
replied, "Yes, but the sage said nothing more valuable than gold." "Well
anyway," the last boy said, "I still have my wick, so I am going to find my
treasure." "Well you do as you like," the boy who found the gold said, "but I
am taking this gold." So then the last boy went high into the Himalayas, up to
the very top, and still his wick didn't drop. Then he saw one man in the
distance. So he was calling to him, "My dear sir, do you know of any valuable
treasure up here? I am looking for wealth." As soon as he said that, his wick
dropped. So he thought, "There must be something very valuable here."
Meanwhile the boy had come a little closer to the man, and he noticed that the
man was standing in a strange way, he was not moving, and there was a wheel
turning on his head. The middle of the wheel, the hub was grinding into his
head and causing blood to flow, and this man was obviously in great pain. When
this boy's wick dropped then that wheel was suddenly moving from the other man's
head onto his head, and the wheel was turning and he was feeling great pain. He
also could not move any more, the wheel was somehow keeping him in place. The
other man could move again and he was saying, "Oh, I'm free! Thank God!" The
brahmin said, "Please tell me what is going on here! Why am I suddenly stuck to
this spot? I cannot move and this wheel is on my head and it is feeling very
painful. What is happening?" The other man replied, "You have come to the
place where Kuvera keeps his treasure. He's the treasurer of the demigods, and
all his wealth, all the wealth of the demigods is buried here and you have come
across it." "Well, what is this wheel?" the boy asked. "This wheel is a weapon
of Kuvera which protects his treasure." "Oh," the boy said. "So tell me, what
is going to happen to me?" "What is going to happen to you," the man said, "Is
the same thing that happened to me. I also came up here looking for treasure.
I came up with some friends and met an old sage, and he gave us ghee wicks. My
friends got copper, silver and gold, but I wanted to go higher. I came up here,
and the wheel came onto my head." "So what can I expect?" the boy asked.
"Well, this wheel will stay on your head and keep you fixed to this place. You
will not grow thirsty or hungry, you will just stay and not be able to move
until somebody else comes up here looking for treasure. Then you will be
released, and he will get the wheel on his head." "How long were you here?"
the boy questioned. "Who is the king of India now?" The boy gave the name of
some king, and the man replied, "Well when I came up here, Lord Ramachandra was
king." "Oh no!" the boy said. "That was two million years ago!" And then the
man was going to leave. "No you can't leave!" the boy said. "Yes, I can leave,
I'm getting out of here. I've suffered so much." This greedy brahmin was left
up there, and probably he's still up there now. So don't go up into the
Himalayas looking for treasure.
MORAL: This is an illustration how this lusty desire for sense gratification
can get one in great difficulty. This brahmin broke the law and took more than
his quota, so therefore he got into trouble.
can get one in great difficulty. This brahmin broke the law and took more than
his quota, so therefore he got into trouble.
PS: I humbly request all the devotees to please forward moral / instructive stories they hear so that
everyone can be benefited.
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