Words of the wise
It was a king's court, the ministers, pundits and artists were all
seated in their respective places. The king and his ministers had
earned quite a name and fame for their wit and wisdom. One day a sage
entered the court. He was given a warm welcome with all honor due to
him. The king asked him: "Oh revered one! May I know what brings you
here? We are very happy on account of your presence here today." The
sage replied: "Oh King, your court is reputed for its wit and wisdom.
I have brought three beautiful dolls and I would like to have an
assessment and evaluation of these dolls done by your ministers." He
presented to the king the three dolls. The king called his senior most
minister and gave him the dolls for examination and evaluation. The
minister just looked once at the dolls and commanded a royal messenger
to fetch him a thin steel-wire.
The minister inserted the wire into the right ear of one of the dolls.
The wire came out of the left ear. He kept it aside. He took up
another doll and once again passed the wire into its right ear. It
came out of the mouth of the doll. He kept that doll in one place. He
took up the third doll and inserted the wire, it neither came out of
the other ear nor from the mouth. The king and the courtiers were
eagerly watching the scene. The minister paying his tributes to the
sage said: "Oh revered one." Of the three dolls, the third one is the
best. The three dolls actually are symbolic of three types of
listening. There are three types of listeners, in the world. The first
type listen to every word, only to pass it out from the other ear. The
second type listen well, remember it well only to speak out all that
they have heard. The third type listen, retain everything they have
heard and treasure it up in their hearts. They are the best type of
listeners." The sage congratulated the king and the minister on the
successful evaluation of the dolls and blessing them both, left the
court.
'Shravanam' is the first and the foremost among the nine types of
devotion. Having heard the words of the wise, we should try to revolve
their meaning and message in our minds and put them into practise to
elevate our lives.
Category: Chinna Katha
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