Words of the wise

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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 honours 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 ministers 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 listens 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

practice to elevate our lives.