THE SUPPLEMENTARY PAPERS PSYCHOLOGY 6 Vairagya
There is a story told of a comedian who every day disguised himself and fooled the king, the Badishah, at whose court he was. But the king recognized him in all his disguises. Then the comedian thought that he should disguise himself as an ascetic. He went to a cave in the mountains, and there he lived with two disciples, also comedians. He fasted very much, thinking that he should disguise himself well.
After forty days, people seeing his disciples, began to speak of the sage living in the cave of the mountains. They brought him presents, a hundred, two hundred dirhams. But he refused all, saying, "Take it away. The sage does not want money or presents."
His fame spread more and more, and the king heard of him and became anxious to see him. He went to the cave, but for a long time, the disciples would not let him enter. At last he was allowed to come into the presence of the sage. He said, "I have been kept waiting very long, before I could see you." The sage said, "The dogs of the world are not allowed to enter the house." The king was very much insulted. He thought that this must be a very great person.
He gave him a piece of paper, saying, "This is a parvana for the support of your disciples." A parvana means a grant of land. The sage said, "If it is a parvana, its place is in the fire", and he put it into the fire, which was burning before him. Parvana has two meanings, it means also a moth.
The king went away, and the comedian got up, thinking, "Now I must tell the king how well I have fooled him." Then a Voice came, saying, "Your feigned indifference has brought the king before you, if it had been real indifference, We ourselves would have come before you. "
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