Fool’s Paradise
In
Bangladesh and India
a wise and a learned man is referred as a ‘guru’ meaning master. Such gurus are
looked upon with great respect and they usually have several followers also
called devotees. They help them spread the virtues of wisdom among people.
One such guru was traveling with his
young follower from one place to another when they came to a land where
everything costs the same, for example- a glass of mild costs the same as a pot
of chicken curry.
The
follower was delighted, ‘we must never leave this place’ he said, ‘this place
is like a paradise’. The guru thought hard for a moment and then said, ‘no we
cannot stay long in this place where everything costs the same. There is no
difference between rich and poor, wise and fool, cheap or costly’. But the
follower did not want to leave this place, ‘I am tired of traveling with you
and carrying your stuff, I think I will stay here’ he said.
When the guru failed to convince
him, he left but warned him, ‘Pretty soon you will find out why this is a
fool’s paradise and then you will be sorry’.
The follower spent his days going to
the bazaar and eating lots of rice, sweets and other rich foods to his heart’s
content. Within a few months, he became fat and plump.
One day in that land, a woman came
crying to the king’s palace and complained that her husband who was a thief had
fallen from a broken roof and had lost his life. At once the king summoned the
owner of the house, who came trembling and said, ‘O king, it’s not my fault,
it’s the fault of the mason who built the roof’. Then the king called for the
mason. When the guards brought the mason, he fell on the king’s feet and said,
‘your majesty, it’s not my fault, it’s the fault of the laborer who mixed the
sand and clay’.
The king’s men went out to look for
the laborer and they brought a thin skinny man before the king. The king looked
at the man and said, ‘do you know that because you did not mix the sand and
clay properly, the roof was not strong and the thief fell and died’ The laborer
nodded. Then the king added, ‘now according to the rules of this land you must
pay for the life of the thief by giving up your life’.
The king ordered his men to put the laborer
on top of the ‘soul’ which is a sharp iron rod and was used in those days to
punish the guilty. The rod pierces through the body and thus
The
person meets his life’s end. But the laborer was thin like a bay leaf and the
king’s men complained that he would end up sitting on top of the soul. ‘Then bring
a fat, plump man immediately’ shouted the king.
The king’s men set out to look for a
fat man and they brought the follower before the king. The king looked up at
the follower and said, ‘you are the right type of person to be put on the soul
and so you must pay for the life of the thief that he lost’. A large crowd had
gathered around the soul. It so happened that the guru was passing by and
seeing a crowd stopped to inquire. He was shocked to see that his follower was
being dragged towards the soul. The guru thought of ways to help him escape
this scandal.
Then he ran towards the king
shouting, ‘O raja, put me on the soul instead of that man, for today is the
holy day and whoever gives up his life today will be born as a king’.
As soon as the king’s ministers
heard this, they rose on their feet and shouted, ‘put me on the soul, put me on
the soul’.
There
was a loud uproar. Then the king rose on his feet and raised his hand for every
body to be quiet. When the crowd silenced, he said in a loud voice, ‘I am the
king of this land and every body must listen to me. I was born as a king and I
want to be born he stepped towards the soul.
The guru crept towards the follower,
caught hold of his ear and dragged him out of the crowd, ‘this is a fool’s
paradise and the faster we get out of here the better’ he said.
