A king announced that whoever would say something wise would be given a thousand gold coins.
The next day - while passing by a farm, he saw a ninety-year-old man busy planting olive seedlings.
The king said to the old man -
It takes twenty years for an olive tree to grow and bear fruits.
Why do you want to plant olive trees at this age?
The old man smiled and said: Others planted, and we ate.
Now I am planting, and others will eat.
Hearing this, the Sultan said to his minister:
It was a wise answer - so give him a thousand gold coins.
The old man laughed.
The king said: Why are you laughing?
The old man said: An olive tree bears fruit after twenty years, but my olive tree bore fruit right now.
The king ordered another thousand coins to be given to him.
The old man laughed again.
And the king asked: Why did you laugh this time?
The old man said: An olive tree bears fruit once a year, but my olive tree bore fruit twice today.
He again ordered another thousand coins to be given to him and quickly walked away from there.
The minister asked the King - why are you leaving in a hurry?
The king said -
Ninety years of motivated and purposeful life has made him a man whose every word is measured and wise, so he deserves a reward for every word he says.
But if I stayed longer, it would empty my whole treasury.
(Translated from a Persian folk tale)
very good message,๐
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ReplyDeleteWonderful thoughts to imbibe in our lives ๐๐
ReplyDeleteWhat an inspirational story! I definitely laughed at the ending :)
ReplyDeleteOn a more serious note, the old man's thought process shows the reality of doing selfless acts for others. As humans, it is in our nature to do sewa or other acts with an expectation of a reward. This expectation differs strongly from the morals of true selfless sewa. Planting an olive tree is no easy task, yet the old man did so in hopes that future generations may reap the rewards. He was aware that this act wouldnt give him any rewards in the short-term.
When we do sewa, we should instill this same mindset. If we are doing sewa with our right hand, dont let your left hand know about it. In other words, when doing sewa, you are giving something to this world. But dont have an expectation to recieve something in return. Let us all go out and plant seeds of selfless sewa today!
Thanks for sharing this wonderful story Ji!
When selfless sewa with no expectations becomes a reward in itself!
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