Chinna Katha - 68 (Words of the wise) (Short Story, As told by Bhagavan Sri Satya Sai Baba)

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"Words of the wise"

 

(Short Story, as told by Bhagavan SRI SATHYA SAI BABA)

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 honors 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 listens to every word, only to pass it out from the other ear.

 

The second type listens 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.

 

(Story #4, from the Book: "CHINNA KATHA - Vol 2")

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