The Dull Prince
The king had gone into the forest with all his four sons to hunt birds and beasts for sport. The king was a great shot. Arrows flew from his bow like strings of lightning and they hardly missed their marks. The eldest prince was equal to his father in marksmanship. If the king killed two tigers and one boar, he killed two boars and one tiger. The second prince and the third were not lagging far behind. With great enthusiasm, they brought down bird after bird from trees and felled deer after deer. But it was quite different for the fourth prince. He was most reluctant to shoot. If he shot at all, he missed the mark. His face showed no glow of enthusiasm. At the day's end, the king relaxed beside a waterfall and took stock of his son's achievements. He was proud of his eldest son, quite happy with the next two sons, but thoroughly disappointed with the fourth one. "I ought to feel ashamed of him," he murmured to himself. The evening was approaching. The king bade the members of his party to proceed to the palace, carrying the preys with them. Only a few bodyguards and his sons remained with him. He proposed to spend some time with the great sage who lived in the forest. The king held him in very high esteem.
From time to time he met the sage, either to seek his blessings to tide over some crisis or just to pay respect to him. A little after the sunset the king and his party reached the sage's dwelling which was made up of a cave and a few huts. They prostrated themselves to the sage and the sage's disciples entertained them to delicious fruits and milk. After that, as was the practice, all left the king alone with the sage. "What is the matter, my dear king, why do you look pensive?" the sage asked. "You have guessed my mood correctly, O blessed soul!" replied the king. "I am worried on account of my youngest son. He is so dull! I wonder what I am going to do with a good for nothing boy like him." "What makes you think that he is dull and good for nothing?" queried the sage. "Not one, but numerous reasons are there to think so, O sage," replied the king. "For example, each one of my other three sons bagged so many beasts and birds while hunting in the forest today, but he failed to bag any." "I see," said the sage. He then called the youngest prince and asked him how is it that he could not kill a single creature.
The prince looked remorseful and answered in a soft voice, "To kill just for sport is useless, O great soul!" While the youngest prince and the sage were talking the king had summoned his other three sons. With all the four princes standing before them, the king whispered to the sage, "I will give all the four of them the same work. I am almost sure, the youngest will take longer to do it than the rest." The king then gave one guava to each prince and said, "Go in different directions. Eat the fruit when and where no one was observing you." The princes dispersed. The eldest prince returned in ten minutes, and said triumphantly, "I went near the stream. Noone was there. I ate guava." The second prince returned a few minutes later. "I went near the stream. But in the moonlight, I saw a monkey watching me. I left the place and hiding behind a bush, ate the fruit," he said. The third prince arrived soon thereafter and said, "I am sorry being a little late. But I knew that owls can see at night and there were plenty of them in this area. So I went into the meadow and ate the fruit." The sage and the king asked the three princes to return to the palace. The two sat waiting for the youngest prince.
A long time passed. "Did I not tell you how dull he was? See for yourself how long he takes to do such a simple thing!" the king remarked to the sage. Hours passed. The youngest prince returned at last- but not long before the dawn! And he had the guava still in his hand. "You failed to find a place where none would see you eating the guava, eh, you fool?" burst out the king. The prince looked at him with sad eyes but kept quiet. But the sage stood up and received the boy with great warmth and said, "If my insight is not wrong, I know what you have to say even though you don't care to say it. But I request you to give the reason for your not eating the guava. Please speak out!" "O, great soul! I had been asked to eat the fruit when and where no one observed me. I failed. When is the time when God does not observe me? Where is the place which was beyond his ken?" answered the prince. The sage embraced him and said, looking at the king, "O King, this boy is not meant for you. He is a great soul who was born in your family out of compassion for you. Go back leaving him here." In a moment the king realized his error. He was eager to take back the prince. But the prince had realized his true destiny. He did not go. He remained with the sage and became a yogi.
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