The Good Disciple
The kings of Shobhnagar had their family deity in a temple that was inside the palace. Raghu Bhatta was the priest. Raghu Bhatta commanded great respect. Apart from being the priest, he was a trusted adviser to the king. Raghu Bhatta retired from the king's service at the age of ninety. His nephew, Ballav, took over as the priest. Raghu Bhatta, however, did not lose his interest in the matters of the court. Ballav reported to him, regularly, all that took place in the court and the kingdom. The king died all on a sudden, leaving two sons behind. On his death bed, the king had ordered that the princes, Arjun and Subal, should live separately and rule the kingdom from two different towns, Sundarpur and Vilasgarh. But the king had not said who should live where. "Both the princes desire to live here - at Sundarpur," Ballav reported to Raghu Bhatta. Raghu Bhatta looked pensive. Sundarpur was the capital of the kingdom and it was close to the capitals of the neighboring kingdoms. Vilasgarh was situated in that part of the kingdom which was sparsely populated. Raghu Bhatta knew the nature of the two princes. Arjun, the older of the two, was intelligent and sober. Subal was haughty and foolish. Raghu Bhatta wanted Arjun to remain at Sundarpur.
The next day Raghu Bhatta paid a visit to the court. The courtiers stood up, showing respect to the venerable old man. Raghu Bhatta wished them well and straightaway entered the cabin where the two princes sat, discussing their problems. They bowed to the priest. "I heard that you are to rule the land from two different places. I deemed it my duty to bless you," said Raghu Bhatta. "The problem is, we cannot decide who will be here and who should proceed to Vilasgarh. Can you solve the problem?" asked the princes. "How can I? Haven't I retired from the affairs of the state?" said Raghu Bhatta. "Even then be pleased to decide the case for us!" the princes pleaded with him. "Very well, if you insist. I remember a story. Once there was a sage who had two disciples. After twelve years of their stay in the institution, they were to leave for their homes. They sought the sage's blessings. The sage gave a pinch of ash to each. The first one immediately swallowed it. The second one threw it away. In the course of time, the first one grew famous as a scholar.
The second one went on criticizing his master and came to nothing. I hope, none of you will criticize me for any of my actions," said Raghu Bhatta. "Never. You decide and we accept your decision," promised the princes. In the evening Raghu Bhatta sent a private message to Arjun that he need not behave like the good disciple of the story! The next day Raghu Bhatta met the princes and held out two small pieces of paper. "Pick up anyone you like," he said. Subal picked up one and immediately swallowed it, like the good disciple of the story. "I had written the names of the two towns separately on the two papers. One who picked up the paper with the name of Sundarpur written on it was to remain here. One who picked up Vilasgarh was to go there," Raghu Bhatta explained. "But Subal swallowed up his paper before reading it!" observed Arjun. "So what? Let us see what is written on your paper. That will make it clear what was written on mine!" suggested Subal. Arjun unfolded his paper. Sundarpur was the word written on it. Subal left for Vilasgarh without a word more. The priest had written the same word on both the papers so that whichever piece was picked up by Arjun will result in his staying at Sundarpur. So far as Subal was concerned, the experienced priest knew that he will swallow it up after the good disciple of the story!
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