16. Filling the house with a coin
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There is a story from the Mahabharata which is taught in many of our schools in India.
Once the elders of the family wanted to test who is more intelligent - the Kaurava kids or the Pandava kids. So they had a competition for the kids: they gave each group one gold coin and told them that they have to fill a house with it. You will be given only one gold coin; with that, you have to fill a house!
The Kauravas took their gold coin and sat together. The Kauravas are a hundred brothers! Naturally, a hundred messy brains trying to work together will mess up anything! Listen: you can have a hundred hands, but not a hundred brains. Be very clear, all great things are done by a hundred hands and a hundred legs, but not a hundred brains. The brain should be only one. But unfortunately, we usually have thousands and thousands of brains, but not a single hand!
So, these hundred brains sat together, discussed left and right, argued, shouted, fought
among themselves, saying, 'How can
we fill the whole house with just one
gold coin?'
They finally came to the conclusion,
'The elders are all cheats, they are
abusing us, they are trying to exploit
us, they want to make us feel we are
failures!'
After this whole drama, they finally
decided that for one gold coin, you
can get nothing but hay! So all of them
went to the market and bought loads
and loads of hay. They filled the whole
house with hay, and in the end all of
them were standing outside the house!
The five Pandavas also sat together
and discussed. One good thing with
the Pandavas is, even though each of
them has specialized in one field, they
all align under Dharmaraja, under
Yudhishthira. Bhima represents physical
valor. Arjuna represents physiological
power. Nakula represents intelligence.
Sahadeva is the aligner of Time; he is a
great astrologer. But because all of them are always aligned under Yudhishthira, it is like one brain with ten hands. So they sat together and discussed, 'What will fill the whole house? How to fill the whole house with just one gold coin? When our elders say it is possible, it must be possible.'
Look at both thought trends: Kauravas: These elders are all cranky. They don't know what they are asking us to do; just trying to prove we are small fellows.' This is the thought-trend of the Kauravas. Pandavas: 'When the elders say, there must be a way. They are trying to teach us something, they are trying to educate us through this. When the elders say, it must be possible.' So, finally, the Pandavas also decided to fill the house with one gold coin. How they did it, let us see.
The time came for the inspection. All
the elders - Bhishma, Drona, all the
elders - arrived for the inspection.
They first went to the Kauravas'
house. The moment they reached
there, they saw that the whole
house was filled with hay, and all
the Kauravas were standing outside,
because they could not even get into
the house!
Bhishma asked, 'What happened? Why are you guys standing outside?'
The Kauravas replied, 'What do you mean? You told us that we have to fill the whole house with one gold coin. What else can we buy with one gold coin which will fill the whole house? This is the cheapest item in the market.'
So all these fellows were standing outside. Neither were they able to enter the house, nor were the people who had come to inspect it!
Dhritarashtra, the father of the Kauravas, was very happy. 'See my sons and their intelligence! They filled the whole house with just one gold coin! They should be declared victorious. They have won the game.'
But Bhishma said, 'No, no! Let us go to the other house also.'
So they went to the other house to see how the Pandavas had filled it. There they saw that the whole house was filled with light and fragrance! Understand, for that one gold coin, the Pandavas had bought lamps, oil and incense, and filled the house with light and fragrance. The moment the elders arrived, the Pandavas washed their feet, invited them in, gave them seats to sit, and paid their respects to them. The elders were very pleased, and declared that the Pandavas had won the game.
Is your life like the Kauravas' house or the Pandavas' house? Have you filled your house with hay, or with light and fragrance? Is your inner space like the Kauravas or the Pandavas?
Please understand, incompletion keeps you full, but never fulfilled! Completion keeps you full and also gives you the space to live.