Every single paisa counts

Once upon a time, in a small village by the river Kandara, there lived an old merchant with his young wife. The merchant was very pious and had done great sacrifices of cows and horses throughout his life. His wife was also a deeply religious woman who spent her time in serving her husband and praying at the temple. The couple were blessed with lots of riches and the comforts of life but they had a nagging worry: they did not have a child.

The old man looked at this misfortune with his worldly-wise eyes and decided that God had chosen not to bless him with a son. He knew all his good deeds and material wealth would go to waste without a good son but he accepted his fate patiently and lived without complaints. But his wife could not be as placid as he was. She was a woman after all and yearned to become a mother. So she prayed endlessly to the Gods to grant her the single boon of motherhood in return for everything that she possessed.

Years went by and still the prayers went unanswered. The woman had given up hope herself when, one day, the great Guruji appeared in the village. He was known far and wide as a very learned and holy man who had chosen to become an ascetic at a very young age. He had travelled across the blessed Bharatavarsha several times on foot and had cured millions of people of their diseases - bodily, mental and spiritual. The woman considered this arrival a sign of good things to come and persuaded her husband to take her to him.

The Guruji was sitting on a blanket under the banyan tree as was his wont every time he went to a village. A large group of villagers had gathered round him and were listening to his advice. When the merchant and his wife reached the tree, the Guruji smiled strangely at them and said to his audience, "Now I am going to tell you a story. It is the story of a young man who lived in a village not far from here. I want you all to listen to it carefully and when I finish, you should leave for your houses without speaking another word. Close your doors and windows and sleep, and when you wake up tomorrow morning, your world will be entirely different." And he nodded once affably at the puzzled merchant and began his story.

"Not very many years ago, beside this very same river, in a village not far from here, there lived an old merchant with his young wife. The merchant was very pious and had done great sacrifices of cows and horses throughout his life..." and so on and on and finally concluded "...and so Every single paisa counts"

"Now I want you all to leave," he said and laid himself down on the blanket he was sitting on and snored himself to sleep.