THE SEVENTH JAR

One of my greatest pleasures – simple pleasures – comes whenever I read that simple book of  incredibly simple soul, Sri. Ramakrishna Paramahansa. The title of this book is: ‘Tales and Parables of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa.’.

The settings of Ramakrishna Paramahansa’s stories and parables had always been the rustic village where he lived. He spoke to those simple souls around him, and did that through his simple stories and parables which those men, women and children could connect to.

The book I am referring to contains some of these stories and parables which throb with this rustic life. I wish to recount one of them to my readers, in this post.

There was this barber who served for his King faithfully for many, many years. He was very dedicated to the King, and an extremely honest soul, that the King always loved him. Though poor and had a family to run, this barber never complained about his life and never tried to earn wealth through any unethical means. So, he lived his simple life peacefully, with dignity. 

One late evening, this barber was returning home after his work. On his way, just when he was passing by a haunted tree, he heard this voice:

“Hey you, the poor soul, do you wish to have the Seven jars of gold?”

Rattled by what he had just heard, the barber immediately started looking around. 

He saw no one around, except the tree. So, a lot frightened, he shouted:

“Who is asking me this?”

“I am Yaksha, my poor friend. I want to know if you wish to have the Seven jars of gold.”

“Oh yes, I do,” the poor barbed confessed.

“Then, speed up to your hut, your wish will be fulfilled,” the voice declared.

The barber took to his feet, and, by the time he reached his hut, he was completely out of breath. When he pushed open the door, and threw himself in, his heart had already stopped. Behold! Seven huge jars of gold were there right in front of his eyes, and the room was aglow and his heart was pacing! He would die with disbelief, and ecstasy… This poor soul, this simple barber!

The frenzied barber went close to the jars and started running his hand on each one of them just to feel… Yes, he touched and felt each jar, one by one. When he reached the seventh jar, the ecstasy had already run out of his body and he was in pain.

“Why is this jar only half-filled with gold?” was now the issue. “Why has Yaksha done this? Why is this jar not full?”

The barber’s face had now fallen, and heart was in distress. “How can I have this jar filled with gold?” he began to be haunted, “How can I be happy and fulfilled?”

He ran inside his hut and gathered whatever little ornaments his poor wife had and poured them in the jar. But, that was hardly enough. The night went in turmoil. “Why is the seventh jar not full? Why had Yaksha been so unkind?”

The next morning, he took whatever money he had at home to the market place. With that money, he bought whatever gold he could fetch… and came home to fill the seventh jar. But, that too was barely enough. 

The barber was a heart-broken soul! “Why is this jar not full? Why am I not blessed with this happiness?”

The barber borrowed money from his friends… bought gold and poured inside the seventh jar… yes, with the hope that the seventh jar would brim with gold and his heart would brim with joy. 

But, no way! The poor soul was a distressed man. “Why is this jar not full? Why am I not joyful?”

The frustration took the barber to the streets. He started begging for money… yes, with the same hope of seeing the seventh jar full of gold and his heart full of happiness. 

But, alas! The seventh jar refused to be full! The barber was desolate with ruin!

Finally, one morning, the barber gathered his courage and went to the King. He demanded for a pay-raise. Now, the King had no issue about that, as he was always happy with his servant’s loyalty and work. So, without any second thought, the King doubled the salary of his loyal barber. With the extra earnings, came extra gold to go in to the seventh jar. But, where would that jar obey?

There was no way left… The barber was a disaster to behold!

Then, one afternoon, while passing through his corridors, the King’s eyes fell on the miserable barber. He couldn’t believe his eyes. Shocked, the King asked his savant, “What have done to yourself, my loyal savant?” He continued, “You have been serving me for years with half of your present earnings; still, I have never witnessed this sort of condition. Tell me, what is wrong? Why are you so distressed?”

Then, something suddenly struck His Majesty.

 He looked at his soul-wrenched servant 

and asked firmly, 

“Tell me. By any chance, 

did Yaksha offer you the Seven jars of gold?”

 

The barber was so petrified on hearing this question from his Master, that he began to sob loudly and uncontrollably.

The King’s fear had come true. “Fool, many years ago, Yaksha had asked me the same question when I was passing by that haunted tree,” the King said to his barber, "But, I had replied saying that I would have them only if I could ENJOY them… I had left Yaksha alone!” 

After that, with all his mercy, the benevolent King lifted his barber’s fallen face and counseled, “My beloved soul, right away take those Seven jars of gold back to the haunted tree and throw!”

The barber did.

One of my mightiest heroes is Swami Vivekananda. Young, dynamic and sophisticated… exceptionally brilliant and charming. Now, you do not need me to remind you, today, that Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa, the incredibly simple soul with rustic touch, was the Master of my dashing hero.


The disciple taught me with fire... the Master taught me with ice!

Today, something prompts me to  remember these marvelous teachers… and re-tell this beautiful parable. 

What prompted the Master story-teller would always remain unchanged. 

And, that would be the moral of the story!

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pics.: Raj Dhage