Selfishness And Philanthropy

It was a dark, moonless night. Only occasional flashes of lightning lit up the sombre scene and caused an eerie dance of jerky and frightening shadows in the cremation ground. Occasionally the silence was broken by the unearthly howling of jackals and laughter of evil spirits. But nothing could daunt the intrepid King Vikram. Once again, he made his way to the ancient gnarled tree where the corpse was hanging. A skull crunched under his feet and a screeching ghost rose from the dust in shuddering frenzy. Unperturbed, he climbed the tree and brought down the corpse. Slinging it astride his shoulder, he had just begun his return journey when the vampire that possessed the corpse said, "O King! Braving all the adversities, you’re engrossed in the pursuit of your goal. But have you given a thought to why you are failing repeatedly? I cannot but admire your dogged determination, which persists in the face of so many obstacles. But, at the same time, I pity you for your foolishness! Sometimes I wonder whether you are taking all this trouble for your own sake, or for the happiness of others. You know, at times only a thin line separates selfishness from service, so that it is difficult to distinguish between the two. To illustrate this, let me tell you the story of Kamal." The vampire then began its narration: In the village of Kondapura lived Purushottam, who had two sons -Sekhar and Kamal. Purushottam was a kind-hearted soul, whose helpful and unselfish nature endeared him to the villagers. His elder son, Sekhar was cast in the same mould. But the younger son, Kamal, was selfish to the core. Purushottam tried his best tochange him, but to no avail. Soon Purushottam fell ill. Realising that he might not live much longer, he called Kamal to his bedside and advised him, "Son, this village is not the right place for you. I shall tell you a way by which you can live in comfort. If you go deep into the forest adjoining our village, you will come to a hill. Exactly halfway up the hill is a dark cave. A hermit named Anand lives there. Meet him -he will help you." Kamal thought: ‘Father has given away all his property to Sekhar and he’s now trying to fob me off with this tale of a hermit!’ Soon afterwards, Purushottam breathed his last. It was only after his death that Kamal realised that he had wronged his father -Purushottam’s only ‘property’ was his good nature. He had earned no money or possessions to bequeath to his sons. Kamal found himself a destitute after his father’s death. But his brother, Sekhar, said, "Don’t worry, Kamal. You stay with me. I shall take care of you." The selfish Kamal was greatly relieved by this assurance. Now that his brother was there to shoulder his burden, he returned to his carefree life without any qualms of conscience. As the days passed, the villagers began praising Sekhar for his exemplary consideration for his brother. Simultaneously they also denounced Kamal for sponging off his noble brother. When he heard the criticism, Kamal was furious. He flounced up to his brother and angrily demanded, "It was at your invitation that I stayed on here -so, how dare the people condemn me?" Sekhar replied, "Kamal, you never go to the help of anyone -so, naturally, they take you for a selfish person. If you really wish to hear praise instead of criticism, then go to the help of others!" "Why should I?" demanded Kamal. "What did you and father gain by helping others? My aim is not to make a name as a philanthropist. I want to become a rich man and live well. Tell me how I may achieve this!" "To make money, one must be skilled in business, agriculture, or the arts. To be frank, I lack these skills. You may yourself try and find some way to make your fortune," explained Sekhar. Kamal realised that while he longed to become rich, he could not think of any means of making money! Finally, he remembered his father’s advice and decided to meet the hermit Anand and seek his help. Accordingly, he set out into the forest. Although Anand was an emaciated figure with matted hair and an unkempt beard, his eyes glowed with an unearthly radiance. Anand bowed to him, introduced himself, and told him why he had come. Anand heard him out and said, "I can help you become rich instantly. But if I do that, it will cause problems for both of us." He then told Kamal how he and Kamal’s father had been close friends from their boyhood days. But their outlook on life was very different. While Purushottam was an altruist who found pleasure in helping others, with no selfish motive whatever, Anand was only interested in his own advancement. One day, when the two friends were travelling, they came across a holy man lying on the road. Evidently he had fallen down and hurt himself; his foot was bleeding. Brushing aside Anand’s efforts to dissuade him, Purushottam rushed to the holy man’s aid. He helped him to sit up, cleaned his wound, and treated it with a paste of healing herbs. The holy man embraced Purushottam and said, "My son, I possess a magical talisman having the power to grant every wish of its owner. Being an ascetic, I’ve no need for it. I’ve been searching for a worthy person to whom I could give it away. All this was a drama I enacted for that purpose. Here’s the talisman -take it and live happily!" And he held it out to Purushottam. But instead of accepting it, Purushottam said with folded hands, "O holy one! I’ve no need for this talisman. Having wealth in excess of one’s needs will ultimately bring one to grief. So, kindly give it to someone else!" But the holy man shook his head and replied, "From this moment, the talisman is yours. You may find someone worthy of it and give it away to him. However, if you give it to an unworthy person, it will have disastrous consequences." Now, on hearing about the talisman’s magical properties, Anand was keen to possess it. He asked, "O holy one, what could be these consequences? And who is worthy of the talisman?" The hermit smiled and replied, "Some things can be learnt only by experience. I can tell you this much -if an unworthy person gets the talisman, it will not stay long with him. It will change hands repeatedly, and return to the original owner. Ultimately, getting disgusted with worldly life, he will renounce the world. But he cannot attain salvation." Purushottam, who had been listening to this exchange, now turned to his friend, Anand and asked, "You wish to have this talisman, don’t you? I shall give it to you with pleasure, as I believe you’re worthy of it." Without any hesitation, he presented the talisman to Anand. Soon after he acquired the talisman, Anand’s life underwent a dramatic change. He became successful in all his ventures, and achieved everything that he wished for. But he was not ready to share his bounty, and did not spend even a paisa in charity. Consequently, he was labelled as a selfish man. Before a year had passed, he gave away the talisman. But soon afterwards, it came back into his possession. This happened repeatedly. Eventually he became fed up with life. His health, too, deteriorated. Gradually things came to such a pass that he could not bear the sight of light. Eventually he renounced the world and came to live in this dark cave. Purushottam was deeply saddened by his friend’s plight. He was even more distressed to think that it was he himself who had unwittingly caused it. He visited Anand and said, "I never thought the talisman would land you in such a terrible condition! I’ll have no peace until you attain salvation. Let me try to free you from the talisman’s clutches." However, he died before he could fulfil his promise. The hermit Anand concluded his narration and said to Kamal, "Son, your father’s soul will not attain salvation until I am saved. That is why he has sent you here -to take the talisman from me, thus giving redemption to his soul and mine. But I cannot let you suffer for my selfish interest -hence, I have revealed the secret of the talisman. You cannot keep it for over a year on any count. It will land you in difficulties. You will then return it to me, causing more problems for me!" Kamal politely replied, "O wise one, my father was a great philanthropist. He knew that I am self-seeking by nature. He wanted some service to be mixed in my selfishness–such was his greatness! It will be a matter of great joy for me if my selfish ambition could bring about the salvation of two souls -those of my father and yourself. Please give me the talisman. I promise you I shall keep it with me permanently." Anand blessed Kamal and handed over the talisman to him. After having acquired it, Kamal achieved success in all his ventures. But there was a great change in his nature. He was no more selfish. He used the money brought in by the talisman’s power to help the needy. A year went by. By then, Kamal had made a lot of money. One day, the hermit Anand came to meet him. He said, "Kamal, please return the talisman to me." Kamal took off the talisman, which he was wearing around his neck, and handed it to Anand. Anand examined it and said, "I have come to tell you something important. Thanks to you, your father’s soul has attained salvation. I, too, shall soon be liberated. Now you don’t have any need for this talisman. Let me get rid of it so that it does not go to some unworthy man’s hands in future, to create more trouble!" He lit a fire and dropped the talisman into it. Then he walked away without looking back. Having concluded the story, the vampire turned to King Vikram and asked, "O King! Kamal’s selfish motive had brought about the salvation of Purushottam and Anand. So, is selfishness a desirable quality? Did the talisman lose its evil power by Anand’s blessing? If so, couldn’t Anand have blessed one of the previous recipients of the talisman similarly and saved himself all this trouble? If you remain silent even though you may know the answer, your head will be blown to pieces!" King Vikram had a ready answer. "Selfishness is not something laudable. But as long as it does not harm anyone, it is not blameworthy either. Although Kamal was at heart a self-centred man, he never wished ill of anyone. As for the talisman’s evil power, it did not vanish by Anand’s blessing. The thought of his father caused Kamal to have a change of heart. It was this change that destroyed the talisman’s evil influence. When Kamal changed his lifestyle and became service-minded, the talisman lost its power to harm him, as he proved himself worthy of keeping it!" No sooner had King Vikram concluded answering the vampire than the corpse gave him the slip once again. Squaring his shoulders, the king set off in hot pursuit.