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"Revered Sage! I don't know anything about the sacrificial rite, called yagna. I am performing this yagna as per the advice of my Guru, He also advised me that I should approach you requesting you to conduct this yagna" said the King.
"I appreciate your being outspoken. I will conduct this yagna for you. This yagna will definitely yield a lot of benefits to your country and its people. You will also gain personal benefits" assured the sage.
"Revered Sage! As I had said already, I don't know anything about yagnas. So, pardon me for asking this question. How will performing a yagna bring in benefits?"
"There is nothing wrong in your asking this question. It is good to learn about the yagna, before performing it. A yagna is performed to please the celestials called Devas, living in the heaven. We perform the yagna, seeking a particular benefit from the Devas. We offer various goods and objects, including food to the Devas by dropping them into the fire, created in a contained space, at the site of the yagna. It is the belief that Agni, the God of Fire, will carry these offerings and deliver them to the Devas. The Devas are pleased by the offerings made by us and grant us our prayers" explained the sage.
The yagna was performed under the guidance of Sage Gowtama.
Gowtama told the King, "Oh, king! The yagna has been duly completed. Now, you should present gifts to the scholars, sages and other dignitaries."
"I have arranged for the gifts and kept them ready, as instructed by you already. I want to present the gift to you, first!" said the King.
"No. Since I conducted the yagna, I am part of the team that performed the yagna, you being its leader. So, I should not receive any gift from you. Please present the gifts to the dignitaries assembled here."
"Please guide me whom should I present the gift first?"
"Just a moment!" said Gowtama and looked around. He looked at a particular person, sitting among the audience and signaled him to come near.
That person, who presented the appearance of a layman, was perplexed and came near the sage, hesitatingly.
Gowtama told the King, "King! This person deserves to receive the gift from you first."
The king hesitated for a moment, then presented a gift to that person. That person received the gift, looked at the sage with gratefulness, bowed his head before the king and the sage, and left.
The sage's disciples, the other sages and the scholars assembled there looked at Gowtama, with disappointment and perplexity.
Gowtama looked at the sages and scholars and told them, "My advising the king to give the gift first to an ordinary person might have surprised many of you. You are all men of learning. But that person who appears to be an ordinary person is also a man of learning! His learning has been through listening. Yes, for the past several years, I have noticed that he has been listening to my lectures at different places. Recently, I called him and spoke to him. I learnt that over the years, he has been listening to the lectures of several other scholars, in addition to mine. During the conversation I had with him, I realized that as a result of his performing the yagna called 'listening to words of wisdom,' for many years, he has become a repertoire of knowledge. A person with such an extent of knowledge is comparable in stature to the Devas, who receive the offerings made in the yagna. I decided that he should be honoured during this yagna, and asked him to attend this. I am narrating this with the objective of making all of you understand the power of learning through listening."
Yagna* - A sacrificial rite.
Thirukkural
Section 2
Section 2
Materialism
Chapter 42
Learning through Listening
Learning through Listening
sevi uNarviR kELvi udaiyAr avi uNarvin
AnROrOdu oppar nilaththu.
AnROrOdu oppar nilaththu.
Meaning:
Those mortals who feed their ears with learning have a stature comparable to that of the immortals who consume sacrificial offerings.
(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'kELvi enum vELvi' by the same author.)
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