The Love We Give Away is The Only Love We Keep

A beggar used to put some grains in his collecting bag by himself in order to attract more people and trick them into feeling peer pressure. On an auspicious day he was wandering in the town and sees the chariot of King coming towards him. A ray of sunshine struck the gold plated chariot and reflects into the eyes of beggar. Beggar thought what a golden opportunity he has got today, many a times he tried to visit the king's palace but the guards never let him enter. Today, he thought, he would ask for so much that his upcoming 7 generations would not need to ever beg. 

While he was lost into these thoughts, he didn't notice that the chariot has already reached in front of him and the King has deboarded. As soon as he could recollect his senses, he found the King on his knees in front of him spreading his arms into a begging gesture and said," Our kingdom is in a big danger, my astrologist has told me that there is only one way to save our kingdom if you go out and beg to the first person you find in streets. So, here I am begging in front of you, kindly give me some Bhiksha. 

The beggar was awestruck, he never ever thought that he would be facing a situation when someone would spread their hands in front of him and that too the king himself. The beggar had no other option than to take some rice grains out of his collecting bag and give them to the king, but the beggar knew that these are the rice grains that he had put there by himself and he hasn't got any Bhiksha today from anyone. So, he tried to put his hand in his bag but his fingers denied to bend and the hand came out empty. 

The King again pleaded in front of him to give him just one grain out of the lot as it is very important to save his kingdom. The beggar thought one grain wouldn't make any big difference so he took out one grain and put it on King's Hand. The King was satisfied, he hurriedly boarded his chariot and left.

The beggar kept standing there for sometime in order to recollect his thoughts on what just happened with him. Then he decided to move on and continue his daily begging routine. He got some good amount of Bhiksha that day but that one grain of rice that he gave to king was still pinching him. This is the first time he had given something to someone from his bag. 

Having this thought revolving in his mind he reached his hut and poured all his days collection into a utensil. After he emptied his bag completely, he saw something shining among the rice grains. He grabbed that shining thing and found that it was actually a golden rice grain. His eyes shined again and he thought someone must have put golden grains in bhiksha by mistake and there must be other similar grains in his big. So, he searched among the grains but couldn't find any other similar grain. Then he thought about the rice grain he has given to the king, that was also a single rice grain. In the end, he was just feeling the guilt that if he would've given more grains to the king, he would've even more golden grains with him.

Interpretation

The rice grains in the story are metaphor for love. We gain more by giving love than by asking for love. Whenever we beg in front of others or ask them for a favor of love, something inside us gets shrunk. But when we offer love to someone without expectations of getting anything in return, something expands within us. This expansion gives our conscience more confidence to achieve bigger things in life.

Moral of the Story

Never ask for love from someone, instead try to give even the little love that you can give and you would see that you have instantly gained a lot yourself within you by just giving that love. You will feel content and pleasure that asking for love would never be able to give you.