Four impoverished friends from Ujjain set out to seek their fortune. They sought the help of a mystic named Bhairavananda, who gave each of them a magic wick. He told them to travel north and dig wherever their wick fell. The first man’s wick dropped, and he found a hoard of copper. He was satisfied, but the others pressed on. The second man’s wick fell upon a vein of silver; he stayed, while the remaining two sought more. Soon, the third man’s wick fell, revealing a mountain of gold. He urged his companion to stop, but the fourth man, blinded by greed, believed diamonds must lie further ahead. He journeyed into a desolate wasteland where he found a man with a sharp, blood-stained wheel spinning on his head. As soon as he approached, the wheel leaped from the stranger's head onto his own. The stranger explained that the wheel remains on the head of the one who is driven by excessive greed until another seeker arrives. The fourth friend was left in agony, a victim of his own insatiable desire.
Excessive greed blinds a person to reason and often leads to a fate far worse than poverty.
Questions about this story
What is the moral of The Four Treasure-Seekers?
The moral is that greed leads to ruin. It teaches that one should be content with a good fortune rather than constantly seeking more at the risk of losing everything.
What treasures did the four friends find?
The four friends found copper, silver, and gold respectively. The fourth friend, who refused to stop at gold, found a cursed spinning wheel instead of treasure.
Who is Bhairavananda in the story?
Bhairavananda is a powerful yogi or mystic who provides the four friends with the magic wicks that guide them to the hidden treasures.
What does the spinning wheel symbolize?
The spinning wheel symbolizes the restless and painful nature of insatiable greed, which consumes the mind and leads to endless suffering.
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