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Stories told by Śrīla Prabhupāda
<< 30 The beggar came to the house of a king >>
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| The next story is nice too. This is a story how the beggar came to the house of a king. The king was looking from his window and he heard knock on his door. So he sent the servant: “Go see who it is.” The servant went down and he opened the door. “Who is it?” the king asked. “It’s just some beggar,” the servant called up, “he wants some food or something.” The king said: “All right, let’s have a laugh. Call him in here.” So the servant brought the beggar upstairs to the king’s big room and the king said: “Al right beggar, what do you want?” The man very meekly asked: “I just want some prasadam, little food or something.” The king said to the servant, whispered in his ear: “Just pretend to bring him some food.” Then the servant sat the beggar down and the servant pretended to bring out big tray of foodstuff, he was holding his hand like this and setting it down and taking the cover off and the king said: “Just see, your very nice plate there, nice rasagulas, samosa, kitchori, fill yourself and be happy.” Then just to humor the king, because he did not want to offend him, this poor beggar acted like he was eating. He reached, he was going like this. Then the king asked: “Is it good?” The beggar replied: “Oh, yes, it’s very good. I especially like the samosas.” Then the king said: “What else would you like?” And the beggar said: “Well, a nice wife.” And the king said: “All right, bring on the dancing girls.” Then the servant pretended to bring in some dancing girls and they were sitting down and as if they are watching the dancing. Then the king turned to the beggar and said: “Aren’t they dancing nicely?” And the beggar said: “Yes, yes, very nicely.” And the king said: “Which one do you want for your wife?” The beggar said: “The sixth one.” The king replied: “Hah, there’s only five. But you can take the fifth one.” Then they arranged the whole invisible marriage ceremony and then the king said: “Now I give you a palace. You can move into a palace with her. You just go out the door down the road you see so many big palaces.” The beggar went out the door down the road, of course there was nothing. But this man, this beggar was very humble and he said: “Yes, your honor, yes my lord, thank you very much” and he went out the gate and was going down the road and suddenly the heart of the king changed, he was touched by this man’s submissive nature. He thought: “Actually I was really trying to make a fool out of him. I was really trying to insult him. But he’s so good-natured that he played along. Any other person would have gotten angry: “What are you doing? Why are you insulting me like this?” But he was very submissive. He’s a very nice person”. Then he suddenly sent the servant: “Go bring him back.” And when he came back, the king said to him: “I am very pleased with your attitude. You’ve gone along with this joke I was making. So, now, bring out the real prasad.” So they brought out real prasad. “Now take yourself real wife and have a real palace.”
| | The moral is, in this way just by his humble nature and just by humoring and cooperating with the king, he was blessed with so much opulence.
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