Once upon a time, there was a village where a saintly sage lived. He was the only sage in the entire village, and he received donations from the villagers regularly. Driven by greed for these donations, he did not allow any other sage to stay in the village. If anyone tried to come, he would expel them from the village. Consequently, he accumulated a considerable amount of wealth.
Meanwhile, a cunning thief had been eyeing the sage’s wealth for several days. He wanted to somehow seize that wealth. He devised a plan and approached the sage in the disguise of a student, expressing a desire to become his disciple.
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Initially, the sage refused, but after some time, he agreed and made the thief his disciple. The thief started living in the temple with the sage, serving him and taking care of the temple. Despite the thief’s dedicated service, the sage couldn’t completely trust him.
One day, an invitation arrived for the sage from another village, and he decided to go, taking his disciple along. He secured his wealth in a bag and entrusted the care of it to the disciple, asking him to guard it until he returned.
The sage and the disciple set out on their journey, and on the way, they encountered a river. The sage thought it would be a good idea to take a bath in the river before entering the village. He hid his wealth in a blanket, instructed the disciple to take care of it, and went towards the river.
Seeing an opportunity, the thief seized the moment. He quickly gathered all the belongings, including the sage’s wealth, and fled the scene. When the sage returned from the river, he found neither his disciple nor his possessions.
The thief, overjoyed with his success, found the chance he had been waiting for. As soon as the sage was back, he found no disciple and none of his belongings. Realizing the deception, the sage regretfully acknowledged his own lack of discernment.
