Value

There was a rich a merchant  he used to do lot of always used to perform sacrifices and worship etc.

He donated everything he had in a yajna. Now he had no money left to run the family.

The merchant’s wife suggested that an elder Seth live in the neighboring town. He buys the virtues of others.

You go to them and sell some of your virtues and bring some money, so that business can start again.

The merchant had absolutely no desire to sell virtue, but under pressure from his wife and concern for his children, he agreed to sell virtue. The wife made and gave four rotis to eat on the way.

The merchant walked to the city where Seth, the buyer of virtue, lived. He was hungry.

Before entering the city, he thought of having his meal. As soon as she took out the loaves, a Dog stood up with her three children born immediately.

The Dog had given birth in the forest. It was a rainy day and the children were small, so she could not leave them and go into the city.
The merchant felt pity. He gave a roti to the bitch to eat.
The Dog ate the bread in the blink of an eye but she was still gasping with hunger.

The merchant fed the second bread, then the third and then all the four loaves to the bitch. He himself reached Seth after drinking only water.

The merchant told Seth that he had come to sell his virtue. Seth was busy. He said come in the evening.

In the afternoon Seth went home for food and told his wife that a merchant had come to sell his virtue. Which virtue should I buy from him?

Seth’s wife was very pious and perfect. He carefully saw that today the merchant has fed bread to the bitch.

She told her husband to buy her today’s virtue which she earned by feeding bread to an animal. That is his best virtue ever.

The merchant came again in the evening to sell his virtue. Seth said- I want to take the virtue of the sacrifice you have done today.
The merchant started laughing. He said that if I had money for the yagya, would I have come to sell the virtue to you!

Seth said that today you have saved the life of a hungry animal by feeding it and its children. I want that reward.

The merchant agreed to sell that virtue. Seth said that in return for that virtue, he would give diamonds and pearls equal to the weight of four loaves of bread to the merchant.

Four loaves were made and placed in a pan of a scale. In the second pan, Seth kept diamonds and jewels by filling them in a bundle, the pan did not even move. Another bag was ordered. Still it did not move.

Even after keeping several bundles, when the pan did not move, the businessman said- Sethji, I have changed my mind. I don’t want to sell virtue anymore.

The merchant left empty handed towards his house. He was afraid that as soon as he entered the house, a quarrel with his wife would start.

He picked up some pebbles and kept them in the bag from where he had put the loaves on the bitch.

On reaching home, the wife asked how much money she got by selling virtue, then she showed the bag and said that she will open it only at night after the meal. After this he went to the village to ask for some loan.

Here, since his wife had seen the bag, she was not having patience. She opened the bag as soon as her husband left.
His eyes were torn apart. The bag was full of diamonds and jewels.

When the merchant returned home, his wife asked who gave such a good price for virtues? Where did so many diamonds and jewels come from??
The merchant suspected that the wife was not taunting knowing all the secret, but it did not seem like it due to the brightness of her face.

The merchant said – show where are the diamonds and jewels. The wife brought and reversed the bundle in front of him. Precious gems fell from it. The merchant was surprised.
Then he told everything to his wife. The wife regretted that she forced her husband to sell his virtue in distress.

Both of them decided that they would take some part of it and start business. The money received from business will be mixed in it and used for public welfare.

God tests you. He tests you the most in the examination, which you are proud of.
If you pass the test, then God bestows that quality on you as a boon for ever.

If he does not pass the examination, then God starts looking for someone else deserving of that quality.

Therefore, even in times of adversity, one should follow the right path by trusting in God. Pebbles and stones can be priceless gems for you too.
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