A king frequently asked a question to the wise men at his court: who is greater, a sanyasi who gives up the world or a householder who fulfills his duties within it? No one satisfied him until an old sanyasi answered that both are equally great in their own place. He then proved his point through a journey and a story.
The King’s Question
The king asked a profound question to visiting wise men: whether a person who renounces the world as a sanyasi is greater, or one who remains a householder performing his obligations. Despite many attempts, no one could satisfy the king’s curiosity.
The Old Sanyasi’s Answer
An old sanyasi came to the king’s court and said both are equally great in their own place. The king asked him to demonstrate this truth. The sanyasi invited the king to travel with him to a great kingdom where a grand ceremony was taking place.
The Princess’s Choice
At the ceremony, a proclamation announced the princess would choose her husband from the present princes. She was renowned as the most beautiful in the world, and whoever married her would inherit the kingdom. The princess, carried by servants, rejected all the princes until her eyes rested on a young sanyasi standing alone.
The Young Sanyasi’s Refusal
The princess garlanded the young sanyasi, but he threw it off, declaring, “What nonsense is this? I am a sanyasi. What is marriage to me?” The king tempted him with half the kingdom immediately and full inheritance after his death, placing the garland on him again, but the young sanyasi refused once more and walked away. The princess followed him determined to marry him, with the king and old sanyasi behind.
The Forest and the Birds’ Sacrifice
The young sanyasi led them into a forest. The princess could not keep up and sat down crying under a tree. The king and old sanyasi comforted her and rested for the night, lighting a fire. Two birds living in the tree, feeling the duty of householders to care for guests, sacrificed themselves by jumping into the fire.
The Moral
The old sanyasi explained to the king that he had seen the truth: each way of life is great in its own place. To live as a householder means to sacrifice everything for others like the birds did. To renounce the world, like the young sanyasi, means to value nothing—even the most beautiful princess and an entire kingdom—above spiritual dedication.
