There was a certain
king who had a huge number of courtiers, and each one of these courtiers
declared he was ready to sacrifice his life for his master, and that he was the
most sincere being ever born. In course of time, a Sannyâsin came to the king.
The king said to him that there never was a king who had so many sincere
courtiers as he had. The Sannyasin smiled and said he did not believe that. The
king said the Sannyasin could test it if he liked. So the Sannyasin declared
that he would make a great sacrifice by which the king's reign would be
extended very long, with the condition that there should be made a small tank
into which each one of his courtiers should pour a pitcher of milk, in the dark
of night. The king smiled and said, "Is this the test?" And he asked
his courtiers to come to him, and told them what was to be done. They all
expressed their joyful assent to the proposal and returned. In the dead of
night, they came and emptied their pitchers into the tank. But in the morning,
it was found full of water only. The courtiers were assembled and questioned
about the matter. Each one of them had thought there would be so many pitchers
of milk that his water would not be detected. Unfortunately most of us have the same idea and we do our share of work
as did the courtiers in the story.
SOURCE: The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda,
Volume-1 [Lectures and Discourses]
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