Once upon a time, King Yudhishthira, when he was still a boy, was studying in a gurukul. And an inspector came to the school. He began to ask the students, and everyone vying with each other talked about their knowledge. But when he asked Yudhisthira, he calmly said:
— I learned the alphabet and know the first sentence from the primer.
The inspector was angry and began to shout:
- How can you study for so long and only learn one sentence?!
Then the boy thought and answered:
- Well, maybe the second one.
Then the inspector decided to punish the future king. He grabbed the rod and began to beat him. But, despite the pain, the boy endured everything and smiled, and then the inspector began to have doubts. And then he saw an open textbook and read the first sentence: “Don’t be angry with anyone and never be offended, be patient and calm - everything will pass.”
And then the inspector felt ashamed, and he asked the boy for forgiveness. But Yudhisthira said:
“There’s no need to apologize, because while you were beating me, I was still offended by you, which means I didn’t even understand the first statement.”
And then the inspector remembered the second sentence: “Always tell the truth and nothing but the truth.”
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru