The hungry scholar

[1]

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev [1]

The king of Yakshas was Kubera. The word kubera literally means richness. Though the king was slightly deformed, he made up for it by wearing extra jewels and kilos of gold and diamonds. And he wanted to do something similar to Shiva.
Every day he came up with a new jewel and said to Shiva, “You must wear this.” Shiva said, “The only thing that I wear is ash. I don’t need any jewellery.” But Kubera would not give up.

One day Shiva said, “If you want to really treat somebody, you treat my son.” Shiva had a son who was a little overweight, so he said, “Here is my son. He loves to eat. Take him home and serve him lunch till he is satisfied.” The moment there was talk about food, Shiva’s son, Ganapathy, woke up and said, “Yes. Where? When?” Kubera invited the boy home. Ganapathy went.
Kubera was very proud of his wealth and his palace. Ganapathy walked into the palace with his dirty feet leaving footprints on the polished marble. Servants were wiping the floor right behind him. But Kubera thought, “After all he is Shiva’s son, so alright.” Ganapathy sat down. They served food, he ate. They served, he ate. All the food they had ran out, and they cooked again and again.
Then Kubera said, “For a boy of your age, I think you have consumed too much. It could be dangerous.” Ganapathy said, “No danger. See, I have a serpent as a belt. Don’t worry about me, I am still hungry. Serve. You promised my father that you would serve me till I am satisfied.” Hearing all this, Kubera sent his men shopping all over the place. All the grocery around was not enough. All of Kubera’s wealth was spent — everything was sold, made into food and served — and still the boy was eating.
Ganapathy’s plate was empty, but he was still looking for dessert. He said, “Where is my kheer, where is my laddu, where is my rasgulla?” Kubera said, “I made a mistake. In my vanity, I boasted about my wealth. When I know and Shiva knows that everything that I have was given to me by him, like a fool I have been trying to offer him trinkets, thinking that I am his greatest devotee.” He fell at Ganapathy’s feet and begged his pardon. Ganapathy left without the dessert. This day is celebrated as Ganesh Chaturthi (celebrated on September 1 this year).
Ganapathy is the one who assimilated all the knowledge that was in the nation. He grasped and wrote down everything. Even today if you want to start education for a child, the first thing is you call Ganapathy. He was supposed to be brilliant and a great scholar — and he liked food. Usually scholars are skinny, but this is a nice, well-fed scholar.
Taking blessings from Ganapathy in the festival in his honour and worship that concluded yesterday, we hope to celebrate these days every year with food and joy.

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, an internationally renowned spiritual leader, is a visionary, a humanitarian, author, poet and speaker.