Long ago, when King Brahma dutta ruled Varanasi, the Bodhisattva was his Administrator. His job was to purchase horse sand elephants, gold and silver required by the kingdom. Naturally, he had to assess the quality of the items, fix the prices, and pay the money to the sellers.
Brahma dutta was a miser. He started suspecting the Bodhisattva's integrity. He believed rumours that the Administrator was paying inordinately high prices.
One day, the king happened to look out of his window. He saw a gardener watering the plants in the hot sun. ‘Here is a truly honest and trustworthy man!' he thought. ‘Else, why would he thus labour in this heat?'
The very next day, the king dismissed the Bodhisattva and appointed the gardener in hisplace. He was sure the new official would work efficiently and help him save money.
But the ex-gardener was a man of dubious integrity and limited common sense. He had no idea of the real worth of the items he had to purchase. While buying horses and elephants, he would quote fancy prices. He refused to listen to the sellers.
The sellers were helpless; after all, their customer was the Administrator! They had no option but to accept meekly whatever amount he paid them. They dared not protest against the injustice meted out to them by the highhanded Administrator.
One day, a horse-trader from a distant land reached Varanasi with five hundred horses ofthe finest quality. He met the king and showed him the horses. He was mightily pleased. He called the Administrator and entrusted him with the task of buying the horses at a suitable price.
The gardener-turned Administrator examined the horses and declared, "They would not be worth more than five measures of rice!" He then ordered the servants to tether the horses in the royal stables after paying the trader five measures of rice.
The horse-trader was stunned to hear this. But unlike the other traders, he was not ready to suffer this injustice silently. He went to the former Administrator (the Bodhisattva) and poured out his woes to him.
