Four women used to go to a well to fill water. One-by-one they would dip a bucket in the well and pour out water into their pots. While one would be busy, the other three would have time to chit-chat. Today their conversation converged to good qualities of their sons. First one said, "My son has a divine, melodious voice. One day he would be honoured at the king's court. The second one said, "My son has a great muscular body, he would one day defeat all the famous wrestlers of our kingdom." The third lady said, "My son is very intelligent, he always stands first in the school." The fourth woman did not praise her son, she simply said that her son was just like any other ordinary boy in the village.

The way between the school, where their sons studied, and their homes passed by the well. School got over while these women were filling water and the four boys were seen returning. The first one could be seen singing as he came. The second one came jumping. The third one returned with an open book in his hands. Their good qualities were quite evident by their behaviour.

The fourth boy came and bowed down to each woman to take her blessings, picked up his mother's pot filled with water on his head and walked on towards his home. An old man sitting near the well called the four women and said, "Among all the boys this fourth one is the best. Look at his civility and sense of responsibility. He will be the one would rise the highest and bring happiness to his parents." 

The Unattached Majestic Tree

Devarshi Narad after a very busy day, lied down to rest under the thick shade of Semar tree. Looking at the grandeur of tree, he inquisitively asked, "O majestic tree, how do you maintain this grandeur of yours? How come the strong winds never uproot you?"

Semar tree smiled and replied, 'O rishi, poor deity of winds has not the might to cause me any harm!" Narad felt that there was a lot of conceit in those words of the tree. He felt a bit upset and returned back to the heavens.

When he met the deity of winds, he told him about the Semar tree who thought quite lowly about the might of winds. The deity of winds was piqued to hear this and decided to teach the vain tree a lesson. He unleashed a mighty storm to uproot the tree.

The semar tree actually was a great ascetic and very wise. It had anticipated this oncoming problem and had found a way to tackle it. It shed off all its beautiful leaves and stood up like a stump. The deity of winds try as he might, could cause no harm to tree, and returned defeated.

After a few weeks when Narad passed by the tree, he found it standing up as majestic as ever, with beautiful leaves creating a cooling shade underneath. Narad was amazed and he asked the tree, "How come you are standing up as grand as ever? How come nothing happened to you in the face of such a big storm?"

The semar tree replied with dignity, "O great rishi, I am aware of my grandeur. But you see, I am not bonded to this grandeur. I bear these beautiful green leaves only because they benefit this world. But whenever there is a need I willingly let go of my grandeur and turn into a stump. I was never proud of my majesty. My pride actually lay in my capability to make myself a stump and weather all the storms. This unattached karma yog of mine is my only source of strength."

Narad was overwhelmed to hear this. He realized that there is no harm in being rich and powerful in the world. What is wrong is to attach oneself with wealth and to develop pride in one's riches.