Once there was a beggar. While begging during a train journey, he noticed a wealthy-looking gentleman in a suit. The beggar thought, “This person looks very rich. If I ask him for alms, he will surely give me a good amount.” So, he approached the man and asked for alms.
Looking at the beggar, the gentleman said, “You are always asking from others. Have you ever given anything to anyone?”
The beggar replied, “Sir, I am just a beggar. I always ask from people. How could I possibly have the means to give anything to anyone?”
The gentleman said, “If you cannot give anything to anyone, you have no right to ask either. I am a businessman, and I believe only in give-and-take. If you have something to give me, only then can I give you something in return.”
Just then, the station arrived where the gentleman had to get down. He left the train and walked away.
The beggar kept thinking about what the gentleman had said. His words sank deep into the beggar’s heart. The beggar thought, “Maybe I don’t get much money in alms because I don’t give anything in return. But I am just a beggar—what could I possibly give to anyone? How long will I keep asking without giving anything back?”
After thinking for a long time, the beggar decided that whenever someone gave him alms, he would also give them something in return. But then another question arose in his mind—he was a beggar, so what could he possibly give in exchange?
The whole day passed without an answer. The next day, as he was sitting near the station, he noticed some flowers blooming on plants nearby. He thought, “Why don’t I give flowers to people in exchange for alms?” He liked the idea and plucked some flowers.
He went into the train to beg. Whenever someone gave him alms, he would give them a few flowers in return. People happily kept those flowers with them.
From then on, the beggar would pluck flowers every day and give them to people in exchange for alms. Within a few days, he noticed that many more people were giving him alms than before. As long as he had flowers, people kept giving him money. But once the flowers were finished, the alms also stopped. This became a daily pattern.
One day, while begging, he saw the same gentleman sitting in the train—the one who had inspired him to give flowers in return for alms. The beggar quickly approached him and said, “Today, I have some flowers to give you. Please give me alms, and I will give you flowers in return.”
The gentleman gave him some money, and the beggar gave him the flowers. The gentleman liked this gesture very much.
The gentleman said, “Wow, that’s wonderful! Today you have become a businessman just like me.” Saying this, he took the flowers and got down at the station.
Once again, the gentleman’s words touched the beggar’s heart. He kept thinking about them and felt very happy. His eyes sparkled with excitement—he felt that he had found the key to success that could change his life.
He got down from the train, looked up to the sky, and shouted loudly, “I am not a beggar—I am a businessman! I can become like that gentleman! I can become rich!”
People around him thought he had gone mad. The next day, that beggar was never seen at the station again.
One year later, at the same station, two well-dressed gentlemen were traveling. They saw each other, and one of them folded his hands in greeting and said, “Do you recognize me?”
The gentleman replied, “No, I don’t think we’ve met before.”
The other man said, “Sir, please recall—we are not meeting for the first time but for the third time.”
The gentleman asked, “I don’t remember. When were the first two times?”
The man smiled and said, “We met twice before, in this very train. I am the same beggar to whom you first told what I should do in life, and in our second meeting, you told me who I truly am. The result is that today I am a big flower merchant, and I am traveling to another city for business.
In our first meeting, you told me about a law of nature—that we only receive when we give something. This rule of give-and-take truly works; I have experienced it deeply. But I always thought of myself as just a beggar, and I never rose above that. Then, in our second meeting, you told me that I had already become a businessman. That’s when I realized I was not a beggar at all, but a businessman.”
Always remain happy—what you have is enough.
The one whose mind is joyful, has everything.