Long time ago, a poor Brahmin lived in a village. He begged for a living. Normally, he received some food, either cooked or raw, and brought it home. He ate some and kept some to eat later.
Very often, people gave him wheat flour. He brought it home to make rotis. Then, if any was left over, he put it into a pot and hung it up at the foot of his bed in his hut. Every night when he fell asleep, he would look at his pot of flour and feel contented.
One night, he lay on his bed and looked at the pot as usual. It was now full of flour. He began daydreaming. “Now the pot is full of flour. If there is ever famine in the village, people will come to me to buy it. I will get a lot of money for it. Then I’ll buy a pair of goats and soon have many more. I can sell the goats and then I’ll buy cows. I’ll have milk to sell and later I can sell the cows and buy buffaloes. There will be more milk and more money! Wow!”
But he did not fall asleep, so his daydream continued. “I’ll buy mares and horses and then sell many of them. I will have so much money and gold. I will have a palatial house. Then I can get married. I will have a beautiful wife and then I’ll have a son. I think I’ll call him ‘Soma’.
“When he begins to crawl, I do not have to watch him so carefully, so I can read books also. I will go to the stable and read. If Soma crawls out, I’ll call my wife to take him away from the horses. It is dangerous to leave a crawling baby there! She will be busy and will not reply to me. So I will be angry and feel like giving her a kick!”
In his enthusiasm, he actually kicked out. He forgot that the pot of wheat flour was hanging at the foot of his bed. He kicked the pot and the pot broke into bits showering him and the bed with flour!
“There goes my flour! And there go my goats and cows and buffaloes and horses! And there go my huge house and wife and Soma!” moaned the Brahmin.
