
Vidyadhara was the king of Gandhara.
He was fond of gardening.
The king wanted to find a successor because he was very old and had no children.
To find his successor the king decided to distribute some seeds to all the children in the country . The child who grows the biggest and the healthiest plant will become the successor.
The king ordered his minister to give a proclamation.
Pingala was a poor farmer’s son.
Pingala sowed the seed in a pot in his garden.
Pingala took great care of the seed by watering and
manuring it. After seeing the seed didn’t sprout he
changed the soil and transferred it to another pot.
Pingala saw the well dressed children walking to the
palace with beautiful plants .But his seed didn’t even sprout.
So he was sad.
Pingala’s father suggested to him to take the
empty pot to the palace.
They laughed at pingala because his pot was empty.
The king gave roasted seeds to every children. But they
came up with flowery plants. Seeing this dishonesty, he was
unhappy.
He expected honesty from the children.
The king asked Pingala why did he come up with
an empty pot and whether his seed didn’t sprout.
Pingala hold his head down because he feared the king would be
angry with him.
The king smiled hearing the honest apology from Pingala. He saw
his successor in him .
They were dishonest. They used other seeds to grow flowery plants.