Min Yu Wa - 38 Stories of Happiness

Namo-tassa, the forest of the Bhagavad Gita, the forest of the Arahant, the True and Perfect Buddha, 

Mango tree and dogwood tree

``In ancient times, King Dadhivahana ruled in the land of Varanasi. He had a wise minister who was exceptionally knowledgeable and wise.

One day, the king had a net placed at the bottom of the river and was playing in the water. At that time, a ripe mango fell from a mango tree growing near the Kannamunda Lake and ended up in the river. It kept drifting and getting caught in the net.

When the king's companions seized the mango, they found it. It was golden in color and presented it to the king. The king tasted the mango and found that it was sweet and had a unique and delicious aroma. Therefore, he planted the seeds in his garden. When the plants sprouted, he poured them with milk. . . .

After three years, the mangoes began to bear fruit. The king tried them. He found that they were just as sweet and had a unique aroma and flavor as the original mangoes.

The king also ate the mangoes himself. He also gave some as gifts to other kings.

However, for fear of reproduction, before giving the gift, the place where the mango will sprout is pierced with a sharp spear.

"The gentlemen who received the mango as a gift tried it. They liked it very much because it had a unique aroma and flavor. So they planted the seeds. However, they did not grow. ,

When they investigated the cause, they learned of King Diwahana's plan. A king called a gardener who was skilled in cultivation. ' '

"My dear, go to Varanasi. The king of Dadhivahana has sent a message: 'Make the mangoes bitter and tasteless.'" He also gave him a thousand pieces of silver as a reward.

The gardener approached King Dadhivahana and told him how skilled he was in farming. The king was pleased and appointed him to work in the garden with his own gardener.

The new gardener, from the day he arrived, worked harder than the current gardener. He made the garden more beautiful than before. He made the flowers bloom in season. He made the trees bear fruit in season.

The king was so pleased with the new gardener that he dismissed the old one. The new gardener was left in charge of the entire garden. (As soon as the entire garden was in his hands, the ingenious new gardener surrounded the mango tree and planted tamarind and dogwood trees.)

Soon the roots of the tamarind and the dogwood trees became intertwined with the roots of the mango tree. Then the previously sweet mango fruit was no longer sweet: not only was it not sweet, but it became as bitter as the tamarind and the dogwood trees. And the gardener ran away.

King Dadhivahana asked the wise minister to investigate the reason why the mangoes turned bitter. The wise minister went to the garden and investigated. Then he said to the king, “Your Majesty, the mangoes have become bitter because the mangoes are mixed with the tamarind trees. If you want to restore the original sweet taste, you must remove the tamarind trees. You must provide fresh and good soil. You must water them with milk and honey.”

You also called the old gardener back. He made him do whatever the wise minister said.

The old gardener first removed the mango trees by pulling them up by the roots. Then he fed the mango trees with fresh manure and good soil. He poured milk, honey, and fragrant water on them.

So when the next mangoes came into fruition, they were still as sweet as ever, with a unique aroma and flavor.

Then the wise said, "Even inanimate things have been destroyed by bad company. But what about living beings who have bad company?"