Throughout our childhood, we learn so many lessons taught to us by means of stories. Often such stories contain our gods and hence they leave maximum impact on our minds. Here is a small portion of a legend, retold by Devdutt Pattanaik, explaining the concept of our insatiable want:
Kubera, the king of Yakshas, is the treasurer of the gods. One day, he paid a visit to Kailasa, the abode of Shiva, the hermit-god, where he met Shiva’s elephant-headed son, the corpulent Ganesha. He thought to himself, “Ganesha clearly loves food and Shiva can clearly not afford to feed him to his heart’s content.” So as a favor to Shiva Kubera offered to feed Ganesha one meal. When Ganesha accepted the invitation and entered Kubera’s kitchen, the Yaksha-king said, “Eat to your heart’s content.”
Kubera regretted these words. Ganesha’s appetite was insatiable. He ate everything that was in the kitchen and still asked for more. Food had to be bought from the larder and then from the market. But Ganesha was still hungry.
“More please,” he said raising his trunk. Kubera had to spend all the money in his treasury and buy all the food in the world to feed Ganesha but still Ganesha was not happy. Finally, Kubera fell at Ganesha’s feet and begged him to stop, “I don’t I have enough food to satisfy your hunger. Forgive me.”
To this Ganesha said, “You really think food will satisfy hunger! The difference between you and my father is that you seek to provide more food while he seeks to reduce hunger. That is why I sit in his house and not in your kitchen.”
Ref: “Rationalising Greed: Everyone wants more” ET, 14 Jan, 2011 (http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/features/corporate-dossier/rationalising-greed-everyone-wants-more/articleshow/7279101.cms)
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