Ramdas lived in a village. He was a trader. He bought groceries from town and supplied them to shops in the village. He earned a tidy sum but he was a miser. He spent very little money and put aside a considerable sum from his earnings every month. He kept his savings in a bag and was always worried that he would lose his money. He went to a wise man in the village, told him about his fear and sought a solution. The wise man told him to spend all the money in a good way — build a house or a temple and form a trust to help the needy. But Ramdas would have none of it. He was in fact annoyed with the old man for his ‘unfair’ suggestions.
Ramdas thought he had to help himself. He took his money bag and went to his field. He then dug a pit under the mango tree and buried his treasure. He kept a small stone on it just to mark the site so that he would have no difficulty in finding it. Every day he would go to the field and check if the stone was in place. One day Ramdas was shocked to see that the stone was missing. He dug up the earth to find the money bag missing as well.
He sat under the tree and wept bitter tears over the loss. The wise man passed by. Seeing the trader crying he paused to find out what troubled Ramdas.
Ramdas then told him that he lost his money which he had buried under the tree.
The wise man asked him if he needed money urgently. Ramdas replied, “No.”
“Would you require the money in the near future?” the wise man asked.
“Oh, no!” said Ramdas.
“In that case fill the earth and just keep a stone on the spot. Imagine that the money is safe under it. The money which is not going to be spent is of no use.”
Ramdas hung his head in shame.