Knowing When Enough Is Enough

Contentment is not having a great deal; it is knowing when we have enough.

In Kalidasa's Raghuvamsa, a young scholar named Kautsa finished his studies and insisted that his teacher accept a fee. The teacher, irritated by his insistence, demanded fourteen crore gold coins, one crore for each branch of learning. Kautsa went to King Raghu, who had just given away all his wealth in a great sacrifice and was left eating from earthen vessels. Though his treasury was empty, Raghu considered it a greater shame to send a scholar away disappointed. He asked Kautsa to wait three days and prepared to obtain the gold from Kubera, the lord of wealth.

Before he could set out, gold coins are said to have rained down upon his treasury. Raghu offered all of it to Kautsa. Kautsa took only the fourteen crore he needed. Raghu insisted that he take more, but Kautsa refused, and the remainder was given away to the people.

Kautsa could have walked away rich. He understood that a gift taken beyond need becomes a weight, and that gratitude is best shown through restraint. The scholar's refusal is the real wonder of the story. Tradition says this is why, on Vijayadashami, people exchange the leaves of the apta tree as a symbol of gold, a gesture that reminds us of sharing and sufficiency.

This Navaratri, name one thing you have been accumulating beyond your need, and share some of it with someone who has less.