The sons of four Brahmins were sent to a gurukul to get educated. They became good friends, studied hard and were soon ready to go out into the world to earn their living. Three of them had become very knowledgeable about the shastras and scriptures. But the fourth one was different. He had a lot of common sense but not much book is knowledge.
They decided that they must impress a wealthy patron, a king or a rich merchant, with their knowledge and scholarship. Only then they would be able to live a comfortable life. So they went off eastwards looking for a patron.
As they were walking along, one Brahmin said, “You know, friends, three of us have worked very hard and acquired knowledge. When we earn money, we three should share it. This fellow,” he said, pointing to the fourth friend, “has only common sense. Of what use is his common sense? So, he does not deserve a share in our earnings.”
“I agree,” said the second Brahmin. But the third one disagreed, saying, “Come on, fellows! He’s our friend. I think he should stay with us and we should share whatever we have.” After some argument, they agreed to take him along. As they were walking through a forest, they came upon the scattered bones of a dead lion. The three brilliant scholars were waiting for an opportunity to test their knowledge. The moment they saw the lion, they knew they had got their chance.
The first Brahmin student said, “Look, I know the chants that can make this scattered skeleton whole again. See this.” And then, chanting some verses, he was able to put all the bones in order.
The second scholar said, “That was good! Now, I will put flesh and blood on this skeleton.” And he proceeded to do just that. It looked as if a lion was lying there sleeping.
The third scholar was very excited. “I will now put life into this dead lion, friends,” he exclaimed. “Wait!” said the fourth friend. “Wait? Why?” asked the three scholars. “Please stop! Don’t do this! If the lion comes to life, he will attack us, friends. So don’t bring him back to life please,” he begged.
“Silly fellow! Just because you are not a learned man, you do not want us to show out intelligence. Keep quiet,” scolded the three knowledgeable friends. The fourth one knew it was no use trying to explain, so he quickly scrambled up a tree, while the scholars began to chant the verses. The lion stirred and came to life. He saw three victims right in front of him and sprang at them. In a moment, it was all over. Common sense had saved one when all scholarship couldn’t save the others!
