Once, a monk and his pupil went to a village to preach. On the way back, they had to pass through a forest. The pupil started beating the drum, as he thought it would scare the narakas away. The monk stopped his pupil and said, “Don’t beat the drum continuously. Beat it to look as if large groups, especially royal processions, are passing by. They beat a drum roll, remain silent and then start again. The narakas would not attack a huge group.” However, the pupil ignored the monk’s advice. He thought, ‘The more noise, the better!’ Thus, he started beating the drum continuously. When the narakas heard him, first they ignored it. However, as the sound became louder, the narakas followed it to check. Soon, they saw the monk and his pupil. They killed both of them and escaped.
Moral: Excess of anything leads to downfall.
