Four Questions that predicted the future

An incident from the Mahabharata tells a lot about the world we live in today.

Once a merchant came to meet Yudhisthir to sell some precious goods. The merchant had a beautiful and amazing horse. When Arjun, Bheem, and the other two brothers saw the horse they were spellbound. The four brothers requested the merchant to sell his horse to them. They were ready to pay any price for it.

The merchant replied – 

“There is no dearth of money with you to buy this horse. But I’m no pauper to sell this horse for money. I’m ready to give my horse if you think you all are intelligent enough to answer my questions.”

The four brothers agreed to the condition of the merchant and told him to ask his questions.

The merchant asked the first question to Bheem – 

“When I was coming I saw a very strange and scary well. In the center of which was a coin tied to a rope and tied to that coin was a one-ton gold. Still, the rope did not break. Neither the coin fell nor the lump of gold. The coin was held by a simple rope and the gold is hanging with the support of the small coin. What is the mystery behind it?”

Bheem thought for some time but could not answer his question. The merchant asked the second question to Arjun –

“Further ahead on the road from where I was coming, I saw five ponds. The water was flowing out of them on its own. Whenever the four ponds in each corner became empty, the bigger pond in the center filled up these smaller ponds. However, when the pond in the center became empty, the four ponds together could not fill the bigger pond. The bigger pond remained empty until the water from its ground source came again. What’s the mystery?”

After thinking for a while even Arjun could not answer the question. The merchant asked the third question to Nakul – 

“On the same road, I saw a cow which had given birth to a female calf. But surprisingly, instead of feeding the calf, the cow was drinking milk from the calf! What is this mystery?”  

Nakul also scratched his head for some time but could not give the answer. The merchant asked a fourth and final question to Sahadev – 

“Further ahead on my way I saw a strange bird on whose wings some sacred sloka from the Vedas were written. It was chanting the sloka and it was sitting next to a heap of meat. After chanting the sacred mantra, it picked some meat from the heap and ate. Then it again continued chanting the sloka. It kept doing this. What is the mystery behind this?”

Sahadev tried very hard to find the answer but he too failed. The merchant then turned to Yudhisthir and said – 

“O Dharmraj, if you can answer these questions, not only will the horse be yours but it will also save the face of your brothers from being termed non-intellects.”

Yudhisthir finally replied to the merchant – 

“The answer to your first question is that in Kalyuga (modern times), cunning people will make a donation of one rupee and will try to glorify their donation a hundred times more. They will try to cover up hundreds of their sins with one rupee of donation. 

 

The answer to the second question is – The pond in the center is the father and the ponds in the four corners are the sons. The father will do his duty diligently of raising his sons and taking care of them all by himself but the four sons together will not look after and take care of their father.

 

The third answer is that in Kalyuga, parents will depend and live on the earnings of their daughter. They will happily do it without even thinking.

 

The final answer is – the strange bird represents the Kalyuga’s humbugs and hypocrites who will cheat and deceive innocent people by pretending to chant the sacred slokas and mantras. They will perform religious rites but they will eat meat and drink alcohol.”

 

The merchant was satisfied with the answers of Yudhisthir and he happily gave his horse to him.