Philosophical stories of ancient-1

Hello friends. There are many stories that we here from our childhood with lots of wisdom. I am just trying to bring some of these wisdom now and then from India....

Gods and Demons....

This happened a long long time ago.

A boy asked his father : "Daddy, what is the
difference between gods and demons?"

The father said to the little boy: "Son, I will organise a big banquet at our home where I will invite both the gods and the demons. At the end of the banquet you will know the difference."

And the father sent out invitations to both the gods and the demons. On the appointed day, a lavish banquet was organised and hundreds of gods and hundreds of demons arrived at the house.

The demons were an impatient lot, disorganised and noisy. They asked the host that they wanted VIP treatment, and therefore wanted to have their food served first to the demons and the gods must eat last.

The host agreed to their request on one condition that the demons tie wooden planks to both hands while eating. The demons said that if the same condition was also applied to the gods as well then they had no objection.

All the demons had wooden planks tied to both their hands and they immediately sat on the floor, seating one next to the other in one straight line. They were all very eager to be served with delicious food.

The first course of food arrived. Now when the demons got spoons filled with the soup, they realised that they could not bend their hands to bring the spoons to their mouths. They tried to lift their hands over their heads and tilt the spoons with their mouths wide open. They got the soup falling in their eyes and all over the face and also on their expensive garments.

The demons got noisier, became angry and started swearing at the host. Some of the demons wanted to beat up the host. Some demons tried to restrain the other demons and they started fighting among themselves. The demons agreed that it was totally useless for them to remain at this banquet as it was not possible to eat the food without bending their hands. It was impossible to eat the food without messing up their beautiful and expensive garments. With angry words the demons left the banquet.

Now it was the turn of the gods to eat. The gods were of a peaceful nature. They also sat in a line on the floor. Both their hands were also tied with wooden planks. When the first course of food was served, which was the delicious soup, the gods first recited the food prayer. The gods realised that they could not bend their hands, and therefore it was impossible to eat the soup.

But they found the solution to this dire problem. The gods turned towards each other and started feeding each other. They thus enjoyed the banquet. They thanked the host, presented the host with gifts they had brought, and peacefully went back to their homes.

The son was observing all that happened. The father told him that a major difference between the gods and the demons was the difference in their attitude of ‘Giving’ and the attitude of ‘Taking.’ The demons thought only about their individual self-interest whereas the gods thought about selflessly serving others. When you open your heart and give selflessly, you receive also much more than you give.

Comment: so the difference between god and demon is how their behaviour is and how open hearted they are individually. Here the principle of "give and take" is also described.