Right Mind and Wrong Mind

In a small village lived two friends: Dharmabuddhi (Virtuous Mind) and Papabuddhi (Wicked Mind). Though they traveled together, their hearts were very different. Papabuddhi, envious and greedy, longed for wealth but lacked the skill to earn it honestly. He soon dreamed up a plan to use Dharmabuddhi’s honesty for his own gain.

“One day,” Papabuddhi said, “let us go to another kingdom to make our fortune. With your skill and my wit, we’ll return rich and famous.” Dharmabuddhi, trusting and good-natured, accepted. They set out, worked hard, and indeed amassed a large sum of money.

As they neared their village, Papabuddhi grew anxious at the thought of carrying so much home. “Friends and relatives will beg us,” he warned, “and thieves may attack. Let us bury the money in the forest and take only a small amount for now. Later we’ll dig it up together.” Dharmabuddhi agreed, and beneath a large tree they hid the pile of coins.

That very night, Papabuddhi stole out, unearthed the money, and secreted it away. Afterwards he pretended to be as innocent as ever. When, after a few days, he asked Dharmabuddhi to fetch the buried money together, they dug—and found nothing.

Furious, Papabuddhi accused his friend. “You have taken it!” he shouted. “Give me my share, or I’ll take this to the elders.” Heartbroken, Dharmabuddhi denied the charge. The quarrel went before the village elders, who proposed a solemn test before the Fire-God to decide the truth.

Papabuddhi, however, had another trick. He went to his father and set a plot in motion: the elder should hide inside the hollow of the very tree where they had buried the coins, and when the elders summoned the “spirit of the tree” to speak, the father would shout from the hollow that Dharmabuddhi was the thief.

Everything played out as Papabuddhi had arranged. When the elders called on the tree’s spirit, a voice from inside accused Dharmabuddhi. The villagers gasped; the case seemed closed. But Dharmabuddhi sensed something foul. He saw the hollow and, suspecting a trick, gathered dried grass and leaves and set them burning at the mouth of the hollow.

Overcome by smoke and heat, Papabuddhi’s father burst out of the tree, coughing and screaming. Exposed and ashamed, he confessed the whole scheme. The elders punished Papabuddhi for theft and false accusation, and praised Dharmabuddhi’s patience and cleverness.

Moral of the Story:

Keep the company of the virtuous—wicked companions bring ruin.