Long long ago in a village in ‘the kingdom of Avanti lived a young man. The villagers did not care to remember his original name but called him Vilas, which meant luxury. Needless to say, the young man was always looking forward to a luxurious living.
While he desired comfort and luxury, he was not willing to work. He always dreamt of some windfall by which he would grow rich!
One day a hermit was passing through the village on his way to a place of pilgrimage. He fell sick and that is why spent a few days in the village temple. Vilas began to serve him. He would carry food for him from the village landlord’s house and attend to his other needs.
The hermit recovered from his illness and got ready to set out on his journey. Vilas bowed to him and said, “Baba, won’t you give me some boon?”
“My boy, I can only help a man who seeks God. What you want is worldly comfort. How can I help you? I don’t have any money to give you!”
“I served you when you were ill. Must you go away without giving me something?” Vilas tried to sound humble, but his words betrayed his selfishness.
“My boy, I have never asked you to serve me. To speak the truth, I continued to feel a bit uneasy as you went on serving me. Whatever that be, I can give you a small boon. Whatever you dream at night, will become real the next day. This power will remain with you for a short while. I cannot say whether this will do you any good or not!” said the hermit. He blessed Vilas and left.
Vilas was very happy. Since his dreams will become true, he should dream worthy dreams. What is there to dream about in a village? He proceeded to the town, the capital of Avanti.
At night he lay down on the verandah of an inn. He heard people talking about the king who was kind and generous.
As he listened to the conversation, he slowly fell asleep. He dreamt that the king was walking down the street at night, all alone. An old man met him and said, “I don’t know who you are, but you look brave and strong. A wolf is hiding in my hut. Can you kill it or drive it out?”
The king followed the old man. Vilas’s dream ended.
In the morning he met the king and spoke to him about his dream. The king smiled and said, “Young man, perhaps you wanted some help from me. You could have said that straightaway instead of inventing a story on a dream.” He
then gave him some money and asked him to leave.
But the next day the king’s officers located Vilas and led him to the king’s presence. The king was happy to see him and he said, “You have the uncanny power to know the future through dreams. It happened exactly as you had dreamt. I was out to see the condition of the town alone at night. An old man told me about the wolf in his house and sought my help to tackle it. I did the needful. Well, why don’t you join my court as a courtier? Do you have any conditions?”
Vilas was so happy that he could not talk for a while. Then he gathered his wits and said, “My lord, just arrange for me to live comfortably.”
The king made the arrangements accordingly. Vilas found his ambition fulfilled. He lived a luxurious life. Occasionally he rode through the town proudly.
A few weeks passed. One day Vilas met the king privately, and said, “My lord, I have dreamt something unusual. But I am afraid of reporting it to you.”
“There is no reason for you to fear for anything,” said the king.
“My lord, I dreamt that a sage appeared before you and told you that it was time for you to depart to the Himalayas. If you linger here, you shall die. You hesitated for a moment and then got ready to follow the sage. But who will succeed you to the throne? You looked this way and that and then took hold of me and made me sit on the throne. Then you left for the Himalayas,” said Vilas.
The king heard Vilas but said nothing and went away into the palace.
The next day it so happened that a sage appeared in the court and said what Vilas had dreamt he would say. The king looked this way and dragged Vilas and pushed him into the throne. Then he left with the sage. The courtiers looked at the departing king sadly and then greeted Vilas with enthusiasm.
The very next day the prime minister told Vilas, “My lord, our enemy, King Sushanta, is about to invade our kingdom once again.!”
“Once again? Had he attacked our kingdom once beforehand?” asked Vilas with anxiety.
“Yes. But our former king led the army himself and defeated King Sushanta. This time the enemy is better prepared. I hope you will lead the army to the battlefield!”
“Oh no, minister sir, you must make a truce with the enemy. Please do the needful immediately. There is no time to lose,” said Vilas.
Vilas lost all taste for food. He passed the day nervous and anxious. At night he was unable to sleep for a long time.
Towards the later part of the night he dreamt that the enemy was about to siege his castle. He was trying to escape. But someone stopped him at the gate.
He woke up. It was still dark. He immediately put on his old clothes and tried to escape. But, as he had dreamt, someone stopped him at the gate.
To his great surprise, Vilas saw that the man who caught him was none other than the king who, he had thought, had
left for the Himalayas.
The king led Vilas into the palace. Vilas was trembling with fear and bewilderment. Said the king, “You need not have any fear. Your only fault is, that you are lazy. Your first dream about my helping an old man came true because of the sage’s boon. The dreams you dreamt of later were inspired by your own desire and fear. You had desired to be the king so that you could be very happy. That is why you dreamt that I transferred the crown to you. The next day we enacted a drama. One of my courtiers, disguised as a sage, took me away. Then we gave you the false news of King Sushanta invading our kingdom. Your fear made you dream that you were escaping. I guessed it would be so. Forget all about it. Here is some money. Take this and open a shop. Earn for yourself and spend what you earn for yourself. That will give you satisfaction. But if you want true happiness, then you must learn to spend for others too.”
