Brahmadutta was the king of Kashi. He had a purchase officer, Bodhisattva. The duty of Bodhisattva was to make all the purchases for the kingdom such as horses, elephants, grains, and properties.
He had to foresee what all the country would need and make purchases at the right time and at a fair price. He had to estimate the right value of goods brought by various merchants, negotiate with them and buy them at the right price. He also has to make sure that the warehouses have adequate stock of everything that the country needs.
Bodhisattva was very good at his job.
But king Brahmadutta was a big miser. He thought Bodhisattva was paying too much for everything. He thought, if this goes on like this, I will lose everything and will have to start begging.
So, suddenly he dismissed Bodhisattva. Brahmadutta did this very casually.
He opened the window of his palace and looked down. There were some of his servants standing there. He called one of them and told him, ‘From now on you are my new purchase officer.’
The new purchase officer knew nothing about buying or quality. If you make a donkey and a horse stand in front of him, he wouldn’t know which one is a horse and which one is a donkey. But he came to know that Bodhisattva was dismissed because the king suspected that he was not buying things cheap.
The new purchase officer would buy anything that came cheap, whether it was needed or not did not matter. He started buying stolen goods as well. The only thing that mattered was, it should be cheap. Merchants from faraway places used to come with their goods. He used to threaten them and get those goods from them at throw away prices. They feared the king's wrath and obliged.
The warehouses started filling up with unwanted stuff. Whatever was needed was not there. Merchants and farmers started avoiding visiting the capital, fearing that they will have to give away their goods without realizing the right price.
Once, without knowing this, a horse trader arrived at Kashi with one hundred very good horses.
As usual, the new purchase officer saw them and offered a bag of rice as their price.
The merchant was astounded, It was too low.
But, he was the king’s purchase officer. He shouldn’t offend him.
He had met Bodhisattva when he had come earlier to Kashi and knew that Bodhisattva was a very fair person. He went and requested Bodhisattva to get him justice.
Bodhisattva thought for a while and said, ‘Tomorrow you go to the king’s court and there in front of everyone ask the purchase officer how much he will pay for a hundred horses. When he says ‘a bag of rice’, ask him how much the value of a bag of rice is.’
‘Then let’s see what happens. I will also be there in court.’
Next day, in the court the horse trader did exactly as Bodhisattva told him. When asked, what is the value of a bag of rice, the purchase officer as usual exaggerated and said, ‘Value of a bag of rice? It is quite high. I am paying too much for your horses. With a bag of rice, you can buy the entire kingdom of Kashi and all its neighboring countries.’
He was trying to underrate what he was buying and exaggerate what he was paying.
The whole court burst out in laughter. How foolish! With a bag of rice, the whole of Kashi and neighboring countries can be bought! Everyone realized that the purchase officer was being very unfair to the merchant.
The members of the court started passing comments, ‘At that rate, I can buy the entire world with the rice I have at home.’
Someone else said, ‘Oh officer, please buy me a couple of palaces with a fistful of rice.’
Bodhisattva stood up and said, ‘Please don’t make fun of this man. It is not his fault. He has been put on a job for which he is not qualified; he doesn’t know anything about the value of things and buying. What else can he do?’
The king said, ‘No, no, it’s entirely my fault. I should take the blame for whatever has happened. I have learned my lesson. I am reinstating Bodhisattva in his position as purchase officer.’
It is very important that tasks are given to people who know about them. Just because someone comes cheap or does free service does not mean that he can do a good job. Such people may eventually create very embarrassing situations.
Every object and every service has the right value. It is important to understand that.