Full · 6 min aloud
A sage called came to visit, which in that house was usually a sign that something was about to go wrong.
He had brought a mango. One mango. And not an ordinary one — whoever ate it, he said, would know everything worth knowing.
He handed it to and and then left, fairly quickly, the way people do when they have just given someone a problem.
There were two boys in that house.
was the elder. He was round. He rode a mouse. He was extremely fond of his food and he was not fast at all, and — this matters — he knew it.
was the younger one. He was fast. He rode a peacock, he carried a spear, and he had never in his life come second at anything.
Both of them wanted the mango.
So their parents did what parents do when there is one of something and two children.
A race, said Śiva. Around the world. First one back gets it.
Kārttikeya was gone before the sentence finished. The peacock went up off the terrace and out over the mountains, and by the time anyone thought to look for him he was a speck, and then he was not even that.
He went east first, because you have to start somewhere, and he did it properly. Over the sea, down the far coast, across the ice at the top of the world where the peacock complained bitterly. He did not stop to eat. He counted rivers so he would know he had not missed any.
Gaṇeśa looked at his mouse.
The mouse looked back at him. Both of them could see how this was going to go.
So he sat down and thought about it.
This is the part people leave out of the story. He did not have the idea straight away. He sat there long enough that his mother asked whether he was feeling quite well.
And then he got up.
He walked over to where his parents were sitting. He walked all the way around them — slowly, because he did nothing quickly — and arrived back where he had started.
Then he did it again. Three times in all.
And he sat down in front of them and said: a world is the thing everything else is inside. Everything I have is inside the two of you. I have been round my world three times. Where is my mango?
Śiva laughed. Pārvatī gave him the mango.
She did not explain it to him, either. She just handed it over, the way you do when a child has surprised you and you would rather not spoil it by saying so.
And when Kārttikeya finally came back — days later, filthy and exhausted, having actually done it, having actually gone the whole way round the world on a bird — his elder brother was sitting on the floor with mango juice running down to his elbows.
You can imagine how that went.
He said a great many things. Some of them were about the rules. Some of them were about the mouse. His mother let him finish.
He was angry enough to leave home over it. He went south, and climbed a hill at , and stood there — no peacock, no spear, nothing but a staff and a strip of cloth. He is standing there still. There are people who will tell you he has not entirely got over it.
slow down hereBoth boys answered the question they were asked. Only one of them stopped to ask what a world is.
Short · 3 min aloud
left one mango in the house, and said that whoever ate it would know everything worth knowing. Then he left, quickly, the way people do when they have handed someone a problem.
There were two boys in that house. , the elder, was round, rode a mouse, and was not fast at all. , the younger, was fast — a peacock, a spear, and no memory of ever coming second.
Both of them wanted the mango.
A race, said . Around the world. First one back gets it.
Kārttikeya was gone before the sentence finished. Gaṇeśa looked at his mouse, and the mouse looked back, and both of them could see how this was going to go.
So he sat down and thought about it, for long enough that his mother asked if he was quite well.
Then he got up, walked over to his parents, and walked all the way around them. Slowly. Three times.
And he said: a world is the thing everything else is inside. Everything I have is inside the two of you. I have been round my world three times. Where is my mango?
Śiva laughed. handed it over.
Kārttikeya came back days later, filthy, having actually gone round the whole world on a bird, and found his elder brother on the floor with the juice running down to his elbows. He was angry enough to leave home over it — he went south, climbed the hill at , and has been standing on it ever since.
slow down hereHis brother went round the whole world to answer it. He went round the two people standing in the room, and that was an answer too.