came to the forest with ten thousand disciples. went forward to welcome the sage and his followers, offering them a place to sit.
They had come after had finished her meal. That mattered more than the visitors knew.
The family had a vessel given by the sun god. While had not yet eaten, it could supply their food. Once she finished, it would give no more food that day.
Now the meal was over, and ten thousand people had arrived.
asked the visitors to return after their bathing and daily observances. and his disciples went to the river.
There was a little time before they came back. But time was not food, and could find no way to provide the meal they expected.
She thought about what to do. No answer came that would feed so many people.
So she prayed to . She called on him as the protector of those in distress and asked him to help her through this difficulty.
He came to her at once.
She bowed to him with joy and told him about the sage, the disciples, and the food they would need. Now he knew the whole difficulty.
His reply was a request of his own.
I am hungry. Give me something to eat.
She had called him because she could not feed her guests. Yet he too was asking for a meal.
explained that the vessel would remain full only until she had eaten. She had already finished her meal, so there was nothing in it now.
But did not leave the matter there.
Bring the vessel and show it to me.
She brought it.
He looked inside. At the rim was a small particle of rice and vegetable, still clinging to the vessel. It was not a meal laid out for one person, much less for ten thousand.
He took that morsel and ate it. He wished that , the soul of the universe, might be satisfied by it.
Then he turned to . It was time to call the visitors to eat.
At the river, the disciples were bathing. Suddenly their stomachs felt full, as though they had already eaten all they could.
They came out of the water and looked at one another.
They had left their hosts to prepare a meal. How were they to go back now and say that they could not eat it?
They brought their difficulty to . None of them felt able to take another mouthful.
The sage was alarmed. He feared that refusing the meal would offend the family. He spoke of the brothers' strength and their devotion to .
The hosts whom the visitors had left behind were now the people they were afraid to face.
Leave quickly, he told his disciples.
They scattered in different directions, without going back to the family that had welcomed them.
arrived to invite them to dinner. He looked for the sage and the great crowd that had followed him.
They were gone.
He searched the bathing places. Other ascetics there told him what had happened: the visitors had fled. There was no gathering left for him to bring home.
He returned and told .
Still the brothers waited. Their guests might come back much later, perhaps in the middle of the night. The news that the riverbank was empty had not quite ended their worry.
reassured them. had called him in their danger, and he had come. They no longer needed to fear the sage's return.
At last the family could put down its anxiety. They thanked him for helping them through a difficulty from which they had seen no way out.
Then took his leave and returned home.
slow down hereThe vessel had not poured out a feast. At its rim he had found one little morsel, and at the river ten thousand guests had found they could eat no more.