A jeweler was passing through a forest path. On the way, he spotted a potter approaching with a large diamond tied around his donkey's neck. He was astonished—amazed at the man's utter foolishness. Did he not realize that this was a diamond worth hundreds of thousands? Yet, he had tied it around a donkey's neck merely as an ornament. He asked the potter, "Listen, this stone you have tied around your donkey's neck—how much would you take for it?" The potter replied, "Sir, what price could one possibly put on this? But tell you what—just give me eight annas for it. I only tied it there so the donkey's neck wouldn't look so bare. I'll use the eight annas to buy some sweets for the children on the donkey's behalf. That way, the children will be happy—and perhaps the donkey will be happy too, relieved to have the burden lifted from his neck." But a jeweler is, after all, a jeweler—a shrewd merchant through and through. Greed took hold of him. He said, "Eight annas seems a bit steep. Just take four annas for it."
The potter, too, was a bit eccentric. He dug in his heels and insisted, "If you want it, you must pay eight annas. If not eight, then at the very least, give me six annas. Otherwise, I won't sell it." The jeweler retorted, "It's just a stone, after all; surely four annas isn't a paltry sum." He thought to himself, *He'll surely call out to me after I've walked a little distance.* So, he walked on ahead. However, even after walking half a furlong, the potter did not call out to him. It was then that the jeweler realized he had miscalculated. He had let a golden opportunity slip away needlessly; it would have been far better to have simply bought it for six annas. The jeweler turned back and returned to the spot. But by then, the game was already lost. The donkey stood resting, while the potter was busily engrossed in his work.
The jeweler asked, "What happened? Where is the stone?" Laughing, the potter replied, "Sir, I received a whole rupee for that stone! I made a clear profit of eight annas. Had I sold it to you for six annas, just think of the loss I would have incurred!" And with that, he went right back to his work.
But the jeweler—he broke out in a cold sweat. His heart was sinking—sinking with the sheer weight of his thoughts. Alas! A diamond worth hundreds of thousands—lost from his grasp just like that, all because of his own folly. He turned to the potter and said, "You fool! You truly remain a complete ass. Do you have any idea of its worth? It was a diamond worth a fortune, yet you sold it for a mere rupee—acting as if you had stumbled upon some massive treasure!"
The potter replied, "Sir, had I not been an ass, would I have gone around with such a precious stone tied around a donkey's neck? But what can I say about you? You turned out to be an even bigger ass than I am! You knew full well that it was a diamond worth hundreds of thousands, yet you weren't even willing to pay six annas for it. You weren't even prepared to buy it at the price of a common stone."
If a human being is offered an object at even half its market price, he will invariably haggle over it; for greed resides in the heart of every human being. As the saying goes: "A thief may give up stealing, but he will never give up haggling." In his greed, the jeweler had let a golden opportunity slip through his fingers.
If a person possesses knowledge of *Dharma*(Religion)—of righteousness—yet his life remains untransformed, then he is no better than that jeweler: a mere ass. Those who are ignorant may be worthy of forgiveness; but what, then, is to be said of those who know?