Start-up Ancient India: The entrepreneur and the sarkari official’s tip

I’m sure you have read about how the new budget will boost India’s economy by incentivising start-ups and providing tax incentives. In that spirit, why not look at a story of entrepreneurship from the Chullaka Setthi Jataka? If you thought Buddhism was all about other-worldly matters, this story might surprise you.

Once, the treasurer of the king of Benaras happened to be walking on the streets. He looked up at the stars and saw that it was a very auspicious moment. He pointed to a dead mouse on the ground and declared, “Any clever chap could pick up that mouse at this very moment, and he could become a successful businessman and find himself a wife, too!”

Now, as you might well have expected, a young man who did not have too much money decided to take him at his word. He picked up the mouse and then sold it to someone with a cat. With the money he got from the sale, he bought a little candy and some water. Then he approached some flower-sellers coming from the forest with fresh flowers and offered them the candy and water for refreshment. Pleased, they gave him some of their flowers, and then some flowering plants as well. With the proceeds of these, he continued to offer them refreshments every day until he made a tidy little sum.

Then, he saw that a fierce gust of wind had scattered branches and dried leaves all across the king’s pleasure gardens. The royal gardener was rather in a fix: How was he to clear all of it before the king decided to take a stroll? Now this enterprising young man stepped in, and offered to clear up the gardens for free if he could keep the dried leaves and wood. The gardener was only too happy to accept the deal. Then, the young man offered a group of children candies if they would help him clear the gardens. Perhaps the children of those times were not warned about strangers offering candies, because they happily accepted his offer and helped him clear the garden.

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The young man then sold the wood and leaves as fuel to the royal potter for his kiln -- for a handsome price, of course, as well as some freshly baked clay vessels. He befriended traders and kept himself updated on the latest news. When he heard that a horse-trader was arriving the next day, he approached a set of grass-mowers and offered them water for free. In return, he got from each of them a bundle of grass, and the promise that they would not sell their wares the next day until he had sold his. When the horse-trader arrived, the mowers kept their promise. The horse-trader, desperate to feed his horses and left with no choice, paid the young man the hefty price he demanded.

Similarly, the young man heard of a merchant arriving by sea the next day. He rented a fancy carriage and went down to the port, impressed the merchant, and bought the ship on credit, offering his ring as security. Then, he hired a few ushers and pitched a tent nearby. The local merchants, aghast at hearing that all of the foreign ship’s wares had been sold, attempted to approach him, and were brought to meet him by three fancy ushers. Impressed, they all paid large sums of money to buy a share of the wares.

But the young man was not satisfied. He went to the treasurer, who had inspired him with the observation about the dead mouse, offered him gifts, and thanked him for unwittingly helping him, and told him the whole story. Do I need to describe the ending? The treasurer, in great admiration, offered the young man his daughter’s hand in marriage, and all ended happily ever after.

But if you are impressed by the young man, remember that today, he would be accused of creating artificial scarcity, fraud, and half a dozen other financial crimes to boot. “Accused,” you say, “But should he really be convicted? After all, he got even the royal treasurer on his side!”

Of course, we are no authorities on financial fraud, are we? Let the law of the land, and the law of the times, decide.

(The author is a scholar of Sanskrit based in Torontowho likes writing new things about very old things. Twitter: @AnushaSRao2.)