Once upon a time, a king announced that he would go to the temple in his kingdom for a few days of worship. As soon as the temple priest heard this news, he began decorating and painting the temple to make everything perfect for the king’s visit. To cover these expenses, the priest took out a loan of 6,000 rupees.
On the day the king arrived at the temple, he performed Darshan, Pooja, and Archana. After the ceremony, he placed four rupees as a donation (dakshina) in the Aarti plate and then returned to his palace.
When the priest saw that only four rupees were placed in the worship plate, he became very angry. He had expected that the king, as the supreme ruler, would give a much larger amount, but he received only four rupees! Worried about how he would repay the debt, he came up with a plan.
The priest decided to auction off an item he had received from the king. He announced the auction in a nearby village but kept the item hidden in his closed fist, so no one could see what it was.
People assumed that the king’s item must be extremely valuable, so they immediately started bidding. The auction began with an offer of 10,000 rupees, which quickly rose to 50,000 rupees, but the priest still refused to sell the item. The news of the auction eventually reached the king’s ears.
The king quickly sent his soldiers to fetch the priest and asked him not to sell his item at the auction. Instead, the king offered the priest a quarter lakh (25,000) rupees as compensation for the item, thereby saving his dignity in front of his people.
From that moment on, this story became the source of the saying: “When the closed fist of one and a half lakhs opened, it was worth more than ashes!” This proverb symbolizes how hidden and seemingly insignificant items can turn out to be much more valuable than they appear at first glance.
This proverb remains in use to this day.
