Once upon a time, 'Gautam Buddha' was passing by a village; many came to pay respect to him. Each wanted to offer something to Buddha as a mark of their love and respect.
While Buddha was meeting everyone, a procession came forth and a king from a nearby kingdom made his way through the crowd and saw an old lady dropping a fruit into Buddha’s hands. He immediately pushed her away saying “You are disrespecting the Buddha by giving him just this, is this even a present?” he said in a loud voice. “Dear enlightened one”, he continued looking towards Buddha, “Please accept these gemstones and riches which I have brought especially to pay tribute to you”. The Buddha intervened and said “O mighty king! Thank you so much for your present but this mother’s present is bigger”. The king was stunned to hear what the Buddha had said and wondered how one could even compare such riches to that meager present of the poor lady.
The Buddha explained, “Seated on a throne of gold, you have under your care such countless bounties, of which you have brought for me this tiny portion as a gift; Whereas this mother has not given me a part of her riches, she has presented to me everything she owns. All she had was the mango and she even gave that away”. The king immediately realized that it was the love and intention behind the giving that mattered to the Buddha and not the amount.
