This is a folk-tale from Himachal Pradesh.

Long long ago a king by name Udaygiri was ruling over a kingdom called Kanchanapuri in the present-day Himachal Pradesh. Udaygiri was very arrogant and extremely avaricious by nature,  especially when it came to acquiring land. At every opportunity, he would attack the neighbouring kingdoms which were smaller and weaker and grab their lands at the cost of bloodshed and pain.

One day, Udaygiri went on a hunting expedition to the forest . The forest was deep. He sighted a beautiful deer and started chasing it on his horse. The deer ran faster than Udaygiri thought it could. It soon came to a clearing with Udaygiri in hot pursuit. There was a beautiful river flowing from where the clearing ended. The deer swiftly jumped into the water and swam to the other bank and disappeared.

Udaygiri had never come to this part of the forest. It was a very scenic spot and the setting sun’s light was glistening on the flowing water and it appeared like molten gold. On the other bank there were a few hills with beautiful cottages on them and as the sun was setting, the cottages were lit with beautiful Diyas. It was so very picturesque and beautiful that left Udaygiri mesmerized.

 In the process of chasing the deer Udaygiri had broken away from the group with which he had come and so could not ask anyone what that place was.

The next day Udaygiri asked his minister about the place he had seen. The minister said that that was a village of fishermen who depended on the river for their living. He also told Udaygiri that the limits of their kingdom ended with that clearing  and the village on the other bank did not belong to them.

Udaygiri’s avarice peeped out. How could a beautiful village right next to his kingdom not belong to him? He ordered his army to go and arrest the important people in that village and bring them to him. When the army went, the fishermen who lived in the village would not easily give in. They said they did not come under Udaygiri’s  rule and he had no right to arrest them. However much Udaygiri’s men tried, they could not arrest the fishermen. After a heated argument, a bitter battle followed.

The fishermen were not trained in warfare nor they had any specialized equipment  but their grit and courage made up for this deficiency. They used only thick sticks  and planks of wood (with which they would build their boats) and gave a tough fight. Many of them died in the fight. The fight was going on for the second day.

Udaygiri was informed of the happenings. He was surprised that the fight was still going on after two full days. He wanted to go and give directions to his soldiers himself. So, along with his men,  he went that afternoon and camped at the very clearing from where he had sighted the beautiful village. The fight was on and people were dying in front of his eyes. The water of the river had become reddish in colour. However, Udaygiri was not in a mood to give up.

In the evening, an old fisherman came seeking the king’s audience. He said he had come from the village across the river. Udaygiri was elated. “The fishermen are feeling the heat. Now my victory will be easy” he thought to himself.  The old man was brought to the presence of Udaygiri. However the old man did not talk anything about surrendering. Instead he took out a small fishbone.

Holding it in his hand, he looked at Udaygiri pleadingly and said, “I want some financial help your Majesty. Could you please give me gold equivalent to the weight of this bone?” Udaygiri was amused. Was the old man joking? But the man once again kept the same plea – to grant gold equivalent to the weight of the bone.

Udaygiri asked the minister to bring a few coins of gold and a weigh-scale. The bone was of the size of a thumb. The balance was brought and the bone kept on one plate and the coins on the other. But wonder of wonders, the bone seemed heavier. More gold was brought, followed by gold ornaments, and golden vessels. Now a bigger weigh-scale had to be brought. Hearing of this miracle many people from the king’s palace came all the way to this place to see for themselves. The soldiers who were fighting across the bank also came back to see this miracle. When they saw the old man, they felt the urge to lay down their arms and they did so. Udaygiri was stumped and had no answer to how this was happening. Somehow in his mind he felt that something bad was about to happen and that this old man was not an ordinary human being.

Looking at the man, he involuntarily got up and joined his hands in obeisance. “Pray tell me who you are!” he said. “Why is all my wealth not equal to the weight of this little bone?” he asked pointing at the bone on the weigh-scale. The old man looked deeply into Udaygiri’s eyes. He picked up the bone. Udaygiri thought that the man was going to leave and said to him, “Please take all this gold with you.”

The man took Udaygiri’s hand and gave the bone to him. “You asked me about the bone. Well, this is the bone of desire. This cannot be satisfied with how much ever wealth you  give. And this bone is just like you – who is not  satisfied with however much land you have acquired. Since the bone is also like you, you can keep this bone. As for the gold, I do not want any of it.” Saying so, the man turned to leave.

Udaygiri’s heart was filled with deep remorse as the result of his actions suddenly dawned upon him. Instantly, he felt like prostrating at the feet of the old man. He bent down to fall at his feet and the feet vanished. Udaygiri looked up and the man had vanished. Udaygiri realized how greedy he had been all along which had caused so much destruction everywhere. He promised to himself that he would stop that fight immediately and stop the practice of grabbing every piece of land he saw.

He called his minister. “Tell the army commander to stop the fight” he said. “Take all this gold and distribute it in the village across the river to the people who have lost their kin in this battle. Let them rebuild their lives” he said. His command was carried out.

For the rest of his life he kept up the promise and came to be known as the most benevolent king ever.