The Gleaner Who Refused Heaven

In the years of exile, when the Pandavas lived on little and longed for much, a sage came to their forest hermitage and found Yudhishthira troubled by the smallness of their portion and the largeness of their loss. To steady the king's heart, the sage told him of a man who had lived on almost nothing at all, and had been richer in peace than any emperor.

"Let me tell you, son of Kunti," he said, "of the sage Mudgala, who lived at Kurukshetra by gleaning fallen grain like a bird, and who was so free of greed and anger that he gave away even the little he gathered, and was content. The gods tested him with abuse, and then offered him heaven itself - and what he did with that offer is the heart of the tale. Listen, and learn what true contentment is worth."

And Yudhishthira, who knew the weight of want, leaned in to hear the story of the gleaner who refused heaven.