There lived a young man named Arjun in a small village. He was very hard-working, but became dejected after every small failure. He feels that luck is not always on his side. Gradually he also reduced his efforts. An old monk lived outside the village. People would go to him with their problems and return with satisfaction. One day Arjun also came to him and said, “Gurudev, I work hard, but still I don’t get success. Maybe my luck is bad.” The monk smiled. He picked up a small earthen lamp kept nearby and poured oil in it and lit the wick. Then he asked Arjun, “Tell me, what is the light of this lamp – from clay, from oil or from the wick?” Arjun thought for a while and said, “From these three.”
The monk slowly took out the oil from the lamp. The flame extinguished within a few moments. Then he said, “Look, just having a beautiful lamp does not produce light. The wick alone cannot do anything. Oil alone is also useless. Only when all three work together to do their work, only the light spreads.” Arjun was listening carefully. The sage said, “Man’s life is also like this lamp. Talent is a lamp of clay, hard work is oil and patience is the wick. If patience ends, talent and hard work also lose their effectiveness. Those who give up midway, extinguish their own flame.”
Arjun’s eyes opened. He understood that failure is not the end, but an opportunity to improve himself. He again started his work with full enthusiasm. This time he not only worked hard but also faced every difficulty patiently. After a few years, the same young man became the most successful farmer and respected person of the village. When people asked the secret of his success, he would only smile and say, “To keep the flame of the lamp burning, oil is needed as well as the wick. To be successful in life, it is most important to maintain patience along with hard work.” The lesson learned from the story is that talent and hard work bear fruit only when they are accompanied by patience and continuous effort.