Is Gold Deceptive

Is gold deceptive? - the maxim "All that glitters is not gold" does not answer the framed question. The maxim restricts to the extent that before you buy the yellow metal, try to see if it is really gold or not. We are back to the square one to know if gold is deceptive?

Let us hear what a sanyasi says. He was taking a stroll in a lonely bushy place reciting "Nama Shivaya" repeatedly. His recitation came to a halt when his walking stick hit against some hard thing and made a metallic sound. He had to clear the bushes around and the earth partly to discover a bowl and to his surprise the bowl was full of gold, yes solid pure. He didn't get enamoured by the sight and instead ran away from the scene uttering "Gold is deceptive and will change one's mind."

The logic we are looking for the 'why' question is not getting revealed in the above episode, takes us back to the square one. but the story continues. Now that the Sanyasi had ran away leaving the gold open, two friends Ram and Shyam who happened to come that way were taken a back at the sight of the yellow metal. Ram started the claim saying he saw the bowl first. Shyam ruled out his claim that his presence at the site could not be ignored. they decided to share the "Gold-Mine" equally. They both became cautious and decided to wait for the sun to set so that they might not get noticed by some wandering eyes. some one has to go to the city to fetch food as it was a long wait for the sun to set. They wrote their names in two pieces of paper and shuffled before taking the draw.

Ram's name was drawn first and it was decided that he would go to the city to fetch the food. Shyam promised one hundred times Ram that he would not run away with the gold. Ram left with great hesitation murmuring that Shyam would deceive him. Shyam was saying to himself that the golden opportunity comes but once. He took out a bamboo stick from the bush and cut one edge and sharpened it dagger like. Ram arrived with a food package and told Shyam he had finished taking it. Shyam cried to Ram that he could rest for ever and in a rush pounced upon him with the sharp edge of the bamboo. Ram fell down dead.

Shyam laughed wildly for having denied anybody sharing the new found wealth. He opened the food packet avariciously and ate the contents in a great hurry. alas he started realising that some thing wrong in the food. He, soon, fell down dead. Poor fellow didn't know that his friend had poisoned the food before bringing it to him.

This story answers the million dollar question if "Gold is deceptive" or not.

We can resort to mythology to bring home the same theme. Arjuna was messaging his body with oil . He was holding the oil in a gold vessel in his left hand and was using the right hand for messaging. Krishna appeared before him and got attracted by the gold vessel Arjuna was holding. Perhaps gold lures even the Lord. Krishna asked Arjuna to gift him the gold vessel. arjuna immediately gave it from his left hand. Krishna asked Arjuna if that was in order to give charity by the left hand and that too to the lord?

Arjuna calmly replied that, before he changed his mind, he wanted to part with the gold vessel. He confessed to the Lord that by the time he brought the gold vessel from left to right hand, his mind would have got changed in the other way. This incident reveals 'YES' to the question at the start of this passage.