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Long ago, in western India, there lived a holy man called the Bodhisattva Nāgārjuna, whose wisdom was exceedingly profound. In central India there was another holy man, the Bodhisattva Deva. Hearing of the depth of Nāgārjuna’s wisdom, he journeyed to western India and stood outside his gate, about to ask that his arrival be announced. Just then, a disciple returned from an errand and asked, “Who might you be?” The Bodhisattva Deva replied, “I have heard of the great master’s profound wisdom and have come all the way from central India, braving cold and hardship. Please tell him this.” When the disciple delivered his message, Nāgārjuna filled a small box with water and sent it out. Deva understood his meaning, took a needle from the collar of his robe, placed it in the water, and sent the box back. At the sight of this, Nāgārjuna was greatly astonished. “Show him in at once,” he said, and had his chamber swept clean to receive him. The disciple found this strange. “I thought the water was offered to moisten his throat, since he must be weary after coming such a long way from a distant land. Yet when this man put a needle into it and sent it back, the master was astonished and received him with reverence. I cannot understand it.” Later, he asked the master, who answered, “When I offered him water, I meant, ‘My wisdom is like the water within this little box. You have braved a journey of ten thousand miles to come here; now set your wisdom afloat upon it.’ The holy man understood my intent without being told. By putting a needle into the water and sending it back, he meant, ‘With my wisdom, slight as a needle, I shall plumb the depths of your vast ocean.’ You have followed me for years, yet you do not understand my intent and must ask about it. Though this holy man has only just arrived, he knows my mind. Such is the difference between having wisdom and lacking it.” Deva then learned and received the teachings, as completely as water is poured from one vessel into another, and returned to central India, so the story is told.
