The Hint

The King of Devpur sought his guru’s advice on every vital matter. One day, an important position in the court became vacant, and there were two candidates for the post: Rama Mishra and Hari Shara. The king sent both candidates to his guru for evaluation.

The guru spoke with them for a while before giving one a sieve and the other a winnowing fan, sending them back to the king. “What does the guru mean by this?” the king asked his minister. The minister replied that he would reflect on it and share his interpretation the next day.

Deep in thought, the minister returned home and witnessed his wife sifting corn using a winnowing fan. Moments later, he saw her using a sieve to sift flour. The following day, he presented his insights to the king: “My lord, the one who brought the winnowing fan will retain the useful things and reject the useless. Conversely, the one who brought the sieve will retain the useless and reject the useful.” The king wisely chose the candidate who had come with the winnowing fan.