There lived three poor brothers in a town. Their names were Rama, Krishna and Mohan. All three of them worked in a factory. Frustrated with and tired of their poverty, one day they went to a temple and prayed to God to make them rich. Suddenly, they heard a voice, “All three of you must take three drops of holy water from the temple tank and put them in the golden river. At once, the water of the river will turn into gold and you will become very rich. Each of you must go alone and remember, if the water is not holy then each of you will turn into stone.” They realised that it was God’s voice.

The following day, Rama took a big bottle, filled it with water from the temple tank and set off for his journey. Rama started walking, as the river was far away and there was no transport available. After a while, he was very thirsty and drank a little water from the bottle. A little later, a small dog came to him and said, “I am very thirsty. Will you please give me some water? I am about to die of thirst.” Rama laughed at the dog and said, “I cannot give you any water. I

need to carry it till the golden river.” Then, he left. After walking for a while, Rama decided to take another sip of water to quench his thirst. Just then, an old man came up to him. The old man told him, “I have been thirsty for many days. Will you please give me some water to drink?” Rama ignored the old man and started walking again. Then he came across a small baby on the street. The baby was crying for water. Rama looked at the baby, but he still did not give any water to the baby. “I need to save the water for the golden river,” Rama said and proceeded towards the river. On the way he felt thirsty several times and drank the water saving just a little for the golden river.

Finally, he reached the golden river and put three drops of the water into it. As soon the water fell into the river, the river spoke and said, “Please do not put this bad water into me,” Rama was surprised and said, “This isn’t bad water. I got it from the temple.” The river replied, “But you did not give the water to the thirsty dog, the old man and the small baby. It has become

unholy now.” And with this, Rama turned into a stone statue immediately.

Krishna waited for Rama for a long time and then decided to start his journey towards the golden river. Just like Rama, Krishna also came across the dog, the man and the baby, but did not give them even a drop of water. Thus, he met the same fate as that of Rama.

This time it was Mohan’s turn. He was a small boy with a kind heart. He could only carry a small bottle of water. On his way, he met the thirsty dog, who asked him for some water. Mohan was a kind boy; he felt bad for the poor dog and said to him, “Please drink only a little water from this bottle as I have to carry three drops of it to the golden river.” The dog had some water and went away happily. After some time, the old man came to Mohan and pleaded for some water. Mohan was worried about the water getting finished, but he was softhearted and he felt sorry for the old man. He asked the old man to drink some water and leave some, so that he could take it to the golden river. The old man drank some water and was very pleased. Next,

Mohan saw the baby crying for water. There was very little water left, but he could not bear to see the baby crying and gave him the bottle. The baby drank up all the water from the bottle.

Finally, Krishna reached the river but he did not have even a drop of water to pour into the river. He also saw that his brothers had turned to stone and started crying. As soon as three drops of his tears fell into the river, the water turned golden. He heard God’s voice, “You are a very kind boy. You gave water to the dog, the old man and the baby without being selfish for your own need. Nothing can be holier than a few drops of your tears.” God was pleased with him and also made his brothers come alive. He asked Rama and Krishna to become as good as Mohan. Thus, they lived happily ever after.