The Weaver Who Asked for Extra Arms

In a certain place lived a weaver named Manthara. Once, while he was at work, all his implements broke. So he took an axe and went out looking for wood.

Wandering, he came to the seashore, and there he saw a great shisham tree. He thought: "This is a big tree; its wood will make many implements." And he raised his axe to cut it.

Then a spirit who lived in that tree said: "Sir! This tree is my house, and I live here happily in the cool sea air; do not cut it."

The weaver said: "What am I to do? Without wood my family is starving. Go elsewhere quickly; I mean to cut it."

The spirit said: "Sir, I am pleased with you. Ask any boon you like — only leave this tree."

The weaver said: "Then let me go home and ask my friend and my wife, and come back; you shall give it then." The spirit agreed.

On the way he met his friend the barber. He said: "Friend! I have won a spirit's favour; tell me what to ask for." The barber said: "If that is so, ask for a kingdom — so that you become king and I your minister, and we both prosper in this world and the next."

The weaver said: "Very well; but let me also ask my wife." The barber said: "It is not wise to take counsel from women." But the weaver said: "I must ask her, for she is a devoted wife."

He went home and asked her. She said: "My lord! What do barbers know about kingdoms? Do not act on his word. Listen — kingship is one long chain of troubles: treaty, war, marching, halting, alliance, duplicity — a man gets no happiness out of any of it. Rama went to the forest, the Pandavas went to the forest, the Vrishnis were destroyed, Nala lost his kingdom, Saudasa became a demon — look at all the wreckage in royal houses and give up wanting a kingdom. When a man's own brothers and sons want him dead for the throne, kingship is a thing to be refused."

He said: "You are right. Then tell me what I should ask for." She said: "You weave one length of cloth a day, and that covers all our expenses. So ask now for two more arms and one more head — then you can weave two lengths; the price of one will cover the household, and the other will pay for special needs. So our time will pass with honour among our own people, and we shall gain both worlds."

Hearing this he was delighted: "Blessed, faithful wife! Blessed indeed! You have spoken rightly; this is my decision."

And going to the spirit he said: "If you will grant my wish, give me two more arms and one more head."

The words were no sooner said than he had four arms and two heads. And as he set off happily for home, the people saw him and cried out: "A demon! A demon!" — and beat him to death on the spot with sticks and stones.

यस्य नास्ति स्वयं प्रज्ञा मित्रस्योक्तं न करोति यः । स एव निधनं याति यथा मन्थरकौलिकः ॥

Moral: He who has no judgement of his own, and will not act on a friend's advice either, is destroyed like Manthara the weaver.

From the Panchatantra, Book V — Ill-Considered Action.