Story of Tapodatta.
There lived in Pratishṭhána a Bráhman of the name of Tapodatta. He, though his father kept worrying him, would not learn the sciences in his boyhood. Subsequently he found himself censured by all, and being filled with regret, he went to the bank of the Ganges, in order to perform asceticism for the acquisition of knowledge.[3] There he betook himself to severe mortification of the flesh, and while he was thus engaged, Indra, who had beheld him with astonishment, came to him to prevent him, disguised as a Bráhman. And when he had come near him, he kept taking grains of sand from the bank, and throwing them into the billowy water of the Ganges. When Tapodatta saw that, he broke his silence, and asked him out of curiosity—“Bráhman, why do you do this unceasingly?” And Indra, disguised as a Bráhman, when he had been persistently questioned by him, said, “I am making a bridge over the Ganges for man and beast to cross by.” Then Tapodatta said, “You fool, is it possible to make a bridge over the Ganges with sand, which will be carried away at some future time by the current?” When Indra, disguised as a Bráhman, heard that, he said to him—“If you know this truth, why do you attempt to acquire knowledge by vows and fasting, without reading or hearing lectures? The horn of a hare[4] may really exist, and the sky may be adorned with painting, and writing may be performed without letters, if learning may be acquired without study. If it could be so acquired, no one in this world would study at all.” When Indra, disguised as a Bráhman, had said this to Tapodatta, Tapodatta reflected, and thinking that he had spoken truth, put a stop to his self-mortification, and went home.
“So, you see, a wise man is easily made to listen to reason, but the foolish Marubhúti cannot be induced to listen to reason, but when you admonish him, he flies into a passion.” When Gomukha said this, Hariśikha said before the company—“It is true, O king, that the wise are easily induced to listen to reason.”