In English
Sai's message on Festival of Lights
There was a merchant once, who, while walking through the streets of , was suddenly confronted by two sisters who were frantically quarelling over the issue, who was fairer. They were none other than and her famous sister , the Goddess of poverty. They stopped the merchant and compelled hint to agree to be the judge; they pressed him to pronounce who was the fairer of the two. The merchant feared to say that was fairer, for then, the Goddess of Poverty might inflict her boons on him; he feared to declare that was the fairer, for then her sister, might deprive him of her favour. So he devised a strategem, to save his skin. He asked that the sisters walk a few steps, forward and backward, in front of him; he stood silent for a while watching their slow deliberate comings and goings, and then, he asked them to come near him, in order to hear his judgement. He said, " is fairer when she comes towards me; looks fairer when she goes away from me; How then can I give a definite verdict?" This was a clever reply, framed to escape punishment.