From "Vedanta through stories" a book by Swami Sambuddhananda
Section II - Ways of self study
The consequence of attachment
A monk who was living in a city found it unsuitable for his spiritual practices. He, therefore, repaired to a forest and found its solitude congenial and suitable.
One daym however, he found that his loin cloth had been eaten into shreds by rats.
In order to get rid of the rats he procured a cat. But the next problem was how to maintain the cat. Accordingly, he brought a cow with its calf. It now became necessary that there should be somebody to attend them.
He found a boy for doing this work. The boy however, could not live alone in the forest. So, his parents were brought to the forest. The boy grew up and attained marriageble age. He was then married to the only daughter in a certain family. Thereafter, the boy's parents - in - law came to live in the forest. These families attracted other families and the forest soon became a crowded village which began to expand into a city.
The monk reflected that all this was the consequence of his desire to protect his loin cloth.
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