Somewhere in a remote village, an old sage lived peacefully in the woods. He possessed profound wisdom and fathomless knowledge. He was renowned among the people for his omniscience. Many villagers used to visit him for seeking solutions to their problems.
On one fine day, a rambunctious boy, who wanted to malign his reputation, devised a machination to humiliate him. He caught a sparrow from the woods and hid it behind his back with both hands. Now the plan was simple:- Approach the sage and ask him whether the sparrow behind his back is alive or dead? If the sage says it is alive, he will kill it behind his back. If the sage says it is dead, he would free the sparrow. In both scenarios, the defeat of the sage was inevitable.
Assured of his triumph, he approached the sage and put forward his question. Sage smiled at the diabolical dilemma put forward by the boy and answered him:- ''It is your hands''.