A legendary physician in the Jataka tales, Jeevaka, was taking his 
            final examination after a protracted period of discipleship under 
            his guru Aatreya. 
            For the practicals, Aatreya gave his students the following task: 
            Bring all those plants and animal products and minerals that have no 
            medicinal value at all from the heavily wooded Sarlaka hills in the 
            medical school's vicinity. They had a week to fulfill the task and 
            to present the answer for the guru's scrutiny. 
            Aatreya's students left for the hills carrying the tools necessary 
            for digging, uprooting, de-barking, cutting, peeling, de-husking, 
            cleaning, drying, etc., and disappeared into the vastness of the 
            woods. 
            After a week, one by one they all returned to the medical school. A 
            couple of the students had collected cartloads of leaves, roots, 
            flowers, pollen, barks, seeds, resins, animal secretions, and raw 
            mineral masses which they had found to be totally devoid of 
            medicinal value. 
            A few had basketfuls of such material. All the class except Jeevaka 
            brought at least a handful. Jeevaka alone came back from the Sarlaka 
            hills empty-handed. 
            Jeevaka's classmates were curious: Had Jeevaka dropped out of the 
            examination? They all turned to Aatreya who had risen to question 
            Jeevaka. 
            The teacher asked, "Jeevaka, how come your hands are empty? Did you 
            decide not to take the examination or did you not find anything that 
            wasn't medicinal?" 
            Jeevaka replied, "Revered Aatreya, I did go around and perform the 
            task at hand. I have done similar searching and experimenting 
            throughout my long studies with you. I found out today as I have 
            done before that everything in Sarlaka and in fact elsewhere as well 
            - everything in nature - is filled with medicinal power. Not only 
            the plants and animals and minerals, but also the wind and the 
            sunlight and the birdsong and flower smells and river sounds and 
            cloud shadows heal. Some heal humans, some heal animals. Some cure 
            physical sicknesses and others cure mental sicknesses. The 
            omnipresence of healing is what I discovered today as I have done 
            before. Please evaluate my work on the basis of this answer." 
            The rest of the story can easily be guessed. Aatreya had of course 
            known the answer always, but he wanted to test his students 
            practically and individually, and Jeevaka gloriously passed the 
            test. In later life, Jeevaka went on to become a most illustrious 
            and compassionate healer of everyone from King Bindusara, father of 
            the Indian Emperor Ashoka, on down to ailing animals in the Buddhist 
            kingdom of Magadha. 
            It is perhaps this story that led to the creation of the following 
            Sanskrit aphorism well-known in the healing circles of India: 
            Amantram aksharam naasti, naasti moolam anaushadham; Ayogyah purusho 
            naasti, yojakah tatra durlabhah. 
            (There is no syllable without mantric power; there is no person 
            without good qualities; similarly there is no root [herb] without 
            medicinal power. Rare is the one who can discover these powers and 
            put them to good use.)