Gods and Demons.. Another story

[Guest guest]

Thank you for these lovely stories. I do not remember the source of

the following story, nontheless it's a very nice story. Hope you all

find it useful.

 

There was once a Raja, who had transferred all responsibility of

ruling to his Manthri, and who was spending his time in ease. He

never worried about anything, be it big or small. He had a personal

companion, whom he had always by his side, more or less as a

bodyguard. This fellow was very wise, for he never did anything

without deep deliberation, about the how and the why and the

wherefore. The Raja took all this deliberation to be just foolishness

and he nicknamed the companion, "Avivekasikhamani" or "The Crest-

Jewel of Fools". He went to the length of actually engraving the

title on a plate of gold and compelling him to wear it on his

forehead for all to see! Many people were mislead by this and they

took him to be an ignoramus at court; they did not heed his words.

 

Meanwhile, the Raja fell ill and took to bed. The kingdom was combed

for physicians who could heal the king. Messengers went to the eight

corners, seeking drugs and doctors. Hundred were busy round the royal

patient, but, all efforts failed; the illness worsened day by day.

The Raja was at the very door of Death.

 

The Raja suspected that his end was near; so he hurriedly made some

dispositions, spoke to all those whom he wanted to meet, and was

immersed in sorrow. He had no thought of God or any other auspicious

Power. He was in terrible fear of Death and could not think of

anything else.

 

One day, he called Avivekasikhamani to his bedside and whispered

feebly in his ear, "Well; I am going soon, my friend!" Then, the Fool

asked without any compunction, "What? You are weak and cannot walk a

few steps; I shall order a palanquin, please wait till it is

ready.No palanquin can take me there," said the Raja. "Then, I

shall order a chariot," entreated the Fool. "The chariot too is of no

use," replied the Raja. "Of course, then, the horse is the only means

of journey," wailed the companion, who seemed eager to come to the

rescue of his master, and spare him the toils of travel. The Raja

said that the horse too could not enter there. The Fool was at his

wit's end. Then suddenly an idea struck him, he said, "Come on

master! I shall carry you there." The Raja became sad; he said, "My

dear friend, one has to go alone to that place, when one's time has

come. No companion can be taken." The Fool was thrown in great doubt;

he asked the Raja, "It is curious, is it not? You say that the

palanquin won't reach there, that the chariot can't go there, nor the

horse; you say that no second person can join you! Well can't you

tell me at least where that place is?" The Raja replied, "I do not

know."

 

Immediately, the Fool unwound the Golden Plate with the engraving of

the title, 'Avivekasikhamani', and tied it round the brow of the

Raja, saying "Raja! You know so much about the place, even, which

things cannot go there, but, you do not know where it is, and still

you are going there soon. O, you deserve this title much more." The

Raja was overcome with shame. "Alas," he said to himself, "I wasted

my years in eating and sleeping and pursuing pleasures, never caring

to inquire who I am, whence I came, what I am doing, whither I am

going, and why I came. The precious time allotted to me has come very

near its end. There is no time for me any more for all that inquiry.

Death is knocking at the door; children have started weeping; my

subjects are in great anxiety. Can I, under such conditions immerse

myself in inquiry? Can a thought that I never entertained throughout

my life suddenly arise now, during my last moments? It is impossible.

Yes, I deserve the title, Avivekasikhamani more than anyone else, for

I wasted my life in useless pursuits; without any thought of the

Reality." The Raja let it be proclaimed that Inquiry is the best

means of knowing the Truth, that the inquiry must be directed to

separating the true from the untrue, the eternal from the temporary,

that people should arrive at the conclusion that, 'God is the only

true and eternal Entity' and that by their own independent

investigation, his subjects must not only grasp the entity

intellectually but must also attain the Grace of God, by their pure

lives. Announcing this lesson to his subjects, the Raja breathed his

last.

 

Hari Aum !!!