Krishna Katha : The Cruel Death

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Krishna Katha : The Cruel Death A king possessed the rare gift of being able to understand the language of the birds. One fine morning, as he was strolling across the green and lush lawns of his palace, he saw a flock of birds eagerly chirping to one another. Quietly, he stopped under the tree on which they were perched, in order to listen to them. One bird said to

another, "Look at the king! He is so happy and relaxed now. Little does he know of the grief that awaits him. Tomorrow, by this time, he will be the unhappiest of men- for his favourite servant will be dead!" Now, the servant in question was indeed greatly loved by the king. He was a faithful and devoted personal attendant to the king, who depended on his loving service. In fact, the king hardly ever stirred out without his faithful servant in attendance. On hearing the birds' prophecy, the king was deeply saddened. "I cannot; indeed, I will not let my servant die," he thought to himself. "Forewarned is forearmed. I shall send him away from the palace, as far away from my

kingdom as possible, so that death will not be able to touch him." So the king summoned the servant and said to him, "Take the fastest steed from my stable. Ride away from here and go as far as you possibly can!" Little did the king realise that the fastest horse would only help the servant keep his appointment with death! The servant did as he was told. He mounted the king's best horse and rode away as fast as he could. The horse literally seemed to fly on its feet until they reached a dead end overlooking a steep precipice. At this point, the horse stopped so abruptly that the poor servant fell off - slipping into the deep valley, to his death! That evening, the king went into his garden for his customary stroll. He was happy and proud that he had managed to outwit nature and save his favourite servant from death. He heard the birds chattering, and stopped to listen to them. "How foolish is the king! By putting the servant on his fastest steed, he has only made sure that the servant kept his appointment with death!" Srila Prabhupada explains, “Death is certainly cruel. At any moment death can stop all our activities. Nobody can protest. That is not possible. And nobody wants death. That

is also fact. But nobody can stop death also.” “A man dies after it has been decided what form of body he will have in the next life. Higher authorities, not the living entity himself, make this decision. This life is a preparation for the next life. Without delay, we should immediately take to spiritual life and try to make our life perfect. That is real intelligence.” Radhe Shyam, Arun