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Reflections

Friday, April 11, 2008

The King and the courtier

Here is a story which appeared on one of the episodes of Bharat Ek Khoj (it was long long ago when it used to come on DoorDarshan ,so I don't remember the story exactly but it is presented here in the form my mind could recollect)
There was a great king who had quite large empire .He lived in India about 2000 years ago . He was a powerful king and was fighting a lot of battles to expand and protect his kingdom. He had a courtier who was kind of jealous of king .He thought that king lives a luxurious life and gets to enjoy all the luxuries life could offer ( dance,music ,food and all that stuff which king were privileged to at that time) . He wished to experience all those privileges himself. One day in the absence of king the courtier sat on the king's
throne. The king saw the courtier sitting on the throne and understood what was in his mind. He told the courtier that the courtier can be the king for next 7 days. But he will be executed at the end of 7th day. Telling this the king went away.
Now the courtier became the king for 7 days. He had all the privileges and functions of the king. But he could not enjoy becoming a king. The fear of death loomed over him. So he lost interest in all the things he found so enchanting not so long ago.In other words he lost interest in all the luxuries for which he envied the king .His fear grew stronger with each passing day.
Finally the time came for his execution.The king appeared at the appointed hour and asked the courtier if he enjoyed his 7 days of fame. The courtier replied that how could he enjoy his time when the his mind was all the time occupied by the fear of death.The king told the courtier that this was true even in his case. As a king he is never far away from death. He has to be always be ready to fight and die in the battle. There is the fear of conspiracies being hatched to overthrow him. But he has to overcome his fear and rule. That's the king's life.

So this was the story.

So now what are the lessons learnt from this story This story teaches you that you have to put yourself in other person's shoes to understand his position .This is the obvious lesson .
The second lesson is that of adaptability. The king also faced the fear of death ,but he could do his duties and enjoy his life because he had overcome his fear .ie he had to adapt to his condition ,whereas the courtier couldn't because perhaps he knew he had just 7 days and therefore not a great incentive to adapt.
The third lesson is simple one. If you are doing a task you have to concentrate completely on the task.Diversions do not help.
Finally there is always a better way of doing things. The king could have just ignored the courtier's action(of sitting on the throne) or given him some 'suitable' punishment but he chose to teach him a lesson. But he chose the best of the three approaches.
Are there any more lessons ?

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2 Comments:

  • Indeed an inspiring story Rajat.

    Agreeing to your three lessons, I think another lesson is for rulers themselves(in todays concept our leaders) that ruling a state is not a job for enjoyment and luxuries.

    Just like Ram's Rajya, a simple wish of the least member of society like that dhobi is an order for a king and above all of his personal feelings and happiness.

    Nice post.

    By Blogger Praney !, At April 17, 2008 at 9:17 AM  

  • yes ,if only our politicians will learn.

    By Blogger Rajat, At April 17, 2008 at 5:05 PM  

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