Once upon a time, there was a king in a remote kingdom of India. He had a very shrewd minister.
One sunny afternoon, the king and the minister went for hunting to the forests.
During their hunt in the jungle, the king found a rapid Cobra slithering closer to him. In order to save himself, he pulled an arrow from his quiver and placed it on his bow. But, alas, the snake was faster. In spite of his efforts, the fast snake bit him in an instant. The king shrieked in pain. The venomous reptile had bit his second toe. He rolled down in pain.
The minister heard the king's shriek and ran towards him. He examined what had happened. He had to immediately do something to save the king. The king was becoming unconscious. The minister thought and then hurriedly cut the bitten second toe to save the king. Otherwise, the poison would have spread across the body and costed the king's life. He then treated the wounded area and waited for the king to wake up.
When the king was back to his senses, he grieved the loss of his second toe.
Instead of consoling the grieving king, the minister said, "Whatever happens, happens for the good!".
The king was infuriated by these insensitive words of the minister.
He said, "How dare you say that the loss of my toe is a good thing? In spite of my distressed condition, you are jeering at me?"
The minister tried to explain what he meant but the king was in no temper to listen to anything from him. He just swiftly rode his horse to his palace with the minister following him on his horse.
In the court of his palace, the king summoned to jail the minister. Immediately, the courtiers followed the king's command and imprisoned the minister.
In a couple of days, the king went to the jungle for hunting all alone. He reached an area of the forest where tribal people resided. The tribes had their own different ancestral rituals and beliefs. Also, sacrifices were made to appease their demon Gods.
It was one such occasion for the tribes that day where they had to sacrifice a human to offer ritual blood to their demon God. So, they were out in the forests looking out for a life to sacrifice. Just then, they found this king who was in jungle for hunting. They carefully planned and attacked the king. The king failed all his attempts to fight them back as he was alone and they were many. Helplessly, he pleaded unto them to let go of him.
But the tribal attacker said, "How can I leave you? Luckily I have caught a royal human for sacrifice. We shall offer some royal blood to our God today. Our God shall be pleased".
They tied the king in ropes and carried him to the site of their deity, where they had arranged for the ritual of sacrifice and offering of human blood.
Just while preparing for the sacrifice ritual, one of the tribes observed the king's missing toe and yelled, "Stop. I'm afraid this cannot happen" by pointing to the missing toe.
Then the elderly man looked and said, "Yes, you are right."
He looked at the king and sighed.One sunny afternoon, the king and the minister went for hunting to the forests.
During their hunt in the jungle, the king found a rapid Cobra slithering closer to him. In order to save himself, he pulled an arrow from his quiver and placed it on his bow. But, alas, the snake was faster. In spite of his efforts, the fast snake bit him in an instant. The king shrieked in pain. The venomous reptile had bit his second toe. He rolled down in pain.
The minister heard the king's shriek and ran towards him. He examined what had happened. He had to immediately do something to save the king. The king was becoming unconscious. The minister thought and then hurriedly cut the bitten second toe to save the king. Otherwise, the poison would have spread across the body and costed the king's life. He then treated the wounded area and waited for the king to wake up.
When the king was back to his senses, he grieved the loss of his second toe.
Instead of consoling the grieving king, the minister said, "Whatever happens, happens for the good!".
The king was infuriated by these insensitive words of the minister.
He said, "How dare you say that the loss of my toe is a good thing? In spite of my distressed condition, you are jeering at me?"
The minister tried to explain what he meant but the king was in no temper to listen to anything from him. He just swiftly rode his horse to his palace with the minister following him on his horse.
In the court of his palace, the king summoned to jail the minister. Immediately, the courtiers followed the king's command and imprisoned the minister.
In a couple of days, the king went to the jungle for hunting all alone. He reached an area of the forest where tribal people resided. The tribes had their own different ancestral rituals and beliefs. Also, sacrifices were made to appease their demon Gods.
It was one such occasion for the tribes that day where they had to sacrifice a human to offer ritual blood to their demon God. So, they were out in the forests looking out for a life to sacrifice. Just then, they found this king who was in jungle for hunting. They carefully planned and attacked the king. The king failed all his attempts to fight them back as he was alone and they were many. Helplessly, he pleaded unto them to let go of him.
But the tribal attacker said, "How can I leave you? Luckily I have caught a royal human for sacrifice. We shall offer some royal blood to our God today. Our God shall be pleased".
They tied the king in ropes and carried him to the site of their deity, where they had arranged for the ritual of sacrifice and offering of human blood.
Just while preparing for the sacrifice ritual, one of the tribes observed the king's missing toe and yelled, "Stop. I'm afraid this cannot happen" by pointing to the missing toe.
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| Tribes about to sacrifice a human |
Then he said, "We cannot offer a mutilated human's blood to our God though it is a slight one... Release him!", he ordered.
The king gasped with relief. He was released and he rushed back to his palace with mixed feelings.
He approached his minister in cell and told him what had happened.
The minister then explained to the king the meaning of his line, "Whatever happens, happens for the good", for which he was jailed.
The king soon realized what he had meant and then said, "I'm sorry. I misunderstood you. If I hadn't jailed you, I would have taken you for hunting with me and all this would not have happened."
The minister smiled and replied, "No dear king, then the tribes would have sacrificed me if I was there! Thank goodness you jailed me".
The king learnt that day that everything happens for a reason and we must just have faith.
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