Statement today: “I will give whatever you ask!”
Statement tomorrow: “I never said so!”
When an ordinary mortal does this his life will be in misery; when a King, for whom the entire country is his home, retracts his words, entire land has to face the music!
By the time King of Angarajya realized this, entire country was in trouble!
King of Angarajya had promised to give whatever he asked to a sage, but retracted his words when asked for! Without uttering anything the sage left the kingdom. Other sages of the land followed him . Rain and crop followed suit! Flourish made way to famine.
They say foul mouth can mar a relationship; in this case foul mouth marred the welfare of the nation!
अन्नात् भवंति भूतानि पर्जन्यात् अन्न संभव:।
यज्ञात् भवति पर्जन्य: यज्ञ: कर्म समुद्भव:
(Bhagavadgita 3.14)
Food comes from farming; farming is from rainfall; rain is from sacrifices; sacrifice is from learned men.
First link in the wheel of welfare is learned man. Owing to the fault of the King the first link was separated in Angarajya. As a result other links too separated on their own! State became stale. Forests lost greenery, rivers dried up; there was scarcity even for drop of water and bite of food. Funeral procession of beings became a daily fair.
If water oozed daily anywhere, it was only from the eyes of the King!
Knowing the reason for a problem makes solution easier. Ruler of Angarajya was in pain as he was not aware of the source of the problem of severe scarcity nor its solution! But he didn’t panic; he didn’t give up. Romapada called for experts with spiritual insight from far off places to find out the reasons for draught. He bowed before the scholars and requested to find out the reasons for the major disaster and the ways to come out of it.
Galaxy of great minds gathered there gave a good number of opinions. But none could dig into the origin of the distressing drought. Debate was doing rounds; problem remained as it is!
A visionary among the learned men was sitting quiet. Hope of getting in to the truth from any one was the reason for his silence. When the truth seemed to elude from everyone’s opinion, he stood up to declare his finding in no uncertain terms – truth was both harsh and hard at the same time:
“Oh King, real reason for the drought is the drought of truth in King’s words. The break of promise you made is turning out to be a bolt from the blue for the nation. Did you forget the promise made to a sage and the subsequent retracting of words? Or are you feigning forgetfulness? Didn’t the sage walk out of the kingdom without uttering a word in response to your break of promise?”
There was complete silence among the audience. As the King listened silently with rapt attention, the scholar continued his trumpet of truth:
“King, like a small spark spreads to swallow a dense forest, suffering of the sage set on sail other sages of the land. They followed him as they did not wish to stay in a kingdom where the King does not honor his words. Sages are sacred souls who can cause showers to the entire state from the spark of the sacrifice within their house. As they abandoned your country owing to the agony caused by your action, all religious rituals came to an abrupt halt in your kingdom. Where are sprouts without roots? Where is rain and progress without spiritual deeds!?”
Ghost of the past danced like a ghost in front of his eyes! Repentance in Romapada resulted in a rivulet of tears from his eyes!
Having completed the story of harsh truth, the visionary continued narrating the ways to wash away the ill-effects of King’s sins to invite the eluding rains to rejuvenate his kingdom.
“Rectify where the wrong was done! Seek the pardon from the sage where you have broken your promise. Convince all the sages who have left the kingdom to return. End to the drought and good days to the land depend on their pardon. Don’t you have to get up with the support of your ankle on the same land where you have slipped!?”
~
This reminds us of the morals of Raghu Dynasty: “A word is more valuable than the head! You can sacrifice your life; but you should never compromise on your words! “रघुकुल रीत सदा चली आई; प्राण जाये पर वचन ना जाये” (Ramcharaitamanas 4-2-28)
These are Rama’s words:
सत्यमेवानृशंसं च राजवृत्तं सनातनं।
तस्मात् सत्यात्मकं राज्यं सत्ये लोक: प्रतिष्ठित:।।
(Valmiki Ramayan, AyodhyaKandam 109/10)
Truth is the traditional path of Kings; when King walks the path of truth, entire kingdom is filled with the spirit of truth. Entire world is established on the foundation of truth!”
When King courts falsehood how can the Kingdom claim candor?
~#RaamaRashmi blog by @SriSamsthana RaghaveshwaraBharati Swamiji
King did not make any delay in accepting his fault. He obediently surrendered before truth with his heart in heat of simmering sorrow and eyes in torrents of tears! Then the supreme sage began narrating the matter which he had to narrate.
“Romapada, by seeking pardon and return of the sages your sins will be washed away. But Rushyashrunga, son of Sage Vibhandaka has to set foot in your kingdom for the rains to come. But that is not an easy job! Task of bringing Rushyashrunga to your kingdom from the fiery watchful eyes of Vibhandaka is not less difficult than Bhagiratha’s task of getting Ganga to flow on earth! Be ready for any sacrifice. Be prepared to offer vast lands, precious stones and gems and finally even your daughter in marriage to Rushyashrunga for the showers!
“Because, it won’t rain without Rushyashrunga’s arrival, and with his arrival, rain will not fail!”
Now the King knew the solution to send the draught away; but he was staring at the extremely dangerous task of getting Rishyashrunga from the security of fireball-like eye balls of Sage Vibhandaka!
To sum up:
The disaster that befell:
Sin by a King : severe drought and distress!
Miracle that is needed:
Arrival of a supreme pious man: welcome rains and progress to the kingdom!
~*~
(To be continued..)
Translated blog of Sri Samsthana SriSri RaghaveshwaraBharati MahaSwamiji.
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