My fav fable :)

Today I wish to share a small fable with all. One of my childhood friends told me this story. Its goes like this:

One upon a time there was a king who had four wives. Time flew and a day came when the king was lying on his deathbed. He was really scared and horrified as he felt his end approaching. He called his first and the most favorite of his wives and asked her to come along with him to the second world, but to his utter astonishment and shock the first queen said a firm and big no. This hurt the king deeply, since he had always cared for this wife, making her available the best of food, clothes, jewels and all comforts.

Anyway, when she went out the king called the second queen. He loved her deeply too. He again posed the same request to this queen and to his surprise she too refused. She told him that she always feels insecure and would remarry after his death. This hurt the king very much and he called the third wife. She also refused to accompany the king, saying that the maximum she could do is to accompany him till the cremation ground only and would never come along for she had her own life to look after and duties yet to be fulfilled.

Thus, the king became extremely depressed and angry. Then came in the fourth queen. The king never ever cared for her and always took her for granted. She quietly sat beside the king and promised him of always being with his side, even after death. Although glad, but the king now came to understand the basic character of each one of his four wives.

BUT, the story does not end here. It has an interpretation as well:

• The king is our soul that has to leave this earth one day.
• The first queen is our body. We care for our body so much but rather it’s the first thing that leaves us when our death comes.
• The second queen is our money and property. After one dies it’s passed on to someone else i.e. the second queen ‘remarries’.
• The third queen represents our family and relatives who in spite of loving us so much do not accompany us after death.
• The fourth queen is our own deeds or ‘karmas’ that are with us in every birth.

Thus the moral of the story is that we must focus on our karmas, everything else is temporary. So everyone should try to live a life as clean and do as many good things as possible during his or her lifetime.

(Images: www.istockphoto.com, www.nlpu.com)