Who, what, when: The Three most important questions

 

Who is the most important person in our life? What is the most important 'karma' or thing that we should do in our life? When is the most important time of our lives? At any given point of time, these are the three questions that can be found in almost everyone's mind. Regardless of wealth, social status, race, gender; every person consciously wanting to improve him/herself; faces these questions at one time or another during their lifetime. While the answers to these three questions may vary, all of them have a similarity to them. Below is an exquisite, yet comprehendible short story that answers these three question.

Once upon a time, a king woke up with three most pressing questions on his mind. His questions were: Who is the most important person in our life? What is the most important and noble thing to do in one life? When is the most important time of our lives? Such was his desire to know the answers to the question, that he decreed that whoever could answer his questions would get a reward of 10,000 gold coins. Many people, from far and near, came to answer his questions and hopefully, acquire the prize money. Some said the king was the most important person, the time of one's death was the most important time, and serving one's religion was the most worthwhile deed. Many others had different answers like one' child or one's parent was the most important person, the time of birth was the most important time, and charity was the most noble deed. Some said God was the most important person, many said it was the farmer, some replied it was the soldier, and so on and so forth. 

However, the king wasn't satisfied with the responses. He reluctantly asked his ministers too the three questions, but no one could provide a satisfactory answer. 

Finally, his chief minister suggested that the king should should visit a sage who lived far away, on top of a mountain. Eager to finally be satiated, the arrangements were made quickly and the king was on his way with his entourage. It was a long journey and a steep climb, but driven by his queries, he carried on. Many a hours later, he found  himself outside the humble abode of the yogi, a cave where he resided. 

The yogi received only common folk, so; at the entrance, the king stripped down to simple clothes. He dismounted from his horse and left his bodyguards to guard the cave and went inside alone. 

When the king approached, the hermit was digging the garden at the back of his hut. Seeing the king, he greeted him and went on digging. The king prostrated before him and posed his questions. The hermit smiled and nodded. But he did not answer the questions, and instead insisted on digging. 

The two men dug till the sun was about to set. The sage had still not answered the questions however, and the king was getting impatient. Unable to hold his patience any longer, he politely lashed out at the sage, "o wise man, I came to you looking for answers, but instead of delivering them, you insist on wasting my time by digging! Please tell me now if you cannot answer my questions, for I shall leave and attend to my most important matters back at my kingdom". Just then, a bearded man, holding a hand to his stomach, came running and fell unconsciously at the feet of the king. 

The king looked stupendously at the sage and forgetting what he had said a moment ago, looked down and saw that the unconscious man was bleeding furiously at the stomach. The sage came rushing and instructed the king to bring the dressing equipment from the hut. Meanwhile, the hermit unfastened the man's clothing and saw that the wound ran deep into the man's stomach. 

The king came rushing with the dressing equipments, and washed the wound as best he could and bandaged it firmly. But the blood was still gushing out, so the king had to re-open the bandage, wash the wound again and re-bandage it. After several times of repeating the above procedure, the blood finally stopped and the two men finally relaxed. At this moment, the bearded man regained consciousness and asked for something to drink. The king fetched some water and gave it to him. After drinking, he fell unconscious again. With the help of the hermit, the king thought it best to lay the unconscious man inside. They lay him down on a straw bed. As it was dusk and the king was very tired, he sat on the chair beside the wounded man and drifted off to sleep - so soundly that he slept all through the cold night, something that he had not been able to do in a very long time. 

When he awoke, the king was startled to see the bearded staring intently at him. The bearded man then proceeded to ask for forgiveness from the barely-awake king. The king refused to do so, since he did not know him and had nothing to forgive him for. The bearded man then introduced himself, and told the king that he had been a bandit. When he heard that the king was going out of his kingdom to the hermit, he planned to kill the king on his way back. When a day passed and the king had not come back, he grew impatient and proceeded to the cave to kill the king. However, the royal guards recognized him and attacked him. He had been bleeding, and would have bled to death if the king had not dressed his wound. For this, he said, he owed his life to the king and pledged that he would be the king's most faithful servant. 

The king was very glad to have made peace with an enemy so easily, and to have gained a friend. He not only forgave the dacoit, but promised the bandit that if he were to come with him, he would send his most renowned physician to treat his wound. Now that that was settled, the king decided to leave the hermitage. Before going away, he approached the sage one last time and urged him to answer his questions, if he could. 

The sage exclaimed, "have you not already received your answers!". The king looked confused and requested the sage to explain himself. The sage began to explain; had the king not listened to the sage and started digging, he would have proceeded to go back to his kingdom, and bandit would have attacked him, therefore killing him. So, he said, the most important time was when he was digging, and the most important person at that time was the sage, and helping him was the most noble deed at the time. After that, the most important time was when the king was attending to the bandit, for if he had not, the man would have surely died without having made peace with the king. So, the dacoit was the most important person at that time and attending to him was the most important business. Remember then: the most important time is now, because that is the only time when you have any power. The most important person is the one you are with, and the most noble deed is to help him. 

The king was speechless having gained this new found wisdom. After a few minutes of staring at nowhere in particular, he finally understood what had been told to him, smiled and bid farewell to the sage. 

He left satisfied, a smile on his face as he had found what he was in the search of, and had also gained a loyal friend along the way.