There was recently news about a political leader of India, who has most likely amassed great wealth through questionable means (to say the least) and wields the highest level of power in this country, being diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. At least at such times, it is good to remember a story from our own past, which should serve as an eye opener for all of us who spend our lives accumulating material riches and property.

Long ago, there was a King who died when his son was merely a young boy, five or six years of age. The King had a younger brother who aspired to be the ruler and wanted to dispose of the young prince. He asked a trusted aide, a minster in the court, to take the boy away and kill him. The boy, who was much smarter than his age, understood the intentions of his uncle. Drawing some blood from his thigh with a knife, the young prince used it to write a few lines on a piece of cloth and asked a final favour of the minister, to give this to his uncle, and then prepared to face his destiny. 

The Minister came back to the palace and reported that the prince had been disposed of as ordered. When asked what the last words of the prince were, he handed over the piece of cloth that the prince had given and mentioned that the prince requested for this message to be given to his uncle. By now, the uncle had already started feeling guilty about what he did, and when he read the note, he burst out in tears. On the cloth was written a single shloka: 

मान्धाता च महीपति: कृतयुगालङ्कारभूतोगत:

सेतुर्येन महोदधौ विरचित: क्वासौ दशस्यांतक:

अन्ये चापि युधिष्ठिर  प्रभृतयो याता दिवं भूपते 

नैकेनापी समं गता वसुमति नूनं त्वया यास्यति 

King Mandhatha, who adorned Kritha yuga (also called Sathya yuga, the first and longest of the four yugas), is gone. The slayer of ten-headed (Ravana) who constructed a bridge over the sea, where is he now? And there were others such as Yudhishtira, who also went to heaven. This earth, which did not go with any of them, will surely be taken along by you. 

The King broke down and wept as he was overwhelmed by the futility and monstrosity of his ghastly act. The minister comforted him and revealed that he could not bring himself to kill off the young prince, and that he was safe in the minister’s house. The uncle, who was now a reformed man, immediately arranged for the prince to be brought and crowned him as the ruler. The young king ruled wisely for a very long time, and became gained renown as King Bhoja (Bhojarajan). 

The wisdom from this young prince is what is lacking in most of us today – in politicians who are at the fag end of their lives and desperately holding on to positions of power, in young men who miss out the really important things in life frantically running after more wealth than they’ll ever need to lead a decent life. No amount of wealth or possession can satisfy a man’s greed any more than gunpowder can douse fire. As  Mahatma Gandhi noted, “There is a sufficiency in the world for man’s need but not for man’s greed”. What is reassuring is that in this world and age, there are still people who can see beyond the lure of gold. José Mujica, president of Uruguay who lives on a small fraction of his salary and donates the rest to help the poor, is one such. To those who mock him as the worlds poorest president, his answer is very clear “I’m called ‘the poorest president’, but I don’t feel poor. Poor people are those who only work to try to keep an expensive lifestyle, and always want more and more“. This richness of spirit, and not material riches, is what is worth striving to cultivate!