THE TWIN BROTHERS
-2. A Worried King

“Why do you get so angry at your brother, my child?” Sage Anantu asked Suryakanth politely.  

 “Guruji, I do not like him advising me.  After all, I am elder to him!  What right has he to advise me?”  Suryakanth responded in disgust.

The sage shook his head in disagreement.  “Chandrakanth was only trying to help you, Suryakanth!  When someone is telling something for our own benefit we must not see whether that person is elder to us or not.  Instead, we must try to grasp that advice and put it into practice.  You are as capable and intelligent like your brother, Suryakanth.  However, your problem lies in the fact that you devote all your time and energy in getting jealous of your brother which is obstructing your progress.”  As Suryakanth listened quietly, the sage continued, “If the sun always hides behind the clouds, would we have ever known it’s brilliance and offer prayers to it?  No, isn’t it?  So also, if we want others to love and adore us, we must bring our good qualities to the front.  Each one of us has good and bad qualities, my child.  A great person always explores his good qualities and tries to get rid of the bad ones.  Are you understanding what I am trying to say?” 

Suryakanth nodded his head in agreement. 

“Good!  Now go and apologise for your act to Chandrakanth.  He has been hurt by the manner in which you shouted at him.”  the sage instructed his pupil. 

Suryakanth bowed before the sage and went up to Chandrakanth who was with his other friends.  In his heart, Suryakanth did not like to express regret to his brother.  He was, in fact, more incensed at Chandrakanth for he felt that it was due to him that he had to listen to all that “advice” from his guru! But now he had no choice! Before speaking with Chandrakanth, he glanced at his guru who was looking at him.  “I…I am sorry, Chandrakanth.  Please pardon me if I have hurt you.” 

“No, brother!  It’s okay!”  the younger brother promptly forgave the elder. 

Thereby, Suryakanth concentrated on his target.  He knew that if he failed to hit the ball, his guru might offer him more “advice” which he did not want.  He fixed his arrow on his bow and then looked at the ball minutely for a long time.  Then, he pulled the string and the arrow went in rapid speed and met it’s target!  It pierced the ball which fell to the ground in pieces!  While Sage Anantu smiled at him, Chandrakanth came running to compliment his brother.   This was an opportunity for Suryakanth to realise as to how pure his brother was at heart and take a lesson from it.  Instead, he took this move of Chandrakanth from a negative aspect as if he was doing this plainly to impress their guru! 

As years rolled by, Suryakanth became very hard working and began to respect his elders.  However, he still possessed jealousy against Chandrakanth, who was always one step ahead of him due to his upright qualities, but did not openly express it like he did as a child.  He suppressed it in his heart of which Sage Anantu was aware, but try as he might, he failed to remove this evil quality of Suryakanth.

Twelve years passed by and the twins, who had now grown up into handsome looking youths, completed their education under the jurisdiction of Sage Anantu.  As he had decided, the sage himself accompanied the Princes to the palace where their parents were eagerly awaiting their arrival.  The news spread like wildfire throughout the kingdom that the twin brothers have returned from their gurukul.  King Salya and his Queen Janaki were ecstatic with delight seeing their sons after such a long period.  Their eyes were moist when the Princes touched their feet to seek blessings.  They helped them to their feet and hugged them tightly.  Then, the King led them to his chambers where all of them had a brief chat.  The Princes recollected some of the events in the ashram which their parents and Sage Anantu enjoyed hearing.  After some time, the King led the sage to a chamber, which was specially made for visitors to rest.  There, the sage spoke up, “Maharaj, you wanted me to inculcate good qualities in Suryakanth.  I must admit that I have only partially succeeded in this task.  Over the years he has become quite dedicated and committed towards his responsibilities, which may make him a good ruler, but there is one evil quality in him that could prove to be his undoing. That is his jealousy towards his younger brother.  As a child, he used to express his envy against Chandrakanth openly by picking up quarrels with him.  Now, due to my repeated admonition he, no longer, misbehaves with him but I can make out that he gets jealous whenever he sees someone praising Chandrakanth or if his younger brother passes a test I have put him through successfully.  His facial expression speaks for itself.  He is now trying to contain that jealousy in his heart, Maharaj.  Through various instances and advice, I tried to make him understand the harmful effects of getting jealous over others, but to no avail.  He has convinced himself that everyone loves and accords more importance to Chandrakanth than him, which is the cause of this jealousy.  I even made attempts to explain him the reasons as to why people may like Chandrakanth more than him and what he should do to win over their love and affection but to little effect.”   Salya was worried to hear all this from the sage.