THE GHOST
-9. Purpose Achieved

Queen Mandira looked at Sage Adirath and revealed her thoughts, “I think we can consider that the mango represents the King and the other two fruits as his subjects. However, what happened thereafter is hard for me to comprehend!”

The sage smiled and excused himself to think over in this matter. King Bhagirat did not utter a word and appeared engaged in finishing his meal. Even when the Queen asked him about his thoughts, the King shrugged his shoulders and maintained that he had no idea about the significance of what was just demonstrated before them.

Shortly, the sage met Mandira in her chambers where Bhagirat was called over. Just before the sage was about to speak, the Queen had a request, “O Sage, if you permit me, I would like to disclose my thoughts over today’s incident. Please correct me if my observations are wrong.”    

The Sage agreed and the Queen continued, “From what you told us about the first incident, I presume that the mango once again signifies the King and the other fruits his subjects. We observed today that the mango raised itself a few notches above the ground. This placed it at a greater height than the other fruits. This could imply that a King is above his subjects. On top of the mango was the beautiful picture of Lord Ganesha on the wall. This could indicate that although a King is above his subjects, there is someone who is above him and this is the Lord himself! Therein lies today’s message. A King, despite the immense power and influence he exudes, must always bear in mind this factor.”

King Mahirat was exhilarated on hearing these words of the Queen! This was indeed what he was trying to convey! “Wah! Maharani! Wah!” applauded the Sage. “I had precisely this in mind! Only a ruler who has not overlooked this factor could interpret this!”

King Bhagirat now got the feeling that the Sage was indirectly targeting him with this comment. As he looked at the ground feeling very uncomfortable, the Sage came near him and spoke softly, “O King, if you feel that you have not adhered to any of the messages that the divine force has given us so far, then you still can do something about it. It is never too late to accept your guilt and make amends for it!”

The King looked at the sage sedately and slightly nodded in agreement.

As time passed by, the sapphire sky turned dark replete with shinning and twinkling stars. During all this while, the Queen was busy managing the kingdom affairs, Sage Adirath sat in meditation, King Bhagirat sat all alone in his chambers lost in deep deliberation and Mahirat planned about the next message that he could provide to his friend.

Soon the dignitaries and the sage assembled in the dining hall for dinner that was to be their last before their departure the coming day. Both the sage and Queen observed a conspicuous change in King Bhagirat who appeared quite relaxed and enliven! They silently eat their meal and were about to get up when they found four mangoes entering the hall and taking their positions at a corner of the wall that directly faced the trio which was much similar to the first instance. The mangoes were placed in a straight line with a small gap in between them. After some moments, this gap was laid off as all the mangoes stuck close to each other. Soon, the fruits moved away from the chambers. Queen Mandira whose confidence was now at its zenith after her successful interpretation on the previous occasion instantly started thinking hard about this incident. Adirath smiled at the enthusiasm of the Queen and then deliberated over this event. Shortly, the Queen mused, “This time all the fruits comprised of only mangoes. Thus, it may be appropriate to presume them as rulers of different lands. We could also observe the fruits sticking to one another that probably indicate that rulers should have close rapport and friendship among them.”

The sage applauded the thoughts of the Queen and so did Bhagirat. King Mahirat was elated at these words of the Queen. This time she had managed to read his actions in a matter of few moments! What all of them did not know was that even King Bhagirat had managed to interpret this event in his mind! However, he had an element of uncertainty in his mind and therefore did not reflect his thoughts. As they were about to leave the hall, Bhagirat conversed with the sage, “O revered one, I want to thank you for your valuable piece of advice. You told me that it is never too late to make amends for one’s guilt. At that moment I realized that to make amends, I had to foremost accept my wrongdoing. All this while, although feeling guilty I had an inclination to justify my actions. Your advice made me accept my culpability and that made my mind very clear about my future course of action.   O Sage, what I have learnt in these couple of days would serve as a guiding force for me throughout my life. My subjects may be disillusioned with me today but I assure you that someday they will also be proud of me. Please bless me, O Sage!” Bhagirat touched the feet of the sage who placed his hand on his head. Thereby, the sage helped him to get up and gave him a warm embrace. The Queen was relieved to see the change in the King and so was Mahirat who thanked the Lord for this moment. That night all of them had a very peaceful and sound sleep.

The next day, as they had their breakfast there was no uncanny happening. All of them felt that the purpose of the divine force performing all these events was possibly served.  

Before leaving, the Queen took the blessings of the sage. King Bhagirat exhorted the Queen to continue with her positive outlook and excellent leadership. Mahirat’s heart ached to see his dear friend leave. What an irony, he felt! Bhagirat had come over to his place for a couple of days but yet he could not meet and confabulate with him like the days of yore. What was more, his friend felt his absence despite his presence!

As days passed by, Mahirat could notice an increasing sense of despondency in his Queen. As soon as she was alone in her chambers, she appeared to be in melancholy and sat with her hands covering the face. The King felt that this could be owing to the reason that the Queen was fast losing hope of him ever returning back to her alive! If only she could see him or atleast feel him! Seeing the Queen suffer silently, Mahirat only longed his curse to come to an end soon.

The people were very contended at the just rule of their Queen. During the later period of her tenure, Mandira even won over the confidence of the caretaker rulers whom Mahirat had defeated in battle and had accorded ill-treatment. She allowed them to take independent decisions and aided them both monetarily and administratively during their time of adversity. Many found it quite amazing to see a female doing such remarkable justice to leadership.