THE GHOST
-7. The Wise Sage

After all the guests had exchanged greetings and were comfortably seated, the sage addressed the Queen in a sonorous voice, “Maharani, every year I make it a point to visit the famous temple of Lord Shiva in your kingdom. I have come here with this purpose but before embarking on my journey, I felt like meeting you and enquire about your well-being. O Queen, I can well understand your mental state of mind at the sudden disappearance of the King.”

The Queen expressed her gratitude for the sage’s visit and then queried, “O Sage, what do you make out of all this?”

Adirath replied thoughtfully, “Being such a sensitive matter, I would not like to make any wrong assumptions. But I strongly feel that the general notion about the King being killed by a wild animal and then being thrown in some deep pass of that jungle is incorrect. If an animal attacked him, it would have certainly taken him by surprise. In that case, his bow which he would have apparently held in his hand should have slipped and fallen to the ground. It is impossible for any animal to drag both the King’s body and the bow simultaneously and drop them in that pass. In other words, the bow should have been left behind and found out by your search team which did not happen.   Thus, the question arises as to where did the bow disappear alongwith the King? May be somebody took it but I suppose that your men must have searched the jungle that night and even the next day! Thus, the chances of anyone taking the bow are remote. For argument sake, we can say that the bow may have been stringed to the King’s shoulder when he was attacked. That appears improbable for the King must have been aware that he had better chances of hitting his prey more quickly when found if he held the bow in his hand. O Queen, I have learnt that Sage Pariketu is doing penance in that jungle and he probably was present there when the King disappeared. As you are aware he is a great sage who has gained incredible powers through his severe penance and meditation.   Once he completes his meditation, he may be of some help to shed light in this mystery. Even if he may not have witnessed anything, he has the powers to see both the past and the present.”

Mandira and Bhagirat were very impressed to hear the thoughts of the wise sage. Thereby, the Queen led them to the guest room for resting awhile. Before parting, King Bhagirat informed the Queen that he had to leave for another kingdom in a couple of days for some administrative work. Mandira consented.

After taking some rest, Sage Adirath went to the Lord Shiva temple. As he had plans of leaving the kingdom only on the morrow, the Queen requested him to return to the palace after visiting the temple and stay there for the night. The sage had given his accent to this proposal. It was then that Mahirat touched upon a plan to change for the better his friend’s unruly character.  

Both Bhagirat and Mandira, then, went to the dining hall to have lunch. As they were about to finish their scrumptious meal, to their horror, they found a mango, apple and pomegranate entering the hall by moving in the air! The servants who were present in the kitchen from where these fruits had come over followed them from a distance terrified. Even the guard who stood on vigil outside the hall stood frozen as he saw the fruits entering inside. The fruits made their way to a corner of a wall that directly faced the royal dignitaries. The end portion of the mango touched the floor and the remaining portion rested on the wall. This gave an impression as if the mango was in a sitting posture. The other two fruits took their positions together a few inches away facing the mango. After a few moments, the mango tilted to its right so much so that the portion of the fruit which was facing the other two fruits now completely rested on the floor. This gave the feeling that from a sitting position the mango was now lying down on the floor. After some time elapsed, the three fruits once again rose in the air and moved out of the chamber. The royal cook, Veera and his men entered the chamber and asked the Queen in a panicky tone, “What is going on, O Queen? Is this your divine force or something else? Frankly, all of us have come to believe that there is some ghost around here!”

The Queen, although startled, managed to calm them down. She maintained that this had to be the divine force trying to convey something to her which she would take some time to decipher. After all of them departed, the Queen looked at Bhagirat who had forgotten to swallow the food he had in his mouth in fear! He slowly came back to his senses and then exclaimed, “What happened now can unnerve even the bravest, O Queen!”

Mandira filled him in with the previous strange developments and deduced, “All this is happening after the King’s disappearance! I get this feeling that this has something to do with my Lord but then I cannot see the connection!”

“O Queen, let us explain all this to Sage Adirath when he returns in the evening. Given his sharp astuteness, I am sure that he might have some answers to these mysterious developments.” The King reasoned to which the Queen consented.

As dusk fell, the sage returned to the palace. His face looked more relaxed and divine after visiting the temple. The Queen apprised him with all that happened which left the sage thinking. He borrowed some time to think over this matter. After a long time, he met the Queen and King Bhagirat wherein he put forth his views, “It is beyond my powers to explain as to who could be behind all this. However, one thing is certain which is the fact that this divine force, as you call it, O Queen, is a good harbinger for you for it once saved you from your minister Aditya.   It also came to your rescue when it made your guest Veerbhadra believe in your theory that there indeed is a divine force that is aiding you. If we view this from this perspective, then what happened today also might work to your benefit. It could be that the divine force was trying to convey some message that would ultimately serve you and may be even King Bhagirat better in the long run!

Explaining the sequence of events which occurred today as per my inference let me begin with the fact that the apple and pomegranate were placed separately from the mango. As we all know, the mango is regarded as the King of all fruits. Therefore, let us refer the mango as a King in person. Having made this assumption, we can well conclude that the other two fruits which were kept together a few inches away were his subjects. The mango was made to lie down on the ground facing the other two fruits. This could indicate that the King prostrated before his subjects! Therein lies the hidden message, O royal ones! It is a servant who prostrates before his master. In other words, a King must always consider himself to be a loyal servant of his subjects!   Needless to add that once a King thinks in these terms, he would always have the instinct and the will to work for the welfare of his people. This would ultimately give him fame, reputation and make his kingdom prosper in the long run.” The sage concluded.