King Raa-won

Picture Courtesy http://www.express.co.uk/news/nature/483537

Once upon a time there was a king lets call him Raaa-won. He was known for his high principles and morals. He was fair in everything he did. He was famous for his sense of fair play and justice. People from adjoining counties would come to him for arbitration. Lesser kings without progeny would come and accede their counties to Raa-won, assured as they were  of his magnanimity and fair play

But the kings penchant for fair play became an Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). He would fight wars by the rule book. In the first place he would avoid wars and be as liberal towards his adversaries as possible.  For example ; having captured  rogue invaders he would show compassion  and let them off when captured, only for them to regroup and emerge stronger.

He would hardly ever order death sentences to traitors and spies, and in the name of compassion he started being seen as a walk over.

The whole thing became so self defeating that his Commander in chief rushed to seek help from great sage living high up in the mountains.

The sage invited the king along with his wife to his cottage. Raa-won was delighted and promptly landed at the sage’s door. The sage made them comfortable and after a good night’s sleep he took  Raa-won for a tour around the jungle.

They were riding along when they saw a disturbing sight, a Royal Bengal tiger was limping along in a bad shape. Shreds of flesh were hanging from its hind legs, sores were present all over its once shiny coat. Raaa-won wanted to ask the sage the reason for the tiger’s condition, but the sage had marched on. Soon Raaa-won saw a pack of wild dogs attacking the tiger, who instead of retaliating seems to be patiently trying to avoid the dogs.

They went along a bit further, and noticed a huge male elephant trumpeting in agony, it had large gashes on its flanks and Raa-won saw a large sized buffalo goring the elephant from behind.

Raa-won then confronted the sage, “why is a role reversal happening in this jungle” he asked.

The sage replied. “Hey Raa-won, do you remember as a young teenager, your father had sent you here for your education, around  the same time the tiger and the elephant were cubs growing up, around these bushes. The day I was teaching you war-fare and fair-play, these little ones were listening from behind the bushes, but somewhere got the impression that fair-play was about avoiding confrontations or avoiding violence. In the process they became so tolerant of the world around them that they have forgotten their true strengths as lords of the jungle.

Hey Raa-won a similar fate awaits you. War and retributions are part and parcel of this life. One can't be strong without being firm, and being firm would need one to be harsh sometimes to be able to fulfill your Dharma' as a king. Since life itself is a war, one can't avoid participating in it, and fear of this war would need you to abdicate from all roles in life.

“So hey king be fair always, but also learn to fulfill your ‘Dharma' as  a protector and saviour of people looking up to you. Even if you are harsh people will still look up to you”.

“Everything may not be fair in love and war, but to be fair one has to be sometimes in love and war”.

A great realisation dawned upon Raa-won. He realised his folly and started administering his role more aggressively, much to the delight of his subjects

Life is a battle, which will get nasty sometimes, yet you can fight it from a pedestal, way above others. You would still be respected for your decisions. You may choose to avoid some battles sometimes, but you can't avoid all battles all times, yet you may choose your weapons according to your comfort. A soothing choose of words can be as useful in battle as a double edged sword.

So start sharpening your skills; the battle lies ahead.