A long time ago when we did not have modern transportation or railways in India,
people used to travel from place to place by foot. A group of pilgrims from a
small village in south started off to Varanasi by foot. They stopped enroute to cook and
eat their meals, rest for a while in Serais and continue their journey.
During their journey they were travelling through a forest, when the
weather did not permit them to go any further. It was raining heavily and they all
agreed, that they have to stop and look for some kind of shelter to spend the
night before continuing their journey in the morning. It was dark in the forest and all they could
find was an old abandoned and rather dilapidated temple, with the aid of
lightning in the pouring rain. They all took shelter in the temple premises.
After resting for a while, the weather grew worse with more lightning and everyone sensed that there could be thunderbolt that could strike
the temple killing them all in one go. Everyone was very scared and started
praying but could not think of any solution or an alternative to escape from the impending disaster, apart from
spending the night and risking their lives by staying in the temple. One moment
it appeared that the thunder would strike, and the next second it stopped building
the tension in the pilgrims’ minds. Nature was playing hide and seek scaring the wits of the pilgrims.
One of the pilgrims was a prominent astrologer, who sensed the confusion and
thought he could make himself feel important, so he seized the occasion. As they all were his fellow
villagers he quickly took advantage of the fact that he chose the auspicious time
and date of the journey and calculated the obstacles enroute, went on to make
an announcement.
The astrologer proclaimed his knowledge and said that the thunderbolt
would strike on only one person whose lifespan is coming to an end. He added that this ill-fated
pilgrim, whoever it was should not risk the lives of the rest of the pilgrims.
So, instead of putting everyone’s life in danger, the astrologer announced his brilliant
plan of sending each person out of the temple and stand in the pouring rain so
the thunder can strike him and take his life. This way the rest of the group would
be safe inside the temple and can continue the journey next day.
The idea was accepted by everyone, as they firmly believed in the astrologer and went ahead to implement
it. Each one of them, while leaving the temple, bore a tearful goodbye to their
loved ones and stood at a distance from the temple, in the pouring rain for a few minutes to let the
thunder strike them and returned back after the signal given by the astrologer, joyfully to reunite with their family and
thanked God for sparing his life. Everyone finished their turn except the young
man who was travelling alone. He was a bit hesitant as he too believed in the
astrologer and feared his impending death which was almost certain now.
The weather was getting worse as moments passed by. As he was hesitating
to go to meet his fate, the rest of the group grew impatient and forcefully
threw him out of the temple into the pouring rain, eager to save their own
lives. The astrologer too was feeling smug for coming up with such brilliant
idea. The young man was standing all alone in the rain shivering and praying
for his life.
Then something strange happened. The thunderbolt struck ferociously with
devastating noise and struck the very temple, where all the pilgrims were taking
refuge. All were dead the very moment with the impact except the young man who
stood at a distance in the rain waiting for his death. That was too surprising
for the young man who had a hard time digesting the fact that only his life was
spared and rest of the pilgrims including the astrologer were taken by the
thunderbolt.
Mom told me this story
and said, ‘sometimes, life does single you out and you might feel that, you are
the odd one in the crowd. But you should not try to blend in for the sake of
impressing people. Rather stand alone, and face the consequences, no matter how
dire they are, as long as you are confident that you are doing the right thing
and following Dharma.’
Thanks to Mom that story is coming true today with Aam Aadmi Party election results. Very happy to share this with my fellow AAPians.
