The Guilt

There was a king named Vishwaraj. He was a prosperous king of his village. He not only worked for the welfare of his palace but also took care of his people & always thought about their upliftment. He was responsible for starting many Gurukuls in his kingdom. He was responsible for promoting girl education in his kingdom. His method of removing slum areas from his kingdom was very unique. He first of all analysed the total count of slum areas, created well maintained recreational homes in the same proportion & shifted people from slum areas to those homes. After that he demolished those slum areas & developed public libraries, public toilets & post offices over there. 

One day one of his ministers asked, "Sir, you are doing great for the deprived people. They are very satisfied & they are blessing you. But Sir, why are you demolishing their homes? I am sorry to say this Sir but we can develop new homes even without demolishing the old ones." Listening to the minister Viahwaraj smiled and said, "Mantri Ji, you are right. But these old homes remind them about their poverty and bad days. Whenever, while roaming around village, if they see those homes, it will fill their hearts with sadness. I want them to enter their new homes with a new enthusiasm, new zeal & a happy mindset." Listening to Vishwaraj the minister's eyes filled with tears. He bowed his head in front of Vishwaraj. Such was the divine thinking of King Vishwaraj. 

There also lived a cruel king named Prahaar in the neighborhood village. He always wanted to capture the territory of Vishwaraj & defeat him. But Vishwaraj was extremely powerful. He had a huge army. Secretly king Prahaar started making policies against Vishwaraj. Vishwaraj was busy solving problems of his subjects, so he was not able to concentrate on Prahaar's evil intentions. 

One day Vishwaraj came to know that due to water scarcity, his subjects are facing problem. Vishwaraj started utilizing all his money in dam construction. His engineers designed a plan of systematically constructing the dam over the river & diverting necessary water towards the fields for the benifit of farmers. Gradually the construction work was over & a full fledged dam was ready. Everyone was happy. The villagers held a celebration & the King was invited to be the chief guest. 

As Vishwaraj started on his way towards the dam, his minister said, "Please don't go alone Maharaj. Enemies can attack you." Vishwaraj said, "Mantri Ji, I am going because the villagers have organized a prayer meet to thank God for bringing this day in their lives. Taking army & weapons at such a divine occasion, I don't think it is good." The minister said, "You are right Sir. I will make the necessary arrangements." Next day Vishwaraj, without taking his army, sat on his horse & moved towards the dam.

Suddenly on the way, King Prahaar & few of his soldiers stopped Vishwaraj. Vishwaraj was alone. King Prahaar said, "Vishwaraj, I knew you are an emotional fool & one day you will take a silly decision in your life. Now get ready to be killed." Prahaar & his armymen attacked Vishwaraj. Vishwaraj was physically so strong that he faught alone with all of them. Prahaar was shocked to see the bravery of Vishwaraj. But as Vishwaraj was fighting with rest of the soldiers, Prahaar secretly inserted his sward across the body of Vishwaraj. Vishwaraj looked towards Prahaar & said, "King Prahaar, I knew you cannot face me one-on-one. It requires courage to face me one-on-one, you coward. I am dying like a king & till your last breath, you will remember that you were powerless to face Vishwaraj one-on-one, Ha,ha,ha!" Saying these words Vishwaraj died. King Prahaar's soldiers said, "Sir, let us put the dead body of this useless king in front of animals." Prahaar said, "No, let's go back. Leave him." Prahaar & his soldiers returned.

Returning back to his palace, Prahaar could not sleep. He was full of guilt. He thought, "Although he was my enemy, but he did enough for his own people. He was a true king. And yes, I am a Coward." Next day, Prahaar's Minister said, "Sir let us go & capture the kingdom of Vishwaraj." Prahaar said, "Give me some time mantri ji. I will make a plan." But Prahaar did nothing. Since the day he killed Vishwaraj, he was full of guilt. Instead of preparing his army, he got more involved in prayers and doing good to others. He constructed hospitals, metaled roads, recreational centers & higher educational institutions for his subjects. Rarely the thought of killing anyone came to his mind. Even his courtiers were loving this sudden transformation in his personality. He opened up his wealth for needy people. Anyone could take any amount of money for any positive cause from his palace. 

Gradually his subjects started loving him. One day his ministers said to him, "Sir, we have conquered Vishwaraj's Kingdom. If we leave that place ignored, some other kingdom will capture it. It is our property Sir. Let us go over there and extended our Empire." Listening to his minister's advice, Prahaar took a big army & moved towards Vishwaraj's kingdom. As he entered his territory, he saw a huge dam with river flowing with full force.

 As he moved ahead, to his surprise, the water of the dam took human form & stood like a giant. Everyone was shocked to see the giant water-man. He was Vishwaraj. He said, "Prahaar, you coward. You thought that you killed me. I am right here in front of you. I am going nowhere. If you enter my territory, I will submerge your entire kingdom." Everyone was shocked to see the giant water-man. Prahaar's Army started running back. But Prahaar's eyes filled with tears. Fearlessly he moved towards Vishwaraj, bent down his knees & said, "Kill me Vishwaraj, kill me. I deserve to be killed. Since the day I killed you, I was not able to sleep. I thought I will completely distroy you but I was wrong.

I was not able to distroy your popularity, I was not able to destroy your charisma, I was not able to destroy your nobel deeds, I was not able to destroy the love for you in the hearts of people. 

But in this process, I myself got destroyed internally Vishwaraj. I prayed to God that please give one minute life to Vishwaraj so that I can say sorry to him putting my head in his feet. Kill me Vishwaraj, kill me. I deserve to be killed."

Vishwaraj looked towards Prahaar & smiled. He said, "Prahaar,self guilt is the biggest remorse. I have no grudges with you. Just look after the welfare of my people. God bless you." Saying these words, Vishwaraj disappeared. Prahaar looked here & there, "Vishwaraj, Vishwaraj, please don't go. Please don't leave your people, they need you,they need you." Prahaar cried but to no use. 

From that day onwards, Prahaar started the beautification work of the Dam in full swing. He extended his empire and now Vishwaraj's territory was also a part of his kingdom. He constructed trade centers, yoga ashrams, sports theatres & much more to beautify his kingdom. He was prayed by his people like God. Looking at his popularity he remembered the words of Vishwaraj. To show his homage, he constructed a big statue of King Vishwaraj in the middle of his Empire. Every morning Prahaar & his ministers prayed in front of Vishwaraj's statue for safety & security of their kingdom.

For this act of generosity, people of the kingdom started respecting Prahaar more & more. Prahaar was happy that everyone has started loving him, but the guilt of killing Vishwaraj never left his mind.