Once upon a time, there was a King. There were many learned men in his court. One day the King told the learned men, “I am happy that you have all written great poems and epics which depict the philosophy of life. But I feel that when a person faces extreme danger or death in his life, all these philosophy will never come to his aid. He will fail to remember them in times of distress. Hence I want you all to say something consisting of only three words so that it is easy to remember in times of distress.”
The learned men went away hoping to come back with something great as the King requested.
Just then the King saw an old man who was serving as a courtier who laughed and said, “Oh King, Such 3 words have already been given to me by my grandfather.”
The King was eager to know these 3 words. But the courtier said, “I shall give the palm leaf containing those 3 words to you. I have not seen it till now because I have been having a contented life since your father’s time till today. So please take it and see it only when you face a danger.”
The King folded the leaf and kept it inside his ring.
Many days passed and suddenly an enemy attacked the kingdom of our King and the King lost the battle and his palace was burning. The King fled his kingdom with the enemy chasing him. He reached the edge of a mountain. Now he had no choice – he had to be captured and get killed or he had to fall down from the edge of the mountain.
Now the King remembered the palm leaf. He took it out and the words were : “Idhuvum Kadandhu Pogum”. (These 3 Tamil words mean “Even this shall pass away”).
The King waited behind a rock. After some time, the enemy thought that the King got killed by jumping from the Mountain and went away.
Then the King joined a tribe and learnt many more skills in fighting, formed a big troop and fought with the enemy. He got back his Kingdom and was celebrating his Victory with great jubilation and pomp and splendor.
Now the old man, the courtier came running and told the King, “ Oh King. I found another palm leaf with me. I forgot to give it to you. This leaf was to be opened and read when you are in moments of the greatest joy and happiness.”
The King who was on top of the world eagerly opened the palm leaf because this was the happiest moment in his life. The words in the leaf were, “Idhuvum Kadandhu Pogum”. (Even this shall pass away).
So dear friends, we need to maintain our balance in times of distress as well as joy because nothing is going to remain the same. Each moment we endure – of happiness or of sorrow – will certainly pass away.
Source: Told by Mr. Sivakumar, a popular Tamil actor on Vijay TV in a meeting with an audience.
I liked the message of the story very much.....
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