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What is the Actual Destination of Life?

Why a human being should not die like cats or dogs without knowing the aim of life is

illustrated in the following story.

Once upon a time, there was a very wealthy king. He had a big kingdom, many queens, a lot of

wealth and hundreds and thousands of followers and soldiers. He was living a very happy life

and he became so attached to his property, position, prestige and status that he completely

forgot God, and his duty towards God.

One day a sadhu came to his court. Sadhus visit people to enlighten them about God and the

goal of life. The sadhu wanted to enlighten the king, but the king was not at all interested. The

sadhu contemplated for a while and made a plan. He told the king, “My dear king, you are so

eager to wash my feet, and bow down to me, and give me so much donation but you are not

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interested in hearing about God. So, I have a request for you. If you fulfill that request, then you

will satisfy me.”

The king immediately agreed and asked, “What can I do for you, Sir?” The sadhu told him, “My

dear king, send out your men throughout your country and find out the best among mad people

(murkha) in your country. Then call him over to your court, hand over a stick to him and ask him

to go around the city every single day for the rest of his life. Pay him some salary every month

for this service.”

The king obeyed the sadhu’s order and got a ‘murkha’ to go around the city carrying a stick in

his hand. The ‘murkha’ continued his service. Days, months and years passed by. The king

spent all his time in material enjoyment and gradually became old. In his old age, he became

afflicted by a fatal disease.

When the king was on his deathbed, he called all his relatives, friends and near and dear ones.

He met all of them one by one. All of them were weeping as the king was very soon going to

leave this world. In this way while the king was meeting all his relatives one by one to satisfy

himself, in his mind, he had a feeling, “I have not met somebody whom I know very well.” Then,

the thought of the ‘murkha’ came to his mind and he called for the ‘murkha’.

When the ‘murkha’ came to see the king, the king told him, “My dear fool, now I have to go to a

very far off place. I am taking leave of every one, so I thought I may call you and talk to you.”

The ‘murkha’ immediately replied, “O king, you are going to a distant place. Please why don’t

you take me along with you?”

The king replied, “O fool, you cannot come with me. It is not possible.”

The ‘murkha’ replied, “O, now I understand the secret. You want to go with your queens. That

is why you don’t want to take me with you.”

The king said, ”O ‘murkha’, you are proving to be a fool. I cannot take my queens with me, nor

can I take my sons, nor any of my relatives – it is not possible”. Then the ‘murkha’ said, “It is

alright. Whatever it is I will arrange for a strong horse and a chariot for you so that you can go

comfortably.” The king said, “O fool, I can’t take a chariot and horses with me.”

Then the ‘murkha’ asked, “O, that means you will walk all the way? Will your legs not pain?

How long can you walk? My dear king, if it is your desire to walk, at least carry some eatables

and some money, which you can use on the way. I will tell the minister to arrange for a big

amount of money from the treasury.” The king replied, “O fool, you cannot understand. I cannot

carry a single gold coin with me. Although I have so much wealth amassed within my treasury, I

can’t carry anything with me. O fool, why don’t you understand?”

The ‘murkha’ asked, “My dear king, you can’t carry your accumulated wealth, you can’t take

your wives and your children with you, nor can you take any property from your kingdom. It is a

great wonder for me.”

Then the king told the ‘murkha’, “Enough of all your talks. Now, I will tell you something. You

have done the service of being a fool, going around the city for so many years, faithfully. So I

would like to reward you. You should now retire from your job. You will be given pension and

22 ‘Spiritual Scientist’, Course-1

you need not work anymore. But before you retire, find another fool just like yourself and hand

over this stick to him. Let him too go around the city and he will also be paid a salary every

month.” Then the ‘murkha’ asked, “O, my dear king, do I have to find a greater ‘murkha’ than

me to hand over this stick?” The king said, “Yes, that’s right.”

Immediately, the fool took the stick and handed it over to the king, and said, “O ‘maha murkha’!

Take this stick and keep it with you.” The king was enraged. He shouted, “You fool, how dare

you give this stick to me. Do you mean I am a greater fool than you?”

The ‘murkha’ laughed and told the king, “Yes, My dear king, you are right. You are certainly the

‘maha murkha’ in this world. Do you know why? You just told me that throughout your life you

amassed so much of wealth in your treasury by conquering so many kings all around the world,

but you told me that you couldn’t carry a single farthing with you.

You married so many beautiful queens and begot so many children and you just now told me

that you couldn’t take any of them with you.

My dear king, you led such a lavish life full of luxuries and comfort. Did you not know that death

would come one day, and at the time of death you would have to give up your wife, children,

property and all that you accumulated? And did you not know that even a useless broken needle

without a hole would not accompany you after death? Did you not know these things when you

were a king? You knew them well; but you were such a big fool that you never inquired about

the goal of your life. You never inquired about where you would have to go after death. You

didn’t inquire: who is God? Why has He put me in this world? What is my duty towards Him?

You never thought of these questions. You were completely infatuated in enjoying all the

material comforts and facilities of this world when you were a king, and you were completely

blind to the path of self-realization. This was your greatest mistake and now, at the time of

death, you are lamenting and mourning that you have to leave everything behind. So that is why

you are considered the greatest fool.”

When the king heard all this, he quickly realized that this fool was not actually a fool; he was a

great saintly person. The king immediately fell at the feet of the so-called ‘murkha’, cried

piteously and begged him to reveal his identity. The king asked him, “My dear great soul, please

tell me who are you? How are you so knowledgeable about all these things? We were

considering you to be a great fool. That was our foolishness. Please tell me how I can become

perfect at this last hour of my life.”

The ‘murkha’ told him, “Actually I am a disciple of that great sadhu who had visited your court

many years ago. At that time you didn’t show any interest in spiritual life. So my guru asked me

to play this role so that I could deliver you at the right time. Hear attentively from me.” In this

way the sadhu’s disciple started enlightening the king about the knowledge of the soul and the

relationship between the soul and God.

The king understood how God loves every living being, and how the ultimate goal of life is to

purify one’s heart and achieve the kingdom of God, and not just get entangled in worldly affairs.

The king became enlightened with this knowledge. He wholeheartedly accepted the instructions

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of the sadhu’s disciple and started chanting the Holy Names of God. In this way, by the

association of the sadhu’s disciple he was able to perfect his life.

Through the story of the ‘maha murkha’, we understand that we all are living in this

world and all of us are busy performing many activities from morning to night. We want

to do our studies, we want to take up a good job, we want to earn money, and we want to

live a very happy and luxurious life. But in this way, if we keep on spending all our time

without giving even a moment for God, then we will also be considered like the foolish

king, a ‘maha murkha’.