Clackamas Fire Shines Light on Oregon Homeless Problem

A woman was found dead at a homeless camp after a fire was extinguished in Clackamas, Oregon near Downtown Oregon City. The camp held two people, and one person did not make it out alive, officials…

独家优惠奖金 100% 高达 1 BTC + 180 免费旋转

The Fallen King

The weary traveler and his companions stopped by the side of the dusty trail and laid down their heavy loads. They huddled under the frugal shade of a sparse banyan tree that drooped limply, looking just as weary as the group of travelers. The ground was strewn with dry leaves that made loud crunching sounds as they sat down to rest their tired feet. It was a blistering hot day in late summer, and they still had many days of their journey left to go before reaching their village.

“Look! There is a hut not far from here,” he reported. “Maybe we should rest there. At least we can get out of the sun for a little while”.

The group murmured their assent and got up in unison. Picking up their belongings, a ragtag jumble of bundles, they followed their companion into the field. After a short walk, the tall stalks gave way to a clearing. Off to the side was a humble thatched hut with an attached shed. The shed was no more than a rickety wooden frame with dry thatch for a roof. An indolent cow sat resting under the shade lazily flicking the buzzing flies off its ear.

Moving closer to the hut, the travelers called out to see if anyone was inside. The voice of an old man responded from inside, “Who is there?” Before they could respond, a wizened old man appeared at the door, head tilted slightly upwards, his unseeing milky eyes surveying for a reply.

The traveler responded, “We’re just weary travelers, Uncle, heading back to our village. We have some distance to travel. Would you be kind and allow us to rest for a little while? We will be no trouble to you and will soon be on our way once we’ve rested.”

“Devas!” the old man spat out. “How dare you come to me for assistance, after what you have done? Have you no shame?”

“Uncle, we are tired and will be of no trouble to you”, implored the traveler. “We had heard so much about Danava hospitality that we felt emboldened to seek your help. If we are mistaken, we will leave at once.”

“Danava hospitality!” exclaimed the old man. “We have seen where that has got us”, he added sarcastically. “Very well. I will not dishonor Danava pride more than it already has been. Please come in and make yourself comfortable. There is a well behind my house, and you can use it to wash up. I have some drinking water for you in the house, if you need it.”

“Thank you so much, Uncle. We will forever be grateful to you”, said the traveler, signaling his people to go behind to the well, while he followed the old man into the hut.

The hut looked as meagre inside as it did outside, like the humble abode of small farmers and cattle herders in these parts. As the old man hobbled his way around the house to get some water for his guest, the traveler sat down on the earthen floor beside a tattered woven mat that must have been the old man’s bed.

“How do you manage by yourself, Uncle, with your eyes?” he inquired.

“Oh, my son looks after me and the farm”, said the old man. “He left for the village early in the morning today, to buy new tools for the coming harvest. He should return before sunset.”

“You are fortunate to have a son who cares for you”, said the traveler politely.

“Yes, but what is to become of us now. Our great Rajan has gone and lost everything.” The old man lamented as he set down a small bowl of water in front of the traveler.

“But there was great honor in his deed.” The traveler said, attempting to defend the king. “We all saw it. The world will remember him for his honor and his unimpeachable faith in the ways of our gods.”

“He was a fool!” spat out the old man again. “Everyone knows that his grandfather, our great patriarch, had warned him about his arrogance when he was younger. What good is honor if it is also your greatest weakness?” asked the old man, rhetorically.

“And yes, we have accepted your gods”, the old man continued. “Ever since our patriarch adopted them, even against his own family’s wishes. I remember. I used to be a young man then. He was a great Rajan in those days, our patriarch. We all followed him. Till he lost his son through treachery by your king Indra. We celebrated when his grandson, our Rajan, ascended the throne and avenged the wrong through battle and victory over the Devas”, recalled the old man. “And despite all the animosity, our Rajan stayed true to your gods and ruled all his subjects benevolently, both victors and vanquished.”

“So, tell me Deva, how did our Rajan, despite his victory and benevolence, lose everything?” asked the old man, vehemently. “You were there. Tell me how is it that all Danavas are now facing exile from their own lands. Where are we to go?”

The traveler sighed heavily looking down at the bowl of water by his feet. He bent forward and took a sip. He cleared his throat and began to narrate the events of the day before.

“Uncle, it pains me to tell you this story. Your Rajan was a great king. But he lost his way in his arrogance. Even his Chief Priest warned him against conducting the Yajna. But his greatness was also his biggest weakness.

“We all know that in his Yajna, he offered the gift of anything anyone asked for. What drunkenness of power lead him to make such an offer, no one will ever know. Yet, that is what he did. Many came and asked for parcels of land or cattle or jewelry. He gave everyone what they wanted. Everyone who attended the Yajna, left joyously. And no one was more joyous than the Rajan himself, whose desire to spread happiness in his kingdom knew no bounds.

“On seeing a humble Brahmin, and that too from the vanquished Deva clan, come to his Yajna to ask for a gift, the king felt immensely honored and wanted to make a special gesture to show how respectfully he would treat those he had gained victory over. He approached the humble Brahmin, who was barefooted, wore a deer skin and was holding a wooden umbrella to protect himself from the sun.

“’O, Brahmana! You, who are the keeper of our knowledge, and conduit to our gods in the heavens, what possible gift could a mere king of this earth offer you?’ asked the king bowing down with genuine humility.

“’O, King of all the Realms! I am but a mere Brahmin, and not even an important one, from a small village nearby. My wants are little. But tell me, is there nothing that you cannot give? Surely, there must be some limit to what you can give. Even you are merely a mortal, not a god’, the little Brahmin inquired.”

The traveler paused and took another long sip of water from the bowl in front of him. The old man waited patiently for him to continue. Gathering his thoughts, the traveler continued.

“Even great kings are only mortal. Prone to weaknesses and human failings. Yet, it is not the failing that makes a man who he is, but how he handles the failure. Does it destroy him so that he becomes just the fallen king, or does he transcend his failure to achieve greatness even as he becomes the fallen king? This is how the greatness of kings is tested.

“Your Rajan was tested thus on that fateful day. And though, in your eyes, he failed, in the eyes of the world, his failure will become his greatest glory. But, I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me tell you what transpired next. Listen carefully.

“Your Rajan, on hearing this question from the humble little Brahmin, immediately felt challenged. While he had a great deal of courage and wisdom as a warrior and a ruler, humility was his weakness. He was always conscious of the fact that after centuries of fighting, his family, as the scions of the Danava clan, had broken from their traditions and adopted as their own, the gods of their enemies, the Devas. And it was with the blessings of the same new gods that he could defeat the Deva king, our Indra and avenge the treachery of his father’s murder. Your Rajan believed deeply in the greater gods and their ways, and he felt the gods were on his side and he could do no wrong.

“So perhaps, that was the strength from which he began to proclaim an oath to the Brahmin, promising to give him whatever he would ask for. No sooner had he started than his Chief Priest interrupted the king’s oath. This was too much for your Rajan to take. Affronted by the insult of a king’s oath being interrupted, he publicly chided his Chief Priest, and went on to complete his oath.

And thus, his fate was sealed.

“What happened next is difficult to describe. What is even more difficult is describing your Rajan’s face when it happened. I was there. I saw it. It breaks my heart to see greatness destroyed, and yet I saw in the destruction, an even larger greatness take birth. The greatness of a legend.

“The humble Brahmin asked for merely three steps of land. But the words he carefully chose to describe the steps were from the scriptures, where the gods conquered entire worlds by mere steps. For his first step, the Brahmin asked for all the conquered lands of the Devas.

“Your Rajan immediately realized his mistake. But having taken an oath, he had no choice but to acquiesce to the Brahmin’s request or forever dishonor his name. Nor did he show anger at the Brahmin for his request. He looked surprised as he realized that he had been outsmarted and was awed by the audacity of the seemingly humble Brahmin. He may have wondered who this Brahmin was, but he maintained his honor to the end.

“For his second step, the Brahmin asked for all Danava lands. Your Rajan knew instantly that he was defeated. And that too, by his own oath and arrogance. Perhaps he remembered his grandfather’s words when he was younger. The curse of his grandfather had come true. He would lose everything through his arrogance. His face aged a hundred years as he gave his assent to the request.

“For the third step, the Brahmin observed that he had already obtained all the lands that the king controlled, and asked, how he was going to get his third step. And that was the moment that your Rajan transcended greatness and became a legend. The greatest Rajan of all the Realms, knelt in front of the little Brahmin with his head bowed fully down for all to see, and proclaimed, ‘Take my head, that is the only place I have left to offer that is mine.’

“The Brahmin was so overwhelmed by the greatness of the king as compared to his own treachery, that he was taken aback. He immediately recovered and responded, ‘You are the greatest king I have met. Even greater than the one I serve. I will not take your head. You and your people will be allowed safe passage to a southern land where you will live the rest of your lives in peace and prosperity. This I give as my oath to you.’”

The traveler paused once again as the old man sat before him, staring into nothingness. Tears rolled down his empty eyes.

“Is it a good place that we will go to?” asked the old man. “We have always lived in these lands.”

“Yes, Uncle. Your Rajan has earned the right of safe passage and there are many lands south of the world that are bountiful with many more rivers. Your people will find a new place that you will call home and remember the days of your kings and their greatness. This will become the story of your people. As for us, we will have to live with our karma.”

The traveler finished the bowl of water and stood up to gather his things.

“I thank you once again, Uncle, for your hospitality,” he said with hands folded and bowing down deep to touch the old man’s feet respectfully. “You Danavas should be proud of your traditions. And we, Devas will learn from you, as much as you have learned from us. One day, we will all be one people with many traditions from all the different people we came from.”

The End

Postscript: Endnotes related to the story

Clackamas Fire Shines Light on Oregon Homeless Problem

The Fallen King

Add a comment

Related posts:

How do I overcome procrastination?

Yuri Vincit Omnia

Why You Should Learn Next.js as a React Developer