Deeds beyond Fame

(Pic credit: Image by Stefan Keller from Pixabay)

I am sure we all must have heard about a famous king Bhoj. He was very famous for his righteous actions, his kindness, and his governance. He was a virtuous and noble king. The king used to donate a lot, helped needy in his kingdom, performed holy rituals, and used to go to pilgrimages and Guru Ashram. But slowly, he developed a sense of pride.

One day he had a dream. In the dream, he saw an old monk whose name was Satya, the truth. The king asked him- "Who are you?" The man said: " I am the truth, Satya, and I would like to show you a few things, the true nature of your actions!"

The king was astonished hearing this. He went with the man. The man went to all the places which the king developed or built; ponds, temples, trees, monuments, houses, etc. As the man started touching each of those, they slowly getting evaporated, and within minutes everything which the king built was not there. All of those vanished. This made the king very disturbed, and suddenly he woke up from the dream.

This dream made king Bhoj realize that while he was on the right path of Dharma, the sense of pride he developed was not right. Maybe the universe wanted him to learn the lesson through a dream. Post this event, he never used to pride for his deeds, and in history, we still remember him as one of the great kings of all times.

What does this story teach us? Whenever doing a good deed, never anticipate anything in return. The universe might reciprocate good deeds with blessings, but in the first place, there shouldn't be any expectation. As Sufi fakirs' say: " Neki kar, dariya mein daal!"