Remember Yourself

A prince by his wrong behavior had enraged his father.   The Prince’s behavior was so bad that the father had to banish him out of the kingdom.

The father was sure that his son would repent and would return and ask for forgiveness.  However, the prince never returned.  He never attempted to contact his father.  He never showed any desire to come back to the palace.

He wandered around the kingdom and found a group of delinquents.  He joined them and with his charm and ability, became their leader.

Many years passed and the father was getting older.  The King was now worried about his only son.  The King feared death and state of his kingdom after his death and so he sent one of his most clever ministers to bring back his son.

The minister went in a beautiful golden chariot with many servants and almost a regiment following him.  A great golden tent was fixed outside the village. He sent a messenger to this prince but he himself did not bother to turn up. The minister remained outside the village; it was below him to go inside the village. A poor village and it was inconceivable for him to enter the black hole where the prince was living with all those dirty people. The minister tried to contact the prince but the communication was not possible – the distance was vast. He failed and came back.

Then another, a more courageous man, was sent. He was courageous and he had understood the failure why the first messenger, the first minister could not communicate. Therefore, he did not go there like a minister; he went like a peasant in ordinary clothes, with no servants.

He simply went and mixed with the group. He became friendly, but by and by, he himself started to love that freedom. The palace was like a prison; there was no freedom. However, here everybody was free, very free. Nobody was creating any hindrance for anybody; everybody was allowed to be himself. They were drunkards, but they were beautiful people. They were gamblers, but they were beautiful people. He also failed because he himself never turned up to report to the king.

The king was worried. Now the thing was becoming unmanageable. He asked a third minister, who was not only courageous, but wise also – and that was going to be the last effort. The third minister asked for a three months leave – to prepare himself. Only then could he go. The king asked: ’What are you going to prepare?’

He said: ’To remember myself.’