Untimely fruits
There were two kings. Throughout every year the more powerful one used to receive very, very expensive gifts from the inferior one, especially on the occasion of his birthday. There came a time when some subjects of the inferior king said to him, “You are in no way inferior to that king. You must not send him gifts any more, and you do not have to be loyal to him. We shall demonstrate your supremacy. We shall fight for you.”So the inferior king began preparing himself and his army to fight against the superior king. When the superior king heard about this turn of events, he said, “That fool is still in the world of preparation, while my army is well equipped. Let me go and challenge him before he is fully ready. I shall easily destroy his army.”
The prime minister of the superior king did not agree. He said, “O King, this is not the time to attack. It is winter. At this time it will be difficult for us to defeat him and destroy his army. Let us wait for better weather.”
The superior king became furious at this advice. He said, “To conquer someone, why should we depend on the weather? Any time is the right time. You have to go now. This is my order.”
The prime minister surrendered and said, “All right. We shall get ready.”
The following morning the king saw his son, the prince, standing in front of a huge mango tree. The prince himself was watering the mango tree. The king said, “My son, I thought you were extremely wise, but now I see that you are a fool. I am already old, and the time has come for me to retire. I thought that I would give my kingdom to you, but how am I going to do that? You do not have the wisdom to rule like a king.”
The prince said, “Father, what is wrong? I am watering this mango tree to expedite the arrival of the fruits.”
His father said, “It is the rainy season. Can you not see that it rains heavily each day? As a matter of fact, it may rain at any moment.”
The prince said, “It is the rainy season, true. But if I water the tree in addition to the rain, then I will get the mango fruits sooner.”
His father said, “How can it be? You will get the fruits at the proper time and not before.”
The prince said, “Father, in exactly the same way, this is not the proper time to wage war. What the prime minister is saying is so wise. You think that in spite of the weather if you can attack your enemy quickly, you will be able to conquer him. No, you cannot. In this weather, your soldiers will suffer tremendously. They will suffer, and they may even be defeated, because very few soldiers will be able to enter into the other kingdom. Who knows, your enemy’s small army may be able to destroy you. So if you, the king, are doing something untimely, why is it wrong for me to do something untimely? In winter if I am trying to expedite the arrival of the mangoes, will I be successful by watering the mango tree to get fruits sooner? No, it is absurdity on the face of it. In exactly the same way, if you go there, you will not be able to win. On the contrary, you are bound to lose.”
The king said, “My son, today you have shown me what true wisdom is. I shall definitely follow your advice and postpone the attack. What is more, I shall give my kingdom to you in the very near future. You have laid all my fears to rest.”
