Once there lived a rich king in India. On one day he went for sight seeing and strayed to wrong path. While he was just wandering around in searching the path to return, a leopard attacked him. At this point of time, an extremely poor shepherd came. The shepherd knew the art of communicating with wild animals. He communicated something to the leopard, and to the very surprise of king, the leopard returned to the forest without hurting the king. The king amazed with the skill of the shepherd asked him what he communicated to the wild leopard. The shepherd smiled and said that he knows all the animals of the forest and all animals obey him. The king was very pleased with the shepherd and introduced himself. The shepherd got surprised to realize that the wandering person he just helped, was actually the king of his kingdom. The king took the shepherd along with himself to the palace and made him his prime minister.
The ministers who were already in the cabinet, started feeling jealous of the shepherd. They started trying to find out bad qualities of the shepherd, that they can use against him in front of the king. But the shepherd was very honest and they were not able to find any bad quality in him. However, one cabinet minister observed that every week on Sunday, the shepherd locks himself inside a small room for at-least an hour. He informed all other cabinet ministers about this. All the ministers verified the next week that the shepherd actually did the same thing. Now all of them went to the king and said, "Respected king, the shepherd on whom you blindly trust, is a cheat. He locks himself inside a room for an hour or so. We believe he is stealing the royal treasure and has accumulated a lot of treasure inside that room." The king initially did not believe them. But on continuous insistence, the king also became doubtful about what the shepherd would be doing inside a room for an hour.
The king followed with the cabinet ministers and saw that the shepherd actually remained inside the room for an hour. Now, the doubt in the mind of king became stronger. When the shepherd came out of room, the king promptly asked him what he was doing inside. The shepherd replied that its nothing important that should concern him. The king insisted that he wants to enter the room and investigate. The shepherd initially resisted but on seeing the strong will of the king, he opened the room. The king and his cabinet ministers entered the room. The room was empty and only one box was present at the center of room. The cabinet ministers said with suspicion, "So you have kept all the stolen wealth in this box! Open the box." The shepherd replied, "Its nothing that would interest either you or the king." Now the king started having serious doubts and he angrily ordered the shepherd to open the box.
The shepherd opened the box. All the ministers and king became surprised to see that instead of any wealth, it was filled with torn clothes, a stick and religious books. The king asked the shepherd, "What is all this? And why have you kept it so safely in the box?" The shepherd replied, "This is my reality. I did not wish anyone else to feel embarrassed with this, that's why I kept all this so safely locked. Every Sunday, I wear these clothes, hold this stick and study these books. This is what I am in real and in this prosperity and dazzling life, I do not want to forget my identity. This comfortable life is only because of the blessing of king. I do not want to get my inner self filled with any false pride, that's why I practice my reality every Sunday."
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