Once there lived a kindhearted king. He used to do a lot of charity. One day he organized for a feast of the poor people in kingdom. Hundreds of people gathered in feast. The cook mistakenly forgot to put the cap on the drum of cooked vegetable. A snake came inside kitchen from the window, and entered the drum of vegetable. As it was hot, the snake sensed danger and spew venom on the vegetable, and came out of drum. The guards saw the snake and threw it outside the palace.
The time for distributing food came and on the order of king, the food was served to the people. As the venom was mixed in the vegetable, many people started vomiting after eating food and condition of few of them became critical. The king halted the feast and called doctors to treat the people. The doctors checked the people and diagnosed food poisoning. The guards informed that they had seen a snake in kitchen and suspected the food would have been contaminated by the snake.
The king could not sleep that night. He was worried that he did a big sin of giving poisonous food to the people of his kingdom. He started repenting his decision of arranging the feast. Next morning he quietly left the palace for repenting his sin and reached a nearby village. As it became dark, he knocked at a door of hut. A beautiful girl opened the door. The king asked for providing him shelter for one night. The girl said that she lives with her brother, who was a farmer, and she would need to consult him once he comes back from the farm.
The king sat near the hut. After sometime, the farmer returned to his hut. The girl informed him about the stranger (king) asking for shelter. The farmer was very kind as well. He said that they should always welcome guest and provide them support if they are capable. The girl and her brother welcomed the king. The king was given a corner in hut and he slept there.
Next morning when the king woke, he saw that the girl was already awake and was sitting in meditation. He waited for the girl to come out of her meditation, so that he could ask for leave. After sometime, the girl opened her eyes and greeted the king. The king asked, "It was very nice to see you meditating. Do you do it everyday?" The girl replied, "Yes, but today in meditation something very strange happened. I reached the court of nature's justice. They were discussing about an event that has happened in a kingdom. A king arranged for a feast. The cook mistakenly forgot to put the cap on drum. A snake entered in kitchen and spew venom on food. The guards looked at snake, and being unaware of the food made poisonous, threw the snake away. The people ate the food. Due to the venom, they got food poisoning and few of them even died now. It was being discussed that whom should be made accountable for the sin of killing people. King was not aware of the poisonous food. The cook did not commit any intentional mistake. The snake behaved naturally and spewed venom in self defence. The guards were not aware if the food was contaminated by snake's venom. The servant who served the food was doing it with good intentions." The king became curious listening all this and asked, "So who is the biggest sinner?" The girl replied, "It would be decided tomorrow morning." The king, being curious to know the answer, asked if he could stay for one more day to know the answer, for which the girl agreed.
The news of a stranger (king) staying in the hut of a girl spread in the village. Several people gathered at a ground and started discussing about the stranger. One person was very apprehensive and said, "Do you know this stranger had to leave this morning. But he stayed in the hut seeing the beautiful girl staying alone with her brother. He must be characterless being." Some of the people agreed with him, while few did not.
Next morning, the king woke up quite early and sat just beside the girl who was meditating. He patiently waited for the girl to come out of her meditation. When the girl opened her eyes, she found the king sitting near with curiosity in his eyes. The king immediately asked, "So who is made accountable for the sin of killing people? Who is the biggest sinner?" The girl started smiling and said, "Few new things happened in today's discussions. The king went to some village in repentance. He visited some hut where a beautiful girl lived. However, some of the villagers were apprehensive and started blaming the character of king. All the sin of killing people have now fallen onto those villagers. The people who criticise others without knowing the truth are the biggest sinners. We should be very cautious of criticising anyone without being in the shoes of that person."
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