A KING HAD FOUR WIVES ...

A king was madly in love with the fourth wife. He used to do anything possible to satisfy her.  

The king loved the third one also but he always had the fear that she will leave him anytime. So he used to do whatever possible to keep her near.

 The second wife also was loved by the king because she was a source of comfort and consolation to him. She always used to console him in his troubles.  So whenever in trouble he used to reach her.

The first wife loved the king very much. She used to help him in the administrative affairs of the kingdom. But he never gave place in his heart and did anything to satisfy her.

One day the king became sick and he knew he is going to die soon. He called his fourth wife and said, “Dear I loved you more than my other wives. I did my best to satisfy you. Shall you not come with me to the tomb, to be with me ever?” She said, “No” abruptly and went off.

Then the third wife was called and the same request was made to which the reply was, “Life is beautiful. My youth still remains and I expect a new partner after your death.” She also left.

King with expectation invited the second wife to his side and told, “You were my succor at the time of my troubles. Shall you come with me to the tomb to be with me to comfort me?  The reply was, “Please forgive me Lord. How can I fulfill your desire? I shall be with you till your body is put into the tomb. I cannot come further.”

The king was very much disappointed. It was at that time he heard a soft voice, “I shall come with you. I shall be with you where ever you go.” It was the voice of the first wife who was always ignored. He regretted that she was not taken care of when he could. He said, “You were the one who must have been considered the most, but I am sorry that I didn’t. If I get a second chance I shall.”

Friends, all of us have four wives. The fourth one is our ‘body’: we do whatever possible to satisfy it. [Once when I told that there are gents who spend Rs. 1000 per month to straighten their hair, a youth in the Church told that Rs. 1000 is old rate; now it is more than Rs 2500! Now you can imagine how much is spent to ‘maintain’ our body by way of make-up materials, hair dyes, vitamin pills etc., etc.!]. With death everything we spend on our body vanishes.

 The third one is our wealth, power and positions. After our death, it goes to some others: it need not be even into our family. You might have come across the reports that crores of rupees are in banks which are unclaimed mostly because the account holders are dead without nominees’ name in the account! I know a widow who could not locate the flats and documents of a couple of property in Mumbai the husband had bought. He died in an accident and the details went with him! Hence she had to abandon it though it was worth crores.

The second wife is our relatives including our parents, siblings, life partners and children. They can come only up to the tomb where our body is buried. They have to leave after that.

The first wife is our good deeds. It only comes with us after our death. Hence remember to spend more on good deeds than to the flashing things, craving for possessions and even for our relationships.

At this juncture, I would recollect the story of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish chemist, engineer, innovator, and armaments manufacturer. Known for inventing dynamite, he held 355 different patents, dynamite being the most famous. After reading a premature obituary which condemned him for profiting from the sales of arms (In 1888, the death of his brother Ludvig caused several newspapers to publish obituaries of Alfred in error. A French obituary stated "Le marchand de la mort est mort" ("The merchant of death is dead"). This incident gave him a chance to re-think about life and its worth. The rest is known to everyone - he bequeathed his fortune to institute the Nobel Prizes. Now he is remembered by the world, not as the “merchant of death”, but as the greatest humanitarian the modern world has seen!