557. After the Migration

"Guru! I find the sufferings of the people of this Maragatha country heart-rending" said the disciple.

"Yes. Even a person like me, who is considered to have attained a status of having absolute control over my emotions feel depressed, by looking at the sufferings of these people. Of all the tragedies in the world, the tragedy resulting from the failure of rains is the most gruesome" said the Guru.

"Why do things like this take place, Guru? Why is God so merciless towards the people of this country?"

The Guru closed his eyes for a moment and then said, "If we could understand God's mind, then the very idea of God will become meaningless. This is the only reply I can give you now."

"Maybe, if I become more matured, I will be able to give you a better reply!" he added, with a smile.

After some time, the Guru told his disciple, "A severe famine prevails in this country because of the failure of the rain to arrive. However, people, in spite of not getting enough food even for themselves, have been offering food to us, considering that we are ascetics. We can't accept this strained hospitality for long. It is only appropriate that we leave this country and migrate to some other country. Even after migrating to some other country, we will continue to pray for relief for the people of Maragatha country. That is the only thing we can do."

Accordingly, they migrated to Gomethaka country.

"In contrast to Maragatha country, Gomethaka country is full of fertile lands and bountiful crops" said the disciple.

'Yes. Let us pray that Maragatha country also be blessed with abundance of grains from the crops grown there" said the Guru.

A few weeks after their settling down in Gomethaka country, the disciple told the Guru, "Guru! Though this country is blessed with abundance of resources and plentiful yield of grains, people of this country do not seem to be happy. I see on the faces of people of Gomethaka country, the same signs of grief I saw in the people of Maragatha country, due to their suffering from famine conditions."

"Yes. The intensity of grief on the faces of the people of Gomethaka country is even more than that on the faces of Maragatha country."

"Why is it so, Guru? Why are these people engulfed in grief, when they have been living in a state of abundance?"

"Living in abundance has not made these people happy. How can people be happy, when they are under a tyrannical rule?"

"What do you mean, Guru?"

"The king of Gomethaka is a tyrant. People have been suffering under his rule, the way plants will suffer from lack of rain."

"But I have heard people praising the king!"

"Two kinds of people will praise a tyrant. One kind of people, who blindly support the king, praise him. The other kind of people praise the king, fearing that if they don't do so, they would be branded enemies of the state and put in prison. There is also a third kind of people, who, like a farmer desperately hoping for the rain to arrive, have been waiting for the tyranny to come to an end and for breathing the air of freedom. Since they don't reveal themselves, we won't be able to identify them" said the Guru, wit a sigh.

"What should we do, Guru?"

"Just as we have been praying for rains to arrive in Maragatha country, let us pray that the tyrannical rule of the king in Gomethaka country come to an end soon and that people of this country be blessed with a benign rule. What else can we do?" said the Guru.

Thirukkural

Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 56

Tyranny

Verse 557 (in Tamil):

thuLi inmai gnAlaththiRku eRRaRRE vEndhan
aLi inmai vAzhum uyirkku.

Meaning:

Just as lack of rain is to the world, so is

rulers’ lack of benevolence, to the people.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'nAdu vittu nAdu vandhu' by the same author.)

Verse 558
Verse 556