Continued….From Part 9 –
So does war really take place between the King’s and the Queen’s kingdom or is it avoided through diplomacy?…….To find out read on…
Dirghakarna, the crane, having been dismissed by the Peacock King Chitrakarna hastily returned to his home kingdom, the island of Karpadweep. He quickly went to meet with the Queen, Hiranyagarbh (and related his adventures as we read in Part 9). Having finished his story he informed the Queen that the Parrot was being sent as the emissary to convey King Chitrakarna’s message to her.
The Queen’s able Prime Minister, the Goose was listening all this while and commented, “So by visiting a foreign kingdom, the Queen’s work has been done by a foolish crane, in line with his ability. Such is the nature of a fool”.
The Prime Minister was angry with Dirghakarna’s foolishness which had led to converting a simple visit to another kingdom into a war situation. He also worried about the impending war due to the actions of Dirghakarna.
But Queen Hiranyagarbh admonished the PM saying, “this is no time to rue over what has already happened, Let bygones be bygones and let us focus on the present and find solutions to our current problems”.
The PM replied, “I would like to speak with you in private, for by just observing the color, form, sound, even the flick of an eye or twitch of the mouth, the shrewd and intelligent are able to gauge the thoughts of another”.
So the Queen asked all others to leave and then they had a private discussion. The PM said, “I feel that Dirghakarna has been instigated by someone from within our kingdom to create this situation. You see just like a sick man always seeks a doctor, a reckless spender attracts the policeman, the troublemaker seeks to disrupt the ruler.”
The Queen replied, “That may be so but I would rather not dwell on the causes of current trouble, but remain focussed on what is to be done now.”
The PM replied, “First, let us appoint a spy, for a spy becomes the eye of the ruler and helps in finding what is possible, what is achievable and what is not. Secondly, let the spy take an assistant, so that once he has stationed himself within the territory of the enemy to observe, learn their secrets and gather all important information, he can easily have it conveyed to you through the assistant without having to break away himself from where he is strategically stationed.
Further, you should communicate with your emissaries, disguised as an ascetic and only meet them in this disguise at temples, hermitages and places of worship and hold discussions with them while pretending to discuss and study holy books.
It is also important that your emissary have the ability to travel by both land and water.
In line with these requirements I think that one of the cranes be appointed as the spy and given one crane just like him as his assistant to carry out this important task. But we must also remember to keep their family within our authority as hostages, so that there is no chance of cheating by the emissaries.
All these actions must be taken with great secrecy. Council with more than one person on such an important and secret mission surely leads to leakage of information. The damage done by breach of information can cause too much damage and can never be repaired”.
As the Queen reflected on the counsel of the PM, a soldier came in to announce that a parrot had arrived from Jambudweep at the gates and was asking to meet with the Queen.
This alerted the Goose PM and he quickly replied, “Let the guest be sent to rest at the rest- house for now”. The soldier then retreated and took the Parrot to the rest house.
The Queen, noting the arrival of the emissary parrot commented to the PM, “I think war is imminent.”
The PM replied, “While that may be a possibility but it is in our hands to ensure that this is not a war entered in haste. No prudent minister/ emissary will recommend war at the outset. We all understand that there is no certainty of victory for either side in a war. Therefore, we must try to overcome the situation by alternate means like bribing, or showing conciliation or other ways of dissent.
Wise people move towards the option of warring only when other means of conciliation have failed.
Also, before a war anyone can claim to be a hero, but if war takes place then there is no doubt about who is the winner and who a loser, so it is best to avoid that situation.
So, I think it is better to take small strategic steps and arrive at a result that we want rather than simply prepare for outright war. A large stone is easily moved by a lever but pushing it can be a very hard task.
But, if war seems imminent, then quick action must be taken.
However, we must remember that just as cattle becomes ready for milking or slaughter only after time and effort is spent on preparing it overtime, politics too, requires time for readiness.
The quality of great kings and administrators is to be planned and prepared in advance, and display courage when the moment of action presents itself. But in moments of misfortune they display fortitude”.
After a pause, the Goose PM continued, “The Peacock King Chitrakarna seems to be a very powerful king so we must remember that:
..a fight between an elephant and men cannot be a foot fight
..only a fool starts with quarrelling with the strong. How can one rise very high on an insect’s wings?
..the politically astute first find shelter when attacked, like a tortoise which hides within its shell. But when conditions are appropriate for the self to be victorious, they rise like a serpent to defeat the enemy
..a strategic thinker can achieve success against both a strong or weak enemy, just like a stream of water can uproot both trees and grasses based on its force.
So, my suggestion to you is to first appease the parrot emissary till we are able to build and strengthen our fort to resist any attack.
Our fort must be surrounded by water, have high ramparts. It should be spacious enough to store large amounts of grain, fuel and water.”
The Queen enquired, “Who should be appointed to construct the fort?”
The PM replied, “Anyone who has practical experience in the subject, must be appointed. A person with less or no experience is often confounded by practical issues. So the right person would be the General Heron for this task.”
The Queen called for the General and asked for the fort to be built quickly. The General replied, “Your highness our island of Karpadweep is naturally built like a fort. We should only focus on keeping enough food/water stores for no riches other than food will sustain us in a war situation. A hungry army or people will not sustain life or war in our favor.”
The Queen urgently ordered the General to make all arrangements in line with their discussions.
In the meanwhile, a soldier came in to announce that a crow by the name of Meghavarna, from the island of Ceylon had come in and was asking to meet with the Queen to pay his respects to her.
The Queen reflected that a crow is a sharp and wise bird so it would be good to meet with him.
But the PM interjected and said, “while the crow is a sharp and intelligent bird but the fact is that for it to appear at a time when we are preparing for a war is not a good sign. Also, it does not belong to our flock and comes from a different flock of birds and we know nothing about this stranger. It is quite possible that it has been sent by the enemy and is from the enemy’s camp. So we should not get into the trap like the foolish jackal which tried to belong to another group of animals and was in the process abandoned and killed”.
The Queen asked how that was and so the PM related the following story –
Abandoning your own Team to Embrace Outsiders is a Big Folly
A jackal once roaming aimlessly wandered towards a nearby village. The village folk were cloth dyers by profession and there were several vats of color strewn around. Being unaware, the jackal wandered about in the dark and happened to fall into a vat of indigo dye. He tried very hard to get out of the vat but was not able to do so. Soon he realised that it would be morning and he was trapped in the vat. He knew that when the village folk discovered him in the vat he would be killed. So he decided to act dead when the villagers arrived for work in the morning. So when someone approached the vat, he stiffened his body and lay down motionless. The dyer noticed a dead jackal in the vat and quickly took it out and threw it away in an open space at a distance. The jackal then quietly got up and ran away when no one was watching.
Having run a short distance into the forest, he noticed that he had become dyed indigo due to his night spent in the indigo vat. He decided to take advantage of his blue color to elevate his status among animals of the jungle. So he gathered all the jackals of the jungle and declared to them,”I have been consecrated by the jungle goddess herself with the finest herbs, with the objective of giving me the sovereign position in the jungle. Hence, also the change in my bodily color to differentiate me from others”.
The jackals watched him closely and saw his brilliant color. Unable to find any other explanation they bowed before him and took him as their leader. Thus began his ascent to greater and greater power and sovereignty. Supported by his group, he gradually established control over other animals as well and soon had a great following of even lions and tigers, etc.
Becoming proud and arrogant with his success and following, the jackal over time started ignoring his brother jackals and developed greater contact with the other regal animals like the lions and tigers. Being pushed away so casually, the jackal community felt very cheated and ignored.
So an old jackal one day said to the other jackals, “This indigo jackal belongs to our own community so we know both his strengths and weaknesses. The tigers and lions are deceived solely due to his color and do not realise that he is not their king but an ordinary jackal. So we must do something so that they are able to detect that he is a jackal rather than an elevated different being worthy of being their king. Accordingly, I propose that today evening all jackals gather close to where he sits in counsel with the tigers and lions and start our joint howling. Being a jackal his instinct will also be to join the howl”.
All jackals agreed and they acted as per their plan.
Hearing his jackal group howl, the indigo jackal reacted true to his nature and joined the howl. The surprised tigers and lions recognised that this was an ordinary jackal and feeling angry at being fooled for so many days by the jackal they leapt forward and killed him instantly.
The PM then concluded the story for the Queen saying that ignoring one’s own group for an outsider can lead to unhappy results.
But the Queen insisted saying that since the Crow guest had arrived from a long distance to meet her, it would only be right for her to give audience to him, but she also said that no deliberations would be held in front of the Crow.
Hence, when the royal court opened, all including the Crow entered.
The PM by then had informed the Queen saying, “Your Highness a spy has been appointed and the fort also prepared for war, so you can now meet with the Parrot emissary and then let him go back to his kingdom’.
Accordingly, the Parrot was invited into the court. He came in with head held high and took the seat offered and began speaking, “Our great Peacock King Chitrakarna who has the rubies of various king’s crowns as his toe rings commands you to come and prostrate at his feet and surrender your kingdom to him, or run to some other place to save your life”.
This infuriated the Queen who loudly said, “Is there no one in this court who wishes to kill this insolent emissary?”
Hearing this, the Crow immediately raised himself up and angrily charged at the Parrot, but was stopped by the PM.
The PM said, “As the elders and upholders of law of this kingdom, we should know that an emissary, even if he seems like a barbarian, cannot be harmed, for it is the King /Queen speaking through him and he is only the conveyor of the message. It is the duty of the emissary to convey the royal message even if the emissary finds himself surrounded by soldiers with drawn weapons”.
The Queen and the Crow then tempered down and the Parrot emissary hastily withdrew. The Parrot was then invited back into the discussion and regret expressed at the attempted attack on him. He was presented with gifts and honourably allowed to go back to his own kingdom.
Upon reaching back, he immediately approached King Chitrakarna, who asked him what news he had brought back.The Parrot replied, “Sir, we must prepare for war. The island of Karpadweep is a beautiful island of paradise. It’s beauty is not even describable”.
This aroused in King Chitrakarna the greed to possess this beautiful place. He thought to himself, “A discontented priest and contented king always bring ruin on themselves, so best to aspire to add more beautiful territory to my kingdom”.
So, he convened his generals to discuss how to take over the island of Karpadweep in war.
The wise Vulture who was the King’s Prime Minister, intervened and said, “An unrighteous war can never be justified. War should only be waged in certain circumstances like –
..when you have greatly loyal friends, ministers and allies but your enemy has no such loyal people to depend upon
.. if you are assured of gaining the triple fruit of territory, friends, or gold”
The king was meanwhile hardly listening and ordered the generals to report to him the readiness of the army after which he requested for the royal astrologer to come and inform the court of the auspicious time to start the process of war.
The Wise Vulture again intervened and said, “Sir what is the need to go to war in such haste, without even determining the strengths of the enemy?”
This angered King Chitrakarna and he angrily retorted, “Minister I ask you to stop repressing my spirits on this endeavour. It is better that you support us by pointing the way to assured victory for someone who is desirous of acquiring another kingdom”.
>>>At this point, Vishnusarman said to the Princes – What use is advice based on the sacred code of law (Dharma) to a king who has no intent to follow it. It is like wanting the cure to a disease simply by having knowledge of medicine but with no intent to apply it<<<
In frustration, then the Vulture PM replied, “I shall give advice only if it will be followed”. Then, he proceeded to explain the correct rules to be followed during a war and gave the following advice –
..When traversing through forests, mountains, rivers and forts, the army is more vulnerable, so it is the commander who should go first along with his forces and be fully ready to repel any attack
..The king and his wealth must be best protected and so during the journey they must always be surrounded by the best men of the army and remain in this fortified center
..The 2 sides of this center must be flanked by warriors on horseback, these should be flanked on both sides by chariots, the chariots must be flanked by elephants and the elephants should be flanked by foot soldiers
..At the tail end of the army must be the Commander, who must keep the spirits of all high and motivate and encourage those ahead of him
..Mountainous terrain should be traversed on elephants, the plains on horses, waterways on boat
..The king should sleep like a Yogin or ascetic, light sleep helps in always being alert to danger
..The king should try to tire the enemy army by dragging them through difficult terrain which has thorny bushed, uneven land and swamps
..Once into enemy territory, only the best should be sent ahead of others
..The treasury should always accompany the King and he should liberally reward the soldiers. Wars are always fought for money, not loyalty
..On entry into the enemy’s territory, first attempts should be to destroy the stocks of food, water, fuel and also the ramparts, trenches
..it is better to have a small army of the truly valiant rather than a large army consisting of both the valiant and the weak. The fall of the weak ensures the fall of the whole army
..Unkindness, appropriating the share of those deserving a reward, procrastination, non requital of just needs are all reasons for an army’s estrangement
..An army fatigued by long marches becomes a poor force
..A victorious king must declare his own choice of heir to the throne
The king smirked on hearing this long list of instructions and commented, “What use are so many instructions? Polity is simply about winning and ensuring the loss of the enemy”.
The PM laughed and replied, “Sire while that may be true but remember that the nature of people is ungovernable and war must be governed by moral law. It is due to this discrepancy that often predicaments arise for the decision-maker, on what might be right vs what may be wrong to do”.
King Chitrakarna, tired of all the talk quickly took the decision to start the journey with his army at an auspicious time given by the astrologer.
In the meantime, the spy appointed, by the Queen of Karpadweep, sent his messenger to inform the Queen that King Chitrakarna had already set forth to attack her kingdom. The messenger said to the Queen, “The king is proceeding towards our kingdom, he has a very skilled PM as his advisor, so we must fortify ourselves well. Also, we have overheard that a spy has been set forth amongst us and so we must be very careful and find out who this is”.
The Queen’s PM again brought up the point that this spy could very probably be the Crow who had arrived very recently into the kingdom. But the Queen disagreed saying, “if that be so then why did he get up angrily to defend me and attack the parrot emissary when the emissary delivered his very rude message?”
The PM responded, “Even then a new comer must remain suspect in current circumstances”.
The Queen replied, “A kind stranger should be considered a kinsman and an unkind kinsman a stranger. Let me tell you what I mean by telling you the story of a dedicated servant who killed his own son to serve his king”.
The PM asked how it came to be and the Queen narrated the following story –
Doing Your Duty
There was a king called Shudrak of Ananda lake. One day a soldier approached the gate of his kingdom seeking employment there. He was taken to the king and he introduced himself saying, “Sir, I am Veervar. If there is need of a soldier in your kingdom then do appoint me in your army.”
The king asked, “What equipment or assets do you bring with you?” Veervar replied, “I have 2 arms and 3rd, a sword which are my greatest assets.”
The King asked what payment would he expect. Veervar replied, “400 gold coins a day”. The king was shocked and declined to appoint him. So Veervar thanked the king for meeting him and them turned to leave the court.
In the meantime, some of the ministers said that sending away a hopeful so abruptly was not a good idea and advised the King to appoint him for 4 days to see what was so special about the soldier to demand so much money. If he indeed proved to be so special then it would be worth hiring him.
So they called the soldier back and agreed to appoint him on terms laid out by him.
Th King watched him everyday to observe his character and skills. He saw that Veervar shared half of his earnings with the priests and learned scholars of the land, half of the remainder was spent on the sick and needy. What was left over was used by him on his food, essentials and entertainment. The king also noticed that Veervar diligently did his duties all day long and left for home only when directly commanded by the King to retire for the day.
One day the King heard a loud wailing late at night. He came over to his balcony and commanded the Soldier Veervar to find out who was wailing that late at night. As he saw Veeervar disappear into the darkness, the king felt remorse at sending him alone. Thinking that there could be danger for a lone man, the king also decided to follow him. On reaching the spot from where the wailing seemed to originate he saw a beautiful young woman talking to Veervar. Going closer to hear what they were talking he heard Veervar ask who she was and why she was wailing so loudly in the middle of the night. The woman replied, “I am the demi goddess, Fortune, who has been protected by the king all these years and have lived under his protection in his palace. Now I know that 3 days from now the King will die and I will then have no place to go after losing his protection. So I wail”. Hearing this, Veervar asked if such a bad situation for the king could be avoided.
Fortune replied, “this is possible only if you kill your own son as offering to Laxmi, the goddess of wealth, then she will accept your supreme sacrifice and offering and grant the King 100 years of life and I can then live long years in this palace, happy and content”.
The King saw Veervar quickly start for his home and followed him. Veervar woke up his wife and son and told them what had transpired. Both his wife and son urged him to take action as advised as he must do his duty of loyalty to his employer and not hesitate. Accordingly, they immediately left for the town temple of Laxmi and there Veervar sacrificed his son to the Goddess. Praying to the Goddess Veervar and his wife said, “Now there is nothing more left for us in this world having lost our only child, we too prefer to leave this world”. They also killed themselves.
The King was watching the whole drama unfold. He was filled with varied emotions after witnessing what had transpired. He thought to himself, “Insignificant creatures like me are born and die but one as dutiful as Veervar and his family is rare to find”. He was so overcome with the supreme sacrifice of his dutiful soldier that he prayed to goddess Laxmi saying, “there is little sense in having a kingdom when I have lost my most dutiful, brave and dedicated soldier. I also do not deserve to live”.
The Goddess Laxmi then appeared to him and blessed him with a long and prosperous life and being happy with the love and respect that the king showed for his dutiful soldier, she granted back the lives of Veervar and his family too.
When Veervar reported to duty the next day, the King asked what had transpired in the night in front of all the people. Veervar simply replied, “Sir on my questioning the wailing woman quietly went away”. The King was wonderstruck with Veervar’s humility and grace and admired that Veervar made no attempt to divulge his great sacrifice or the fact that he had just saved the King’s life. Being very impressed with his strength of character, the King granted Veervar a kingdom of his own.
So, having related this story, the Queen asked the Goose PM, why he thought a stranger was always to be seen as an enemy.
The Goose PM replied, “A good minister is one who advises and cautions a King/Queen to dangers, even if doing so hurts their feelings. The minister should only be concerned with ensuring that no harm comes to his King/Queen. A royal who has a a doctor, a spiritual guide and a Minister who speak only to flatter the master, will soon lose the kingdom, virtue and life.
The Minister must be a person of great virtue and protect the interest of the master at all costs. Once virtue is lost all is lost, like the story of the greedy barber ”.
On the Queen’s enquiry about the story, the Goose PM related as follows –
Personal Gain at the Cost of Virtue
In the city of Awadh lived a soldier named Chudamani. He was very poor but virtuous person. He worked hard and also diligently prayed to God for greater wealth. One day he was blessed by God who asked to travel to the Grand kingdom of Kubera, the God of wealth, where he was told he would be informed how to attain the wealth he wished for.
On reaching the kingdom of the Great Kubera, he was welcomed by the Lord himself. Lord Kubera told him that he had arranged for Chudamani to be groomed and so a barber had been called. Kubera then advised him that after being groomed, he should leave back for his home and wait at his front door with a club in hand. After some time he will see a beggar come to wards him for alms. This beggar should be beaten to death and on dying the beggar’s body will transform into a large urn of gold which will be for Chudamani to take. Chudamani then was groomed and shaved and went back happily at the prospect of becoming rich.
The barber shaving Chudamani was also witness to this conversation with Kubera and being curious to see if the suggestion of Lord Kubera really worked, he decided to follow Chudamani.
Hiding near his house, he watched and saw that a beggar did arrive. As advised, Chudamani clobbered him to death and the dead body of the beggar then turned into an urn of gold.
The barber becoming greedy, decided to use the same methodology to gain some gold for himself. So he started to look for a beggar near his home ever day. One day when a beggar arrived at his door, he promptly attacked and killed him. But no gold was produced from this heinous act. Instead the barber was mercilessly beaten by the police and thrown into jail.
What the barber forgot was that what is attained by virtue cannot be attained by simple greed.
The Queen was by now in a hurry to start war preparations and concluded the discussion with the Goose PM saying, “It is difficult to determine if a stranger is enemy or friend. Let us now get back to war preparation”.
Soon another minister entered with more news from the spy stationed in the kingdom of Peacock Chitrakarna. He informed the Queen, “We hear that King Chitrakarna has now reached the plateau of the Malaya mountains. It is also been heard that the King has not given much heed to the wise advise of his Vulture PM and so it should be easy to defeat an unprepared, foolish King”.
>>> Here Vishnusarman stopped the story to make a point to the Princes and said – The covetous, the cruel, the intractable/rigid, the untruthful, the careless, the timid, the wavering, the foolish, the arrogant who cannot appreciate or recognise the skills of enemy warriors are an enemy easy to defeat <<<
The clever Queen retorted as follows –
“..The army by now must be fatigued by long marches over difficult terrains consisting of mountains, rivers, forests and rough roads, –
.. the soldiers must already be exhausted, they must also be suffering due to lack of enough food and water over such a long journey
..many of them must be furious due to hunger, sickness, fatigue or being battered by the rain and wind
..the army men will also be at a point of exhaustion due to keeping vigil at night and therefore needing to sleep during the day. This will make them an easy target to defeat”
Hence, she commanded, “A negligent and foolish king’s army gives us great opportunity to kill them all so let the Heron and other generals attack the army day and night and render them useless”.
The same was undertaken and many, of the brave soldiers and officers of Chitrakarna’s army were slain. King Chitrakarna became dejected and then repentantly approached his Vulture PM asking to be forgiven for his indiscretion and requested for advice.
The Vulture PM noted, “Sir, pay attention to what I say –
..even an ignorant king can gain prosperity by heeding the advice of the accomplished and learned, just like a tree close to water thrives
..great success can never be attained by one who reacts through the sole impulse of courage. Prosperity comes from both strategy and bravery
..good strategy can even overcome misfortune just like sadness destroys mirth, winter destroys autumn, the sun destroys darkness, ingratitude destroys good deeds and kindness destroys grief. Similarly bad policy can destroy great prosperity.
Hearing what you had to say to me after getting my advice, I thought to myself, how can one bereft of eyes be helped by a bright lamp? Hence, I decided to stay silent and not stop you from taking the path you had chosen”.
The king felt deeply regretful and apologized for his mistakes and requested for advice on how to save the situation.
The Vulture PM smiled and said –
“..Sir do not be afraid and get back to your cheerful mood
..an advisor like me is best to use when things are not going right. That is the greatest use of a good counsellor
..Also, in times of disturbance and unrest, it is only the small minded who get restless. Those of mature minds and great courage remain unmoved and continue to stoically pursue their goals
..so sir, using your brave army, I promise to lead you through the Vindhya mountains to the Kingdom of Karpadweep with fame, dignity and strength”.
The dejected King asked how that was possible with the small army left at their disposal now.
The Vulture PM then advised him, “Sir let our small army blockade each of the gates of the enemy’s fort”.
This was overheard by the Crane Spy appointed by the Queen. The Crane spy quickly flew over to inform the Queen about the impending blockade of gates being planned by the Vulture PM.
The Queen turned to the Goose PM and asked what now needed to be done.
The Goose PM replied,”There is nothing to worry. This is the moment to keep your bravest soldiers motivated by distributing high wages to them. Fortune favours the one who knows how to withhold even the smallest coin in normal times but has the wisdom to know the moments when wealth must be used to reward the brave, skilled and loyal servants. The wise say that there are 8 occasions/ reasons when money must be freely spent – a sacrifice, marriage, distress of some kind, to finish off on enemy, to perform an act which can bring fame, when hosting friends, on a beloved wife and on maintaining poor relatives.
If one does not do so then it is like abandoning your own goods for fear of tax being levied”.
The Queen did not seem convinced and asked, “how is it appropriate at the present moment to spend large sums of money? The wise preserve wealth during periods of misfortune”.
The Goose PM replied, “Hoarded wealth tends to vanish. It is the time to present your best and loyal soldiers with right compensation as –
..soldiers who are well motivated, closely knit as a group can defeat an army twice their size
..a mean, miserly, ungrateful person is shunned by the brave and honest and sometimes even by their own family
..a good king is one who is seen by others as brave, truthful and a good paymaster
..wealth always stays with the one who is always restrained in both pleasure and anger, whose treasury is well managed, and who is always respectful to his/her servants.
Meghavarna, the sly Crow visiting the Karpadweep island was hovering nearby and listening to the conversation between the Goose PM and the Queen. Quickly intervening he said, “Your Majesty, the army of King Chitrakarna has arrived at our gates. I beg you to allow me to fly out to the gates and confront them. In this way I shall be able to show you my bravery as well as pay my debts for your great faith and trust you have shown in me.”
The Goose PM was sharp and quick to respond saying, “What use is the refuge of the Fort if we have to go out of the gates and expose ourselves? Even a ferocious crocodile becomes weak once out of the water and a Lion is under great threat when out of the woods”.
The he addressed the Queen, “I request you to go along with all your Ministers to the gate to inspect and understand for yourself how and when we should send our troops to fend off an attack. Even a dog is willing to fight a lion when encouraged and motivated by its master. Your actions will help our brave soldiers to feel motivated and charged to win any fight”.
The actions of the Queen and her ministers were watched by King Chitrakarana and feeling desperate he again approached his Vulture PM saying, “Sir, please fulfil your promise to make us win this war”.
The wise Vulture PM had also been observing the goings on and said to the King, “A fort can be besieged only if –
..it is not stocked with food, water for a long enough time, or
..the army is commanded by a fool, or
..the fort has been left unprotected, or
..the kingdom has only timid soldiers
However, in this case none of the above are true. So the only options available to us are as follows –
..to sow dissension among the ministers and army
..to holdout a long siege of the fort
..a direct assault
..daring heroism”
Saying so the Vulture PM asserted that action will take place the next day.
The next morning King Chitrkarna’s army laid siege at the gates of the fort and a fight ensued at the gates between the 2 armies.
In the meantime, Meghavarna, the sly Crow who was actually a spy sent by the Vulture PM was informed that it was time for him to take action. So, as the army arrived to lay siege at the gates, Meghavarna called upon all his other crows and started throwing burning logs of wood into houses across the kingdom. As fires started burning across the kingdom the crows cawed loudly, announcing – The Fort is taken, The fort is taken!!
This completely disturbed the fight going on at the gates and many people including the soldiers starting running out of the fort into the waters to escape from the compromised fort.
The Queen being a Flamingo was by nature a slow mover. So her General, the Heron while quick herself was unable to take her to safety. The moment was used by the Cock General of King Chitrakarna, to attack her and the Heron. The queen requested the General Heron to escape and instead save her son and make him the next king after the battle was over.
The General Heron replied, “This is unthinkable for me. As your General I shall protect this fort with my life and blood. Also, the Queen must be preserved at all costs”.
Saying so she shielded the Queen with her body and pushed her into the water and helped her escape. She fought back bravely and inflicted many wounds on the General Cock. Though badly wounded herself, she continued to put up a brave fight and died on the battlefield.
But damage had already been done and King Chitrakarna won the war and took charge of the fort and all its possessions.
At this Point Vishnusarman ended the story.
The Princes reacting to the story said to Vishnusarman, “The real Hero of the war was the General Heron, who at the cost of her own life saved the life of the Queen”.
Vishnusarman said, “Those brave ones who are ever loyal and grateful to their king/queen and serve him even at the cost of their own lives are truly the great heroes and must be remembered and valued forever for these great qualities”.
Then blessing the Princes he said, “May there never be war for your Highnesses !! May you always receive such great counsel from your political counselors that your enemies are never able to attack you but are forced to find refuge for themselves in mountains and forests!!”.
End of Stories on War
