Fate Opened Up

King Veerbhadra was a very kind ruler. He never thought twice before giving financial help to those who were really in need.

For example, when someone wanted to start a new business or someone wanted to take his family on a long pilgrimage or someone was ill for a long time and was short of money for treatment, he used to help them without hesitation.

Surprisingly, all of them would go back to the king and tell him with gratitude that their new business was growing, that their family had visited many pilgrimage sites and received the blessings of the gods or that he was now free from the disease and was able to work for a living.

The king was happy to see that his timely help had brought the desired result.

But he was sad about one thing.

Veerbhadra had a distant cousin, Veeramurthy, who was very poor. The king really wanted to help him, but that person was not able to take full advantage of his help.

Veeramurthy was a good hunter and composed poems on different subjects and recited them to the king. The king loved poetry. Whenever Veeramurthy returned from hunting or recited a poem, the king would reward him. But before he could use the money, either a thief stole it or his bag was lost on the way. Thus he always remained the poorest of the poor. Whenever he came to the palace, he would be in dirty clothes or would be hungry and thirsty. One day, Veeramurthy came to the palace with a lot of prey. Veerbhadra was very pleased with him. He wanted to reward him in front of his courtiers. So he called them all and said, You all know my cousin Veeramurthy. Today he has shown his bravery by killing a lot of prey. I want to reward him in front of all of you. Then the king ceremoniously presented him with a shining orange and sent him off with a smile. Veeramurthy bowed and thanked the king and left the court.

Whispers started in the court. Is the king playing a prank on his poor cousin The king heard the whispers but paid no attention to them. Neither the cousin nor the courtiers knew that the orange given as a prize was not an ordinary one and contained precious stones.

Veeramurthy did not think twice about the prize. After all, the king praised his bravery in front of the courtiers. This was a great thing for him. This was a much bigger prize than an ordinary orange. He put it in his bag and started for home.

On the way he met a beggar. He extended his bowl to him. Veeramurthy had no money, so he took out the orange from his bag and put it in the beggars bowl. You must be feeling hungry, eat it. Saying this, he said, Veeramurthy went on walking.

The bhikshu was surprised to see that the orange was unusually heavy. It was very shiny, so he decided to take it to the king. The guards, knowing the generosity of the king, allowed the bhikshu to enter the palace.

When he entered the court, the king made him sit with great respect. The bhikshu took out a golden orange and said, My lord, please accept this poor bhikshus gift, but with it I have my blessing. Long live.

On seeing the orange, Veerabhadra knew that his unfortunate brother could not understand the value of the orange. He accepted the orange and presented him a bag full of silver coins. The bhikshu blessed the king and left.

When the royal hunt was announced, Veeramurthy was also among the hunters. This time too, he killed many as before.

The king again gave him an orange as a prize. Veeramurthy thought that this would be the second orange. So he put it in his bag and went out of the court.

Before reaching the main gate, he met a courtier who was chewing paan. Do you have any more paan asked Veeramurthy. He gave the courtier an orange in exchange for the paan.

The courtier accepted it with a weak smile. He knew what he would do with it. He immediately went to the king and gave him the orange and said, Your cousin has given this to me in exchange for my paan. You gave it to him twice, but he did not keep it carefully for himself. Your Majesty, there is no use in helping him. He will never succeed in life.

For his bravery in another royal hunt, the king gave him the orange for the third time. He also swore that this was his last help. When Veeramurthy took the orange from the kings hand, it fell to the ground and broke into pieces. The precious gems inside it came out.

Forgive me, my lord, Veeramurthy said apologetically and started picking the gems one by one. He was also surprised. He looked at the kings face.

The king smiled and said, My brother, your luck has opened. Whenever I tried to help you, you kept on refusing. You gave the orange to others Now you will become rich.

King Veerbhadra sent him off with enough gold to last him a lifetime. Veeramurthy soon became a rich man, but he decided that he too would help the needy like his cousin.