Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi Complete ... - BrahminVoice.org

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi
Sri Bhagavan illustrated it with the following story:
There was a king who treated his subjects well. One of his ministers
gained his confidence and misused the influence. All the other
ministers and officers were adversely affected and they hit upon a
plan to get rid of him. They instructed the guards not to let the man
enter the palace. The king noted his absence and enquired after him.
He was informed that the man was taken ill and could not therefore
come to the palace. The king deputed his physician to attend on the
minister. False reports were conveyed to the king that the minister
was sometimes improving and at other times collapsing. The king
desired to see the patient. But the pandits said that such an action
was against dharma. Later the minister was reported to have died.
The king was very sorry when he heard the news.
The arrogant minister was kept informed of all the happenings by
spies of his own. He tried to foil the other ministers. He waited for
the king to come out of the palace so that he might report himself to
the king. On one occasion he climbed up a tree, hid himself among
the branches and awaited the king. The king came out that night
in the palanquin and the man in hiding jumped down in front of
the palanquin and shouted his identity. The companion of the king
was equally resourceful. He at once took out a handful of sacred
ashes (vibhuti) from his pocket and scattered it in the air so that
the king was obliged to close his eyes. The companion shouted
victory (‘jai’) to the king and ordered the band to play so that the
other man’s shout was drowned in the noise. He also ordered the
palanquin-bearers to move fast and he himself sang incantations to
keep off evil spirits. The king was thus left under the impression
that the dead man’s ghost was playing pranks with him.
The disappointed man became desperate and retired into the forest
for tapasya (austerities). After a long time the king happened to
go hunting. He came across the former minister seated in deep
contemplation. But he hastened away from the spot lest the ghost
should molest him.
The moral of the story is that even though the man was seen in flesh
and blood, yet the wrong notion that he was a ghost prevented right
values being taken. So it is with a forced realisation of the Self.
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