The Curse of King Parikshit
Once upon a time, in a timeless time, long ago- there lived a noble and honest king named Parikshit Maharaj. On a warm summer day while traveling through the land, the king realized he had forgotten his reusable water bottle and was very thirsty. He stopped at the hermitage of Shamika Rishi. Upon his arrival, he found the rishi to be in deep meditation. He kindly asked for water and after receiving no reply, the king became angry. As he turned to leave, he saw a dead snake laying on the ground, he then picked it up and tossed it around the meditating rishi’s neck. Just then Shamika’s son arrived- he saw what the king had done to disrespect his father and cursed him to die of a snakebite in seven days. When the rishi finished his mediation, and was informed of the exchange that had happened between the king and his son, he became distraught. Shamika believed it was too harsh of a punishment for such a minor offense, but it was too late. The words had been spoken and the curse couldn’t be broken.
After accepting his fate, King Parikshit returned to his kingdom and gave up his thrown. He then walked down to the Ganges river where an assembly of sages were meditating and discussing spiritual topics. He asked the meditating sages to teach him the science of the soul. Sukadeva, son of Vyasa (the compiler of the holy Vedas), agreed to teach the king yoga. During his lessons, it was so silent you could hear the wings of a hummingbird flapping. Each time Sukadeva offered the king water or food, he said that the spiritual teachings were enough to quench his thirst and satiate his hunger. On the seventh day, King Parikshit became self-realized and welcomed his death with an open mind and heart.
We are all born into this world with maybe 100 years to live. The king, having known he only had 7 days left, made good use of his time. If you knew you only had a week to live, what would you do? Knowing that your time here on Earth is limited, how are you choosing to live?
[This story is from Mahabharata 1.49-50]
