DESTINY FAVOURS THOSE WHO PERSEVERE.
This incident has been culled from Indian History.
Preparations were on for a war between two states. The kings of both the states were disciples of a saint - the same saint. Both of them visited the saint to pray for his blessing at different times.
When the king of one of those two states approached the saint and prayed for his blessing, the saint closed his eyes to get an answer from God. Thereafter he told him, "You will be victorious".
The king of the other state also went to the saint. The saint closed his eyes to speak to God and then told the king, "It is doubtful that you would win".
The king was not disheartened. He told the commander of his armies, "We are not sure of our victory, but that does not matter. We will fight until we die, come what may. Make thorough preparations. If the goddess of war wants us to sacrifice our lives to her, we are ready for it".
The king, who was assured that he would be victorious, was extremely happy. His joy knew no bounds. He stopped thinking about war. He and his soldiers got lost in fun and frolic. They simply forgot that they had to fight a war.
One morning the war bugles sounded. Soldiers from both sides stood on the battlefield face to face. The war started.
The soldiers who were sure of their victory were not worried at all as they had been blessed by the saint. All of a sudden, they noticed that a white bull appeared on the battleground on the side of the enemy. That was a ferocious Bull with long horns, fiery eyes and a huge body. Shaking his horns fiercely the bull ran towards them. They were elated by a feeling of their sure victory. They were not mentally prepared for the fight. They had not even made the necessary preparations for the war. They were few in number and had only a few weapons with them.
The bull caused havoc among those careless soldiers. They began to fall.
The soldiers of the other side got encouraged. The morale of these soldiers, who had come prepared to win or to die, was already high. That bull boosted their morale. They too started fighting fiercely.
The king, who was blessed by the saint, was defeated. The other king who knew very much about his probable defeat bravely won the battle.
The king, who was defeated, went to the saint and said, "What a blessing you had given me!"
The saint closed his eyes and spoke to God. After a little while he opened his eyes and said, "Dear child, you were sure to win and your opponent was sure to lose, but you reposed your faith in your fate and made no efforts to fight. Your enemy had faith in his valour and in perseverance. In spite of being fully aware of their impending defeat, his soldiers prepared themselves for the war. That is why God came in the guise of a bull to help them. Who had forbidden you to make efforts?"
The king had nothing to say. He stood dejected before the saint.
Dear children, the one who perseveres can change even his destiny. Destiny favours those who persevere. The good luck of an idle man - who does not persevere - may well turn into bad luck.
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