Once there was a very noble and able king in a kingdom. He was very empathetic towards his subjects and they loved him like their near and dear ones and respected him like god. He realized that integrity and truthfulness was the fundamental quality needed to be the ruler of a kingdom. Instead of choosing his own children as successor, he decided to select a man with the highest integrity and truthfulness from his kingdom to give him the throne.
He convened a meeting of all the young men in the kingdom and declared, “I have decided to choose one of you as my successor. I am giving one special seed to each of you today. Carry this seed to your home, plant it, water it and come back with the grown up plant exactly after one year from today. The successor of the throne will be judged on the basis of the growth of the plant.”
Among those young men who received the seed, there was a man named Ajay hailing from a very honest family. He went to home very enthusiastically and shared the whole story with his mother. She helped him get a pot, mud and strongly supported her son in his endeavors. The young Ajay carefully watered the plant and anxiously watched its growth.
Within a few weeks, his friends began to talk about the growth of plants from the seeds. Ajay was anxiously checking the seed, but nothing ever grew. Weeks after week passed away, but Ajay did not have the plant from the seed. He realized his failure, but had the heart to continue with his efforts.
Time and tide wait for none, One year had passed away and all the young men from the kingdom brought their plants for inspection and to judge by the king.
To his mother Ajay expressed his intent to keep away from the contest. But his mother urged him to move forward and participate in the contest and to be honest about what had happened. Ajay had great faith in his mother’s advice and went to the palace with the empty pot.
When Ajay arrived at the palace, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown up by other young men. They were beautiful with flower blossoming. Ajay put his empty pot on the floor in the last row so that the king may not notice his pot.
The king began to inspect the various plants and trees with flowers and fruits. Ajay felt embarrassed and hid the empty pot at the back. Suddenly the king’s sharp attention fell on the empty pot brought by Ajay at the back. He ordered his guards to bring him to the front. Ajay was little bit nervous. The king asked his name. All the other men laughed at him and make fun. The king asked everyone to be silent.
The king then announced to the crowd, “Here is your new king! His name is Ajay!” Ajay could not believe it. Everyone was shocked at the king’s declaration as Ajay couldn’t even germinate the seed. The king clarified, “One year ago, I gave a seed to each one of you. I urged all of you to take the seed and grow a plant from it and bring it after one year. Please listen to me very carefully, ‘I intentionally gave a boiled seed to all of you which would never germinate.’ All of you, except Ajay brought to me plants laden with flowers and fruits. It clearly shows that all of you have falsely substituted the seed given by me which was not fit to germinate. Ajay is the only man of integrity and truthfulness to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new king after me.”
So, it is the life of integrity that prevails at last and enjoys the fruits of real success.
