Page 15 - Courage Redifined

possess this inner eye and hence was blind. Now in spite of
having this inner eye, should I perform such a heinous act
and fall in the deep well of sensual pleasures ?

No, in this birth I do not want to close this inner eye which
can help me to distinguish between the right and wrong and
do not want to welcome blindness in my life again.

In the context of sensual pleasures, happiness is equivalent to
a mere drop while the thirst for it is as vast as an ocean.’’

If Kamlata would have been determined, and thought on
the above lines, then she could have recognized the wrong
and could have resisted the King’s offer. But she lost her
courage and character and ultimately succumbed to the King’s
offer. But as years passed, she fondly remembered her loving
husband and infant child. She regretted her decision. She
thought, “How mean am I ! They would be enveloped in
miseries while I am basking in luxuries here. Let me run
away and meet them.”

Under the King’s tight security, it was impossible for Kamlata
to run away and hence she made a dreadful plan wherein she
could easily kill the King and flee. She started convincing the
King, “Look, my condition is so miserable. I should perform
some good religious acts. I wish to do charity.” The King
was totally unaware about her foul plan and replied, “You can
happily donate as much as you wish. This treasure is all yours.”

Does this act mean that the King also became religious by
heart ? No, he was just a slave of sensual pleasures. He felt
that if he fulfilled all her desires then she would be happy
with him and love him all the more. Carried away by these
thoughts and just to satisfy his desires, he gave her access to
his treasure and let her donate it freely.

The temptation for sensual pleasures destroys the soul’s
welfare.
Insatiable Sensual Desires 5