The King's Four Wives

There was a king who had four wives. He loved his fourth wife the most, as she was young and very beautiful. He used to take care of his third wife, too, by providing her good food, latest designer clothing and expensive jewelry. For the second wife he ordered his ministers to take care of her the way she wanted and fulfill her desires in all possible manner. But the king never took proper care of his first wife, ignoring her all the way.

But one day, when the king was nearing his death, he called his fourth wife and asked her to accompany him in his journey after his death, as he felt scared to be all alone after death. The fourth wife replied in the negative and said she could not accompany him as she was still young, good looking and attractive. She would, in fact, marry somebody after his death as she could not live alone and wanted to enjoy her life. The disappointed king called his third wife and made the same request. The third wife also refused to accompany him but said that since she cannot live without him, she would lie on his funeral pyre and kill herself. Highly depressed, the king called his second wife to check if she would accompany him, but she also refused, saying that since she has children to be taken care of, she could not accompany him. However, she said she would accompany him up to the graveyard. Almost about to die, the king heard a voice from behind saying, “I will accompany you, oh my dear king, after your death, wherever you go.”

The astonished king looked behind him and saw his first wife. Weak, skinny and pale, revealing that she had had no food for years and that nobody had taken care of her, she again said, “I cannot live without you and I have no existence without you, dear king, hence I will accompany where you go after death.”

This story is in reference to all of us having similar “four wives” in our lives. The fourth wife, who is most attractive and eternally young, is money and wealth. After our death it goes to somebody else, without looking at us even once.

The third wife is our body. It cannot exist without us. Hence it will be laid on our funeral pyre and be burnt or buried along with us.

The second wife is the family, who will accompany us only till the graveyard.

The first wife is our soul (atma or divine being) who will accompany us wherever we go, even after death. The agony is that we do not care, feed or look after our soul, which is always with us- while we are alive and even after death.  It never leaves us, whether we take care of it or not, whether we feed it or not, whether we clothe it or not. In spite of such a faithful and loving companion, we ignore it and fall prey to the worldly attractions that will be our companion in this world and only if they are taken care of.

~ Sri Rameshji Jain