Prince Of Destiny

Two thousand years ago, there lived in the kingdom of Bharhut, a great philosopher and historian, whose name was Ashokanand. For many years, he had been a widower, and his life was devoted to his only child, a beautiful girl named Devipriya, whom the astrologers said would one day become the mother of a son destined to be a great ruler.

Ashokanand liked to believe that the astrologers’ predictions would become true, and he therefore hoped his daughter would marry a great prince. When no gallant prince came riding along, Ashokanand, bolstered up his courage and took his daughter to the palace and begged an audience with the king.

In front of the king, Ashokanand never hesitated. After extolling his daughter’s beauty and virtues, he calmly suggested that the king accept his daughter to become one of his queens. The king’s face showed no expression, yet there was a faint flicker of amusement in his eyes. “It seems that you have an illustrious daughter, my good man, and as she is exceedingly lovely to look at, I shall make her one of my queens.”

So Devipriya married the king, but life was not easy, as the other queens, jealous of her good looks, treated her badly, inventing malicious stories, hoping to cause her downfall.

As time went by, Devipriya had a son, a fine healthy boy who was named Vanishka. The young prince grew up well-versed in the affairs of state and easily outshone his brother princes in the use of weapons. Nevertheless, the king had little time for Vanishka; for the apple of his eye was Prasand, a son by another of his queens. Prasand, for all his good looks and proud bearing, lacked spirit and determination.

The king was growing old and his ministers were forever pestering him to name the heir-apparent. One of the king’s chief confidants was a priest named Pingala, whom everyone respected for his wisdom and understanding. The king felt sure that Pingala favored Prasand to accede to the throne, so he summoned the priest and said, “Tomorrow I bid you to summon all the princes, examine each one carefully, then tell me which of the princes should be the heir-apparent.”

Prince Vanishka, knowing that the king was intent on naming Prince Prasand to succeed him, decided not to attend the assembly, but his mother, remembering what the astrologers had foretold, begged him to go. At first, the prince refused to be persuaded, then his closest friend, Radhagupt, the son of the chief minister, argued that it was his duty to be present at the assembly. In the end, the prince reluctantly agreed to go.

The assembly of the princes was taking place outside the city walls and the prince said he would walk there. Radhagupt threw up his hands in horror at the thought of his friend arriving at the assembly on foot, and persuaded the prince into using one of the ceremonial elephants, with its ornate howdah and trappings of gold and silver.

Pingala the priest, busy questioning the princes gathered at the assembly, was glad to see Prince Vanishka arrive in such state, but was sorely troubled as to how he could tell the king that Prince Prasand was totally unsuitable to become the heir-apparent. Then he had an idea, and turning to the king, solemnly announced that as all the princes were eligible, the choice should rest on the prince who had arrived at the assembly on the most dignified mount.

The king, certain in his mind that the priest would want to please him by naming Prince Prasand, readily agreed. When later, the priest announced the name of Prince Vanishka, the king stormed out of the assembly, refusing to accept the verdict.

The following morning, news arrived at the palace that an invading army had crossed the Indus and was threatening the kingdom. In order to get Prince Vanishka away from the palace, the king commanded him to lead the army against the invaders. The king thought that with Prince Vanishka away, he could easily persuade his ministers to accept Prince Prasand as his successor.

The ministers knew that Prince Prasand was too weak to rule the kingdom, but no one dared open his lips on behalf of Prince Vanishka, lest he should incur the wrath of the king. Then disturbing news came from the border, that the invading army had won a victory and Prince Vanishka had been forced to retreat. The king unjustly decreed that the prince was unfit to command the army, and ordered that Prince Prasand should take over command.

Prince Prasand arrived at the border at the head of a hundred war elephants, two hundred chariots, and more than a thousand soldiers. With this additional force, the Bharhut army soon drove back the invaders, and in a tremendous battle near the banks of the Indus, the invading army faced annihilation. But Prince Prasand had no heart or courage for fighting, and in the midst of the battle turned his chariot around and made for the rear and safety.

Unfortunately, some of the Bharhut troops seeing a chariot charge through their ranks, mistook the occupant for one of the enemies and loosened their bows at the oncoming chariot. Prince Prasand, pierced by a dozen arrows, was killed instantly.

When the news arrived at the palace, the king collapsed and it soon became obvious to his physicians that the king was nearing his end. On his deathbed, the king rallied for a while and in a weak voice told his ministers, “My judgement was wrong. I hereby announce that Prince Vanishka shall be the heir-apparent.”

After the king died, Prince Vanishka was crowned and proved himself the greatest ruler of ancient India.