By Asutosh Varshney
A king once fell into the destructive habit of excessive drinking. Whenever he consumed alcohol, the courtiers, eager to flatter him, drank even more—turning his vice into their own.
Witnessing this decline, the priests, scholars, and spiritual leaders of the kingdom grew deeply troubled.
They attempted many times to counsel the king, urging him to abandon his addiction, but he refused to listen. Instead, angered by their repeated advice, he ordered all preachers and moral teachers to be thrown into prison.
He then issued a royal decree: anyone who spoke against alcohol would be sentenced to life imprisonment.
Terrified by the punishment, no one dared to offer the king honest guidance. Disorder spread across the land, governance deteriorated, and the people suffered.
Seeing the widespread misery, a realised sage decided to intervene. Upon entering the capital, he stood at a major crossroads and began loudly praising the “virtues” of alcohol. Curious crowds gathered as he spoke of the many “benefits” of drinking.
News of this extraordinary preacher reached the king: A holy man from afar is praising alcohol and will soon reveal a safe method of drinking it.
The same king who once grew furious at the mention of saints now eagerly arrived with his entire family, bowing before the sage and requesting that he deliver his next discourse in the royal court.
In the assembly, the sage said,
“Alcohol indeed has many qualities—but people do not know how to consume it correctly.
Just as raw poison can kill but becomes medicinal when purified by a skilled physician, so too alcohol, produced from grains, jaggery, and fruits, becomes harmful if not purified.
It causes diseases and weakens the body. Therefore, it must always be purified before drinking.”
The king, fully convinced, pleaded,
“Revered sir, please teach me the method of purifying alcohol.”
The sage replied,
“You must chant a sacred mantra twenty-four lakh (2.4 million) times using a crystal rosary. After completing the mantra, drop one bead of that rosary into your cup and pour alcohol over it.
If the bead sinks and remains at the centre, the drink becomes purified. The next day, add a second bead. Continue this until all 108 beads are in the cup.”
The king was stunned.
“Such a long procedure! Chanting the mantra so many times will take months. What should I do until then? I cannot live even a single day without drinking!”
Smiling gently, the sage removed the crystal rosary from his own neck and said,
“Until your own rosary is ready, use mine.”
Following the instruction, the king placed one bead of the sage’s rosary into his drink that day.
But from the next morning, something remarkable happened. After bathing and completing his daily rites, he began chanting the mantra on his own rosary to prepare it.
As he dropped bead after bead into the cup—sixty, seventy, and beyond—the mantra slowly transformed him.
A new realisation dawned: the bliss of devotion and meditation was far greater than the intoxication of alcohol. A joy that uplifted his spirit, unlike the drink that clouded his mind.
Overwhelmed by this inner awakening, the king smashed his wine cup on the floor. He ordered all barrels of liquor in the palace to be emptied into the drains.
He commanded that all imprisoned scholars and spiritual leaders be freed and humbly apologised to them. Order returned to the kingdom, and prosperity followed.
The sage’s wisdom had healed not only the king but the entire realm.
( The writer Asutosh Varshney has more than 25 years of experience as a professional astrologer)
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