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DISCOURSE 26
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account of it decided to give up his life to save the lives of the members of his family. He knew very well the nature of the King's mind and temperament. He thought, "The King in his fury may kill all the members of my family”. So, he said to his son, Shriyak, "Tomorrow, when I go to the court and bow to the king, you must cut off my head with your sword". On hearing this, Shriyak stood stunned and petrified. He said to his father, "My dear and honoured father, what are you saying? Why do you command me to commit the sin of patricide ?” Shakatal said, “Dear son, this is right at a time of adversity. If you want to save the lives of the members of our family, you must take my life and deem it a sacrifice to the welfare of our family".
Shriyak said, "But father, why do you make me commit this sin ?” The Chief Minister said, “You are the body-guard of the King. If you attack me with a sword, the king will ask you at once "What have you done? Why have you done this?" and you give his this reply, "I have been carefully observing everything for a couple of days. I find that you are angry with my father. My father should have committed some great crime; that is why you are angry with him. It is for this reason that I slew my father. The man who incurs your wrath has no right to live".
On account of Shakatal's insistence, Shriyak had to obey his father's order; and the next day, Shriyak killed his father. Nandaraja said to Shriyak, “Shriyak! What have you done ? You have slain your father and our Chief Minister".
Shriyak gave the reply that his father had instructed him to give the King. Nandaraja said, “I came to know that Shakatal had made a conspiracy to grab my kingdom, and that he had collected a large number of weapons and had concealed them in an underground vault in his house. When I got the matter investigated by my spies, it was found to be true. Weapons are stored in your house. Are they not? That was why, I was angry with the Chief Minister”.
Shriyak stood stupefied.
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