Punishment of the Innocent

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Long ago, there was a king named Harishankar. He had three sons and wanted to hand over his throne to one of them—but which one?

He devised a clever plan and called his three sons. He asked,
“If an accused criminal is standing before you, what punishment would you give?”

The first prince said, “He should be given the death penalty.”
The second said, “He should be locked in a dark dungeon.”
Now it was the third prince’s turn. He said, “Father, first we should find out whether he has actually committed the crime or not.”

Then the third prince told a story:

Once there was a king who had a beautiful parrot. The parrot was very intelligent and spoke sweetly, which made the king very fond of him.
One day, the parrot requested permission to visit his parents in the forest. He pleaded earnestly.
The king agreed, but on one condition—that the parrot must return within five days.

The parrot flew to the jungle, met his parents, and spent happy moments with them. On the fifth day, while returning to the palace, he thought of taking a gift for the king.
He decided to bring an Amrit Phal (immortality fruit) so the king could live forever and remain youthful.

By the time he reached the mountain to pick the fruit, night had fallen.
He plucked the fruit and decided to spend the night there.
While he was sleeping, a snake came and bit the fruit, poisoning it with venom.

The next morning, the parrot flew back to the king and offered the fruit, saying,
“Your Majesty, I’ve brought an Amrit fruit for you. It will make you youthful and immortal forever.”

The minister said, “Your Majesty, please test the fruit first to make sure it’s genuine.”
The king agreed and fed a small piece of the fruit to a dog.
The dog writhed in pain and died.

In a fit of rage, the king drew his sword and beheaded the parrot on the spot.
He threw the fruit away.

Sometime later, a tree grew at the same spot. The king strictly ordered that no one was to eat its fruit, as he believed they were poisonous and that the parrot had tried to kill him.

One day, an old man was resting under the tree. He ate one of the fruits—and he became young again!
The fruit had not been poisonous after all.

When the king learned the truth, he was filled with regret and ashamed of his actions.

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Upon hearing this story from the third prince, the king was greatly pleased. He declared the third prince the rightful heir to the throne.

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Moral of the Story:
Before punishing anyone, we must first ensure they are truly guilty. One should never punish the innocent by mistake. The blameless must never suffer injustice.

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Always stay content – what you have is enough.
A joyful heart has everything it needs.