The golden touch!

Once upon a time, the kingdom of Silbaripuram was ruled by a king named Rudran. He was a great devotee of the Goddess, but he had an excessive obsession with wealth.

He harboured a deep desire: he wanted to be known as the king with the largest collection of gold in the entire world!

To achieve this, he secretly performed powerful prayers, yagnas, and poojas. Finally, the Goddess appeared before him and said, "O devotee, you may ask for any boon you desire."

The king immediately revealed his wish. The Goddess granted it, saying, "I bless you with as much gold as you desire. From now on, whatever you touch shall turn into solid gold!"

The king was overjoyed. He touched a pillar in the palace, and it instantly turned into gold! His bed, throne, crown, sword, and even his clothes all turned into gold.

The king felt as if he had conquered the world. However, at lunchtime, when he sat down for a feast and touched the rice, it turned into gold. When he reached for a glass of water, the water too turned into gold.

It was only then that the shocking reality hit the king—he could neither eat nor drink anything! As he sat there in distress, his youngest daughter jumped into his lap. The moment he touched her, she was transformed into a golden statue!

Wailing in grief, he rushed to his prayer room and performed intense meditation for several days. Finally, the Goddess appeared once more.

"O Goddess! I want nothing! Please have mercy and take back this wretched boon!"

At that very moment, all the gold vanished. Everything returned to its original state. From that day on, the king never gave in to greed again.

Moral of the Story

One of the primary reasons why poor and innocent people suffer in various ways on this earth is greed. From this moment on, you must stay away from it!