King’s Dharma

“Treat me as it befits a king.”

   Alexander was amused by the demand from a vanquished king. Porus stood before him as a prisoner but with all the solemnity of a king still playing on his anguished visage. They peered into each other’s eyes. Alexander could easily gauge the depths of Porus’ mind. Real kings understand other real kings. Only those who are slaves at heart will demean real kings.

   Those other kings were not real kings. When he asked them to attend the meeting he had summoned in order to demand their allegiance to him and tokens of that allegiance, they came meekly. They were intimidated by his successes hitherto, the last being Gandhara. They were not kings at heart. They deserved what they got.

   Here was the real king.

   “How do you want to be treated?” Alexander had asked him with much amusement. Standing before him was a king who had refused to attend the meeting he had summoned. “Yes, I will meet you,” he had sent the message, “but as a king would meet another king, in the battlefield.”

   That was a royal answer and Alexander loved it. It would be a treacherous battle, Alexander knew. It was the rainy season and the river Jhelum was flooded. But floods won’t deter Alexander, he said to himself. Alexander had crossed many a flooded river before reaching the Punjab. His soldiers knew their job. They knew not only to kill the enemy but also to cross flooded rivers.

   Porus might have miscalculated, thought Alexander. He must have thought that Alexander the Macedonian would be drowned in the Jhelum along with his warriors. Ah, Porus, you don’t know Alexander. Alexander loves adventure. Alexander is not interested in mere conquests. Alexander is on a quest and questers always find their way.

   Those others who capitulated without a fight didn’t deserve to be kings. They got what they deserved: vassalage. You deserve royalty, Porus, royalty and nothing less.

   Porus, I will discuss this with you soon. What I think is that you are the philosopher-king that our Plato spoke of. Shall I assume that you learnt it from the Dharma of your sacred scriptures? Someone told me about Krishna and his Gita. Do your duty like a warrior. And you did it, Porus.

   I’m performing a duty too, Porus. It is a duty to my soul which is relentlessly hungry. It is not a hunger for power as people often think. It is a hunger for what lies beyond.

   “I’m returning your kingdom to you, Porus,” said Alexander. Porus peered once again into his rival’s eyes.

   “Trust me,” said Alexander. “You want to be treated as it befits a king and I am doing precisely that because you deserve it. What’s more, I’m adding a few more kingdoms to yours as I go on into the beyond.”

   Real kings have no enemies, Alexander mused to himself as he put the crown on Porus’ head. Real kings have only quests. Real kings have their Dharma.

PS. Where did Alexander’s quest take him after this? I wrote another story about that three years ago: And quiet flowed the Beas. What prompted this present story is the way politics is moving in India these days. Any perspicacious reader will understand that, I think.