God wanted to preserve your lives⁸

There once was a big temple in one of the cities of India. Inside the temple there were quite a few statues, relating to Indian pujas, made of gold and covered with jewels. Therefore, three guards were posted in front of each of the doors of the temple. And in front of each door there also stood a statue of Lord Shiva.

One day, a famous archer and his son from another city happened to pass by. One of the guards said to them, “Here it is customary to bow down if you come near the statue of Lord Shiva.”

The archer said, “Oh, I am sorry, I didn’t know,” and he bowed down to the statue.

But his son wouldn’t bow down. “Who is Shiva, anyway?” he asked.

The father said, “He is one of the cosmic gods who is very powerful, very kind, very great and very good. So please bow down to him.”

The guards said, “If you want to stand near the statue, bow down. Otherwise, go away from here.”

But the boy said, “No, I won’t go away and I won’t bow down to your Lord Shiva.”

So the father and son were arrested and brought before the head priest, who took them inside the temple. When they saw all the beautiful statues and expensive items in the temple, they were amazed at the splendour and riches.

The head priest said, “Since you wouldn’t bow down to Lord Shiva, you will have to receive punishment. But we shall give you another chance. We can’t blame the son entirely, although it was he who wouldn’t bow down, for it is the father’s fault for not teaching him spirituality right from the beginning.

“Now, you have to pass an examination. We will place a coconut on the top of your son’s head. Since you are a most famous archer, you will have to shoot the coconut off his head. If you succeed, we shall free you and your son. If you fail, we will put you in our jail for a few months.”

“Am I such a fool?” said the father. “If I miss my target, my son’s eyes, nose or head will be badly injured. Although I am very skilled, I don’t want to take that kind of risk. My son is dearer than the dearest.”

The son said, “Father, don’t worry. I know your capacity. I know you will succeed.”

“If you don’t do it,” the priest said, “we will not allow you to go back home.”

The father finally agreed, although extremely reluctantly. With fear and anger he aimed at the coconut and released his arrow. As soon as he shot the arrow, the boy screamed with joy because the father was successful. But the father thought that the boy screamed with pain, so he fell unconscious.

The son came running to him. “Father, you have been successful! You have done it! Why have you fainted?”

When the father got his senses back, the priest said, “We will let you go now. It is a good thing that your aim was perfect. In that way you were able to save your son.”

“Yes,” said the father, “and I am so glad that you were able to save your own life also.”

“My life?” asked the priest.

“Yes,” said the archer. “If I had hurt or killed my son, if my aim had not been perfect, I have other arrows here. I would have used them all on you. So God wanted to preserve both my son’s life and your life as well.”