Long ago, in a distant land, there was a kingdom called Subarnapur. The king of that land was King Arindam, and his queen was Queen Mrinalini. King Arindam was very wise and brave, while Queen Mrinalini was extremely beautiful and kind-hearted. The people of their kingdom lived in peace and happiness.
But this happiness did not last forever.
One day, a strange incident occurred near an old temple in the kingdom. At night, an unusual light began to come out from inside the temple. The villagers were too afraid to go near it. Everyone started thinking that some supernatural power must be living there.
When King Arindam heard about it, he said,
"I will not believe it until I see it myself. Tomorrow morning, I will go to the temple."
The next morning, the king went to the temple with his loyal soldiers. But surprisingly, during the daytime, everything looked completely normal. Nothing unusual was found. The soldiers said,
"Your Majesty, perhaps this is just a misunderstanding."
But Queen Mrinalini said,
"No, Your Majesty, I feel there is a deep mystery behind this."
The queen was very intelligent. She suggested,
"Tonight, we should go there in disguise."
Late at night, the king and queen went to the temple dressed as ordinary people. The surroundings were silent, with only the sound of the wind. Suddenly, they saw the temple doors open by themselves, and a blue light came out.
The queen whispered,
"Let's go inside."
They slowly entered the temple. What they saw inside amazed them.
In the middle of the temple, a glowing stone was floating in the air. Beside it sat an old sage, with a mysterious glow in his eyes.
The king asked,
"Who are you? And what is this stone?"
The old sage calmly replied,
"I am the guardian of this temple. This stone is called the 'Truth Stone.' It can distinguish between truth and lies."
The queen asked in surprise,
"Then why is this light coming out?"
The sage replied,
"Because a great betrayal is about to happen in your kingdom. The Truth Stone is giving you a warning."
The king became worried.
"A betrayal in my kingdom? But who?"
The sage said,
"Place this stone in front of people, and the truth will reveal itself."
The next day, the king called a royal assembly. All ministers, generals, and officials were summoned. The king announced,
"Today, we will conduct a test."
The Truth Stone was placed before everyone. One by one, each person stood in front of it. For most, nothing happened. But suddenly, when one minister stood before it, the stone turned red.
Everyone was shocked!
The king said sternly,
"Are you hiding something?"
The minister started trembling. Finally, he confessed,
"Yes, Your Majesty… I have joined hands with the enemy. I was planning to take over the kingdom."
Everyone was stunned.
The king was furious, but the queen gently said,
"He must be punished, but we should understand why he did this."
The minister cried and said,
"I was blinded by greed. Please forgive me."
After thinking for a while, the king said,
"Betrayal is a serious crime. But since you have confessed the truth, I will not give you the death penalty. You will be sent to prison."
Later, the king and queen returned to the temple to thank the sage. But when they arrived, they found that the sage and the stone had disappeared, as if everything had been a dream.
Only a message was written on the wall—
"Truth always reveals itself."
The king and queen understood that this was no ordinary event. They became more careful in ruling the kingdom and taught everyone the importance of honesty.
From that day on, no one in Subarnapur dared to do anything dishonest. The kingdom was once again filled with peace and happiness.
King Arindam and Queen Mrinalini were remembered in history as ideal rulers.
Moral:
Truth cannot be hidden. Sooner or later, it always comes out.