The night was very peaceful, but the mind of King Chakradhar of Kundar was very restless. He was standing alone at the window of his room and watching the full moon.
The sky was clear. Like every night, today also he was searching for something among the stars. Then after some time he turned back and looked at the golden chandelier lying in the room, looked at the flowers kept in the vase, looked at the beautiful artworks hanging on the walls and finally looked at the golden ornaments on his body.
Everything seemed meaningless to him. His heart was telling him to throw away the golden ornaments, turn the table upside down, take off the artworks and throw them on the ground. His heart was bursting with the burden of the burden. If it had burst once, he would have got relief from this torture.
Looking at the stars, his mind's voice increased - Jaya! My queen, you have committed a crime against me by leaving me alone in this world. Our son himself is engaged in destroying the dignity of this clan. If I am not able to give a proper successor to my people, then everything I have done throughout my life will be in vain. The people whom our ancestors used to call the soul of the kingdom, are tormenting them... O Jaya, why don't you come back? I am tired of coming here.
The king was lost in his sorrow when the gatekeeper informed him about the arrival of Kali. The king composed himself and ordered him to be sent inside.
The very next moment Kali entered the room wearing a purple turban. He saw the expressions of disappointment and indifference in the eyes of his king. He was a little disturbed, he was thinking about how to start his talk when the king himself spoke, "Today afternoon in the southern forest our soldiers captured one of Sudasa's bodyguards. He said that Sudasa had sent his bodyguards to kill The mighty warrior Kan and they were successful in their task".
Kali did not say anything, he just kept standing with his head bowed. Maharaj Chakradhar remained silent for a few moments, then controlling himself asked, "Were you late in reaching"?
"Maharaja, I reached at the appointed time, but it seems that the crown prince Sudas had already got a hint about the respected Kan. I will tell you the whole incident in detail.
Kali said-" I left for the village about which the spies had told me at the appointed time. The name of that village is Mahu. Outside the village, I left my horse and started walking cautiously. On the way, I met the bodyguard of Crown Prince Sudas whose one hand was cut off. In a dying state, he told me about the incident of the Monastery.
"I had realized that a disaster had happened, yet with a little hope I reached the Monastery. Dead soldiers were lying all around. Then I saw a young man coming out of the hut. That dying soldier had told that an unknown young man had done this to him.
So I hid and started watching his activities. It seemed from his actions that he was well acquainted with the respected Kan. He broke the hut of the Monastery and made a pyre and cremated him, then he went away with his horse Mayur.
I investigated there… all the soldiers were bodyguards of crown prince Sudas. All the weapons lying there had Kundar's seal on them, apart from this nothing else was found. While returning I inspected the outskirts of the village, there were no signs of any kind of military activity anywhere. As you said the bodyguard who was caught has admitted that he was killed on the orders of crown prince Sudas and the dying soldier found on the way has also confirmed this.
All the evidence proves that Crown Prince Sudas is guilty of the murder of Venerable Kan. Last time when Crown Prince Sudas conspired to usurp power, he escaped by taking refuge in the rules when there was no solid evidence, but this time we have living proof."
Maharaj Chakradhar kept listening patiently, then in the next moment, he burst out in sadness and disappointment.
"What is the need for proof, Kali? After me, this entire kingdom will be his, yet I don't know why that fool is in such a hurry. I would have given up the kingdom and gone to Vanaprastha, but the way he has behaved with the people after being crowned as the crown prince, it does not seem that he is the rightful heir to this kingdom. The hard work that my ancestors and I have done to make the people happy and prosperous will be destroyed in a day."
The king came to Kali and placed both his hands on his shoulders and asked pitifully- "Have I not played the role of a father properly? He too got the same education as his elder brother... Could I not give him any qualities as inheritance Kali?"
"Maharaj! Only life is inherited, virtues and faults are the individual achievements of man. The tree provides equal nourishment to all its fruits, but even after this some fruits get contaminated, the role of the tree cannot be blamed for their contamination, so do not blame yourself for the actions of the prince." Kali tried to console the King.