Once upon a time, there was a great Rongcha kingdom. The great kingdom had frequent battles with the neighbouring kingdom.
The reason for the battles was the border dispute between these two kingdoms.
The king a wise man was getting old. So he
thought of grooming his son as his successor. Therefore, the next time when the
king went for the battle, he took his son along with him. His son, the young
prince, was as brave as his father. In the battle the prince fought like a lion
and captured a warlord of the enemy kingdom. The prince brought this warlord in
front of the king.
“What should we do with this scum?” asked the prince,
pointing at the enemy warlord.
“I think we should kill him, Your Highness” spoke one eager
minister.
“And why is that?” asked the king, glaring at the minister.
“Pardon me, My King. I thought that because he is our
enemy and he is fighting a war against us, he deserves to die” answered the scared
minister.
“I agree with him father” said the prince.
“No. Hold him as a prisoner” said the king.
So, the warlord was taken as a prisoner.
Time passed by. One day, news of plundering in the remote villages
of the kingdom reached the palace. The prince marched towards those villages
with huge army. When the prince reached the villages, what he saw was
unimaginable. The plunderers had burned the villages and murdered the villagers.
The plunderers had not even spared the women and children.
The prince chased the plunderers with his army and captured their
chief.
After his return, the prince presented the plunderer chief
to the king.
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“Father, this is the chief of the plunderers. What should we do with him?”
“Behead him immediately” said the king angrily.
The chief of the plunderers was beheaded without delay.
After few days prince requested a private meeting with the king.
“Father, there is something troubling me; I need to ask you
about it” said the prince.
“Ask, my son” said the king, warmly.
“Last time, when you captured the enemy warlord, you forgave
him after a mild punishment. But this time, you beheaded the chief plunderer.
Why is there such a difference in the punishments?”
“Last time, when we captured the warlord, he was following
orders of his king. He was fighting with soldiers who were equally armed. Hence,
I forgave him. But the plunderers not only raided armless villages, but also
brutally murdered innocent children and women. Forgiveness works against opponents that are capable of empathy and morality. There is no forgiveness for such
a horrible crime. If
you want to be great leader, you should know how to balance between punishment and forgiveness.
Explore the deeper wisdom of the Rongcha Kingdom—read the fully updated version of "The Balance" here.
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