A king decided to visit his minister of state. On arriving at his house the king was informed that the minister was meditating, and had left instructions not to be disturbed under any conditions. The king accepted this, and said he and his guards would wait.
After a short while the minister entered the room, and apologized to the king, saying his Guru had given him a special mantra to do that day. The king, impressed with the glowing look on the minister’s face as well as the sense of inner peace he radiated, asked the minister to give him the mantra so he could also benefit from it.
“I cannot,” replied the minister, “only my Guru has the authority to give you this mantra, if I gave it to you, you would not get the same results from it as I did.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” said the king. “You know the mantra. I can’t see why if you give it to me I would not get the same results.”
The minister thought for a few moments then looked at the king’s guard and shouted, “the king is impertinent, arrest him at once!” The guards did not move. The minister again shouted, “guards, arrest the king!” Again the guards just stood there. Once more the Minister asked the guards to arrest the king. Still they did not move.
The king, now very angry, shouted,“I’ll show you who’s impertinent, guards arrest the minister.” The guards immediately took the minister into custody.
At this point the minister smiled, and said to the king; “You see, no matter how many times I asked them to arrest you, they would not, because I do not have that authority, yet one word from you and it was done. It is exactly the same with the mantra.”