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An elementary question
I believe I once heard about the following story/legend/aspect
of scripture (I don't know which). A king, I believe, had dedicated his
life to hating God. He did everything in his power to repress religious
practice and persecute believers. He railed against God constantly, in
his words and in his thoughts.
The king died. Much to his surprise, he went to heaven and
appeared before God. The king said, "Why am I in heaven? I always hated
you and did everything I could to hurt you." God said, "But I was always
in your thoughts. None of my creatures has ever so kept me in his heart."
This story -- which I hope I have gotten pretty much right --
fascinates me. I have some questions:
It's of hindu origin, isn't it? Where does it appear (scripture
or commentary in English, or possibly French, translation, please).
What is the king's name?
What is the relation, if any, between the story and contemporary
religious practice or -- to the extent this is a meaningful concept --
"orthodoxy."
I'm not a regular member of alt.hindu -- my regular server doesn't really
get it that well; it eats the posts as soon as they go up; must be the
school's Calvinist tradition. I'm not even a regular lurker. I would
*really* appreciate private e-mail on this subject, though.
Michael G. Dzialo, New York, NY dzialo@minerva.cis.yale.edu
"YOUR witty comment here."
