Long ago, during the reign of King Bohadura of Kashmir, an extraordinary event took place that would forever warn people about the danger of power mixed with evil intentions.
One afternoon, the king was strolling through the royal garden with his chief minister. This garden was a forbidden place, open to no one else. By chance, the gate had been left open, and an old ascetic wandered inside. The minister, furious, ordered the guards to punish the intruder for defiling the sacred garden. However, the king stopped them. He spoke calmly to the ascetic, praising his wisdom and life experience, and asked him to share some knowledge before leaving, promising that no harm would come to him.
The ascetic agreed and warned them that he would teach a miraculous spell that was harmless to kind and good hearted people, but extremely dangerous to the wicked. The minister tried to stop the king, but the king insisted, confident that his own heart held no evil.
The ascetic noticed a dead parrot lying on the garden path. He bent down, softly recited a mysterious spell, and instantly fell dead. At the same moment, the parrot came back to life and flew into a tree. Moments later, the parrot dropped dead again, and the ascetic revived as if nothing had happened. Shocked and amazed, both the king and the minister begged to learn the spell. The ascetic taught them the incantation, repeated his warning once more, and quietly left the garden.
Not long after, the king and his nobles went hunting. While riding through a narrow forest path, the king and the same minister became separated from the group. The king suddenly noticed a magnificent white parrot with a red crest, lying dead on the ground. Wanting to test the spell, he asked the minister to bring the bird back to life. The minister refused, pretending he had not memorized the words. Trusting himself, the king dismounted and recited the spell. Instantly, the king fell dead, while the parrot revived and flew away.
The minister seized the opportunity. He quickly recited the spell over the king’s body. At once, the minister collapsed and died, while the king’s body came back to life. However, the revived body now carried the soul of the evil minister, who disguised himself as the king. Enraged, the false king tried to kill the white parrot, but it escaped deep into the forest.
Riding back to the hunting party, the false king announced that the minister had died in an accident caused by a white parrot with a red crest. He then ordered all hunters to kill every white parrot with a red crest in the forest. The nobles were confused by the strange command but obeyed, never imagining that the real King Bohadura was the parrot they were hunting.
After returning to the palace, the false king ruled with cruelty and injustice. The people and court were shocked by the sudden change in his character, yet no one could explain it. Days later, during another hunt, the false king chased a deer deep into the forest and found a dead black panther. Greedy for power, he used the spell again, transforming himself into the panther to continue the chase.
At that moment, a white parrot with a red crest flew down from a tree, fell lifeless to the ground, and the true King Bohadura returned to life. He mounted his horse and rode back to the nobles, who were astonished to see the king joyful and kind again. The king calmly ordered them to hunt down the black panther chasing the deer, promising great rewards.
The hunters soon returned with the dead black panther, pierced by spears. The king understood everything. In his heart, he acknowledged that the ascetic had spoken the truth. The spell destroys those with evil hearts. He ordered the body thrown to wild dogs and never spoke the spell again, knowing that some powers are not meant to be used, especially by those tempted by ambition and cruelty.