"One, two, three...one hundred. Where are the rest of the gold coins in the royal treasury?" demanded King Vishnupriya. After the king had finished his annual treasury audit, it was found that nearly all the royal wealth had mysteriously disappeared from the treasury. The king questioned his prime minister Rajan but got no answer. The king next talked with his army commander general Ugrapati about the theft. Now that the kingdom was financially broke there was a real danger that it would be an easy prey for any invading army. Both the prime minister Rajan and the army commander Ugrapati were considered to be the two most powerful men in the kingdom. King Vishnupriya suspected that one of these two ministers were behind the treasury theft in a plot to seize control of the kingdom. The prime minister Rajan had proven himself to be the most clever astute politician of his time, and the defense minister Ugrapati had proven himself to be the most successful military commander with a string of many battle conquests to his credit. The pressing question facing King Vishnupriya was how to determine which one of his two powerful ministers had secretly looted the royal treasury.

The king decided to search the houses of the two ministers. Ugrapati’s mansion was found to be full of detailed maps of all the neighboring kingdoms. But no unusual amount of royal coins were discovered there. After three hours of searching Rajan’s house, there was found a freshly covered hole in the back wall. The king’s servants broke through the wall and found over five hundred gold coins. Still the bulk of the missing royal treasury was not found. But all the evidence pointed to Rajan as the treasury thief. Rajan protested his innocence to the king. Nobody would believe his innocence. There were now two choices left open to Rajan. First he could meekly let himself be wrongly punished for a crime that he did not commit, or his second choice could be to escape with his life immediately from the kingdom. Rajan looked at the hostile faces of King Vishnupriya and defense minister Ugrapati. Rajan saw that just in front of the royal palace was his trusted white horse. So Rajan surprised the king’s guards by bursting out of the palace window with one terrific jump. Now Rajan was on his white stallion riding for his dear life with hundreds of royal troops chasing him in hot pursuit.

While Rajan’s white horse gained speed, he kept thinking to himself about where was there justice in this world when might apparently seemed to make right. By nightfall the mighty white stallion had raced through plain and forest in its quest to escape the royal cavalry that was pursuing Rajan. Under the cover of darkness Rajan reached the shore of a vast river. He was afraid that now with the deep river in front of him and the royal cavalry somewhere behind him in the darkness, his liberty would soon end. "Are you coming my way?" called a boy steering a small wooden boat. Rajan had no choice but to put his life in the hands of this young unknown boatman. "Where do you come from?" asked Rajan. "I come from the other side of the shore. Please step onto my boat. I have taken many others before to the safe side of the far off shore" answered the mysterious boatman. So Rajan abandoned his loyal white stallion and got onto the little boat to seek a life of freedom safe from the clutches of a hostile world. "I know the way to safety. Please put all your trust in me, and you shall be free of all worldly fear" said the confident master of the boat carrying Rajan to freedom.

Rajan reached the other shore and in terror saw himself between two huge armies composed of endless hordes of roaring warriors. "Have no fear. I protect all those who surrender their lives to me," said the child who had previously assumed the disguise of the boatman. Rajan saw a huge hand lifting him above the two battling armies. A gigantic cosmic being whose body was composed of all the universes was tenderly holding Rajan. Rajan saw himself as a little speck existing within the enormous endless body of the unbelievable deity that he was now witnessing. Then Rajan saw his soul as a point of light that now began expanding beyond the stars and galaxies. He saw the past, present, and future. Rajan discovered that he too was in reality this Universal Godhead. It did not make sense to his mind that he could be a tiny soul and yet exist simultaneously as the Divine. The Divine Being that Rajan was now experiencing inwardly and outwardly slowly began to speak. "I too was accused of theft long ago. They said I stole the Shyamantaka jewel from King Satrajit. You Rajan have lived a pure life inwardly, and I will prove your innocence when you return to the kingdom.

Suddenly the sun arose and Rajan found himself returned back to the shore where his trusty white stallion was waiting for him. Rajan returned to the kingdom with faith that God was always protecting him since he realized his soul as part of the Cosmic Godhead. King Vishnupriya looked into Rajan’s eyes and saw the courage of an innocent man. Still the evidence pointed to Rajan as the treasury thief, and it was the duty of the king to have him executed. If Rajan would die, Ugrapati would also become the prime minister. King Vishnupriya decided to secretly search the powerful Ugrapati’s house again. There were dozens of military maps of neighboring kingdoms and also one map of a deserted Vishnu temple on the outskirts of the royal capital. Rajan stood the next morning before the royal executioner with serenity in his heart. Since Rajan’s experience of cosmic consciousness on the other shore, he felt Krishna protecting his life. As the executioner raised his sword over Rajan’s neck, a sudden burst of wind blew the sword to the ground. Then a thunderous explosion came from the deserted Vishnu temple. The doors opened and a bright light glowed inside from the ancient image of the Lord. The discus in one of his four arms began revolving and throwing out sparks of fire. A whirling circle shot out of the temple doors into the royal palace and severed the head of Ugrapati’s thick neck. Divine justice had triumphed. Shortly afterwards King Vishnupriya, using Ugrapati’s temple map, found the stolen treasure money hidden beneath the old temple’s floor. Rajan never became prime minister again. Instead he became the priest of the newly rebuilt Vishnu temple which attracted devotees to come for worship even beyond the kingdom. And so the people had discovered a treasure beyond the value of worldly gold.