I expect you all know the story of King Trishanku. One day he decided it was time to go to heaven. The pleasures and delights of this world, which he had long enjoyed, no longer enticed him. He knew he had enough physical and psychic strength to undertake the journey. What he lacked was virtue – his stock of virtue was exhausted.

The story goes that King Trishanku instructed his guards to tie him to the end of a long arrow with a piece of nylon rope, and then shoot the arrow towards heaven’s gate. The arrow sped through the sky at the speed of a rocket. The gods were alarmed. At the gates the security guards were dripping with perspiration. This had never happened before. “What should we do?” they wondered.

As a rule, heaven’s gate is never closed. However, on this occasion the guards decided to take a risk. They closed the gate. At that instant the giant arrow hit the gate with a tremendous thud, and got stuck. And there it stays till this day with King Trishanku tied to one end with a piece of nylon rope.

Those people who stagnate in life, who neither progress nor regress, suffer a plight similar to that of King Trishanku.

I don’t know whether heaven’s gate was opened later or not. Informed sources tell me that the gods have built a new gate on the other side of heaven. That’s the way in these days.