Long ago, when people lived for many thousands of years, the ‘Enlightened One’ was born as Raja Makhadeva. He lived for almost 84,000 years as a child and crown prince and another 84,000 years as a young king. One day, Upali the royal barber plucked a grey hair from Raja Makhadeva’s head and showed him. The Raja had another 84,000 years to live as an old Raja. However, seeing the grey hair, he panicked. He felt that he had wasted his life without learning to destroy his greed, envy, hatred and ignorance. Thus, Raja Makhadeva ordained himself as a monk. He left the kingdom and retired to the forest. There, he spent another 84,000 years practising the four heavenly states of mind–affection, kindness, pity and calmness. He died and was reborn in the heavenly world to live a long life.
Moral: Life is too short; do not waste it.
