Emperor Akbar thought Birbal was very wise. He always wanted to learn from Birbal. One day, he asked, “Birbal! Tell us something about the path to freedom and the path to slavery!” Birbal said, “Your Majesty, at the outset, the path to freedom will be full of obstacles and steep climbs. In fact, there will actually be no path, just thorns, rocks and danger all around! But after a struggle, a smooth pathway will appear all of a sudden. The pathway will be strewn with flowers. Those who put up a brave front and face all the difficulties will be happy in the end.” “The path to slavery,” Birbal continued, “is just the opposite. In the beginning, it will be a smooth road, without any difficulty and full of flowers. Later, there will be nothing but rocks, steep climbs and danger on all sides. It ends in sorrow.” “Very well said!” Akbar exclaimed.
Freedom and Slavery
