Every man and woman has four wives or husbands and each one has a special meaning. When the last breath leaves our body, the face changes color and we start losing our bright life. Our loved ones may gather and mourn, but it is of no use. At such times the body is placed in an open field for cremation and only white ashes are left. This is the destination of our body. Let’s know through this story how every woman and man has four husbands and wives.

There lived a rich man in a city who had every comfort in his life. He was enjoying perfection in all things by the grace of God. He had four wives in his life, and he had a special relationship with every wife.

His fourth wife, whom he loved the most, he tried to give her every possible happiness. He always left no stone unturned to keep her well-dressed and give her precious gifts. His third wife, with whom he felt honoured, was a reason for his pride. When he was with the third wife, his self-esteem increased. However, he was always worried that the third wife might leave him.

The second wife, who was very wise, always helped him with her advice. He would go to the second wife for solutions to any problem, as he felt she was the best advisor.

But he had no special love for his first wife, who always served him. The first wife always encouraged him and tried to stop him from doing every bad deed. However, the man never understood her and did not recognize her importance.

One day, when the man’s health deteriorated and there was no improvement despite all the treatments, he thought that his end had come. He called all his four wives to him. First of all he asked his fourth wife, “Will you accompany me in my last moments?” The fourth wife answered in the negative, which made him very sad.

Then he asked the same question to his third wife. The third wife said, “No, I cannot come with you. I will marry someone else after you leave.” Hearing this, his heart filled with even more sorrow. Now he asked his second wife, “Will you come with me?” The second wife replied, “I can only perform your last rites, you cannot come with me.” By now the man’s sorrow had reached its peak.

Finally, he asked his first wife, “Will you come with me?” The first wife replied, “I will come with you, because I have always been with you.” The man was relieved to hear this, but he also realized that until now he had not understood the importance of his first wife.

Friends, there are four wives in our life which symbolizes, Fourth wife: Our body, which we love the most, decorate and spend time on, but it does not go with us at the time of death. Third wife: Our property, wealth and business, which is the reason for our respect, but after death that also becomes someone else’s. Second wife: Our family and relations, who are saddened by our death, but they can only perform the last rites and then get busy with their lives. First wife: Our soul, which we often ignore, but it is the true companion who gives us the knowledge of good and evil and stays with us till the end. The first wife or companion is our body, which we love day and night. In the morning we wash our face, wear clothes and shoes. We give food to our body. We take care of our body like the first wife but unfortunately at the end of life, the body i.e. the first ‘wife’ cannot take us to the next world.

We should take care of our soul, because that is our true identity. Only our soul is worth it before God, because there is no advocacy or bail. The most important thing in life is to understand and cherish our soul. The second ‘wife’ represents our fortune, material things, money, property, fame, position and job. We feel very attached to all these material things that we have worked hard to achieve. We fear losing these things and wish for more but there is no limit to them. At the end of life these things cannot follow us till death. Whatever our fortune has collected, we have to let go of it. We have come into this world empty-handed and at the time of death also our hands are empty. We cannot hold on to our fortune after our death. Like the second wife said to her husband, ‘You kept me with you only for your ego and selfishness and now it is time to say goodbye.’ Buddha says that the third wife here means our relatives.  It is like our parents, sisters and brothers, all relatives, friends and society. They can come with us only till the cremation ground with tears in their eyes. They remain sad and sad for us. So we cannot depend on our body, fate and society. We come alone and go alone from this world. No one can accompany us after death. Buddha said, the fourth ‘wife’ is our mind or consciousness. When we recognize deeply that our mind is filled with anger, greed and discontent, then we are able to see our life from a better perspective. Anger, greed and discontent are the laws of karma. We can never escape our karma. As the fourth wife said to her dying husband, ‘Wherever you go, I will follow you.

Man is thirsty for happiness and joy, he is always in search of happiness. But when he is unable to find inner happiness, he looks for happiness in external objects. Happiness is not in temporary external objects, rather happiness is in the purity of the soul inside the soul.