Another rambling post..

The gardener kills the king and ascends the throne. The queen and a faction of officials pretend he is the king. Some concubines and officials disagree. Then a multi-limb statue becomes alive and kills the dissenters with its elbows. Gardener-king thinks he can remain king for a long time. Indra the deity tells a young man to go to palace to become next successor. Gardener finds out and says, ‘no one else will reign while I’m alive.’ The same statue comes alive and says, ‘you got that right!’ and kills the gardener.

This will bring a smile many years down the road. My lecturer, always peppering his lectures with colourful anecdotes, was making the point that good karma was the key for ancient Burmese kings.