Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied

Justice delayed is justice denied.
This is not a new concept.
This was followed in Ramarajya.
Once, Sriramji was telling Lakshmana.
I have not done anything for the welfare of my people for the past four days.
Call everyone who has any complaint or any grievance.
I want to attend to it.
This is the most important duty of a ruler.
Do you know what happened to king Nriga?
For not delivering justice in time.
Delivering justice is not a favor.
It's a duty.
Nriga was a very good king, very good ruler.
Very pious and charitable.
He once donated one crore of cows in Pushkar.
Godanam to noble people.
When this was going own, the cow of an Agnihotri brahmin along with its calf went and joined the herd that was being given away.
Nobody knew this.
In the meantime, the owner of the cow went around looking around for his cow and calf.
The name of the cow was Shabala.
He was a poor man.
He was dependent on the cow for his day to day living.
Without realizing that the cow did not belong to him, king Nriga gave it away to another person as daanam.
Months went by.
The poor brahmin kept looking for his cow going from place to place.
He reached the place of the recipient of the cow.
He immediately recognized his cow and called out - Shabale, Shabale.
Shabala responded.
The calf had grown big by that time.
The new owner of the cow came out.
Naturally, a dispute broke out between the two.
They quarreled accusing each other of stealing, cheating, and lying.
They decided to take the matter to Nriga.
They went to the palace.
Nriga was preoccupied with something else and did not hold court for many days.
The agitated and frustrated brahmins cursed him - instead of delivering justice, you are hiding from us.
You are behaving like a chameleon. which hides from other animals.
Because of this you become chameleon.
You will be born again and again as a chameleon for yugas until the Krishnavatara.
Sri Krishna will give you relief from our curse.

This story tells us about the importance of carefulness, honesty, and accountability of our deeds.
Nriga did it inadvertently, still he had to suffer the consequence.
This is how karma works.
He can't shift the blame to his officers are supervisors.
He only got cursed.
What was his main fault?
He delayed justice.
That was what he got cursed for.
His primary duty as a ruler was to ensure justice to his subjects.
He ignored that.
The story has a strong message.
Even unintentional mistakes in judgment can have severe consequences. This applies to public officials, judicial officers, and law enforcement officers. who hold positions of trust and are responsible for making decisions that impact others. It emphasizes the need for meticulousness, adherence to law, and due diligence in their actions to avoid unintended harm or injustice.
Timely delivery of justice is very very important.
We see in th news - someone spent 20 years in jail before being declared innocent.
Can you imagine the pain and the impact on those who are responsible for this.

And finally, divine grace, Lord Krishna gave him relief.