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WORLD  Massacre Of Nepal Royals Echoes Ancient Prophecy FROM SAMACHAR USA, Jun 11 (VNN) — The shocking massacre of members of the Nepalese royal family carries undertones of a grim prophecy handed down to the country's ruling Shah dynasty more than 230 years ago. The dynasty was founded in 1768 by King Prithivi Narayan Shah, who was credited with uniting the fractured country into a single kingdom. According to legend, the king was about to march on the Kathmandu valley when he encountered the Hindu god, Gorakh Nath, disguised as a holy sage. The king offered some curd to the sage, who swallowed the gift and then regurgitated it and offered it back. Disgusted, the king threw the food to the ground, covering his feet with the curd in the action. The sage criticised the king's pride, telling him that if he had swallowed the curd he could have fulfilled his every wish. Instead, the sage said the curd covering the king's 10 toes meant that his dynasty would fall after the 10 generations following his own rule. King Birendra, who was killed Friday night with his queen and other family members - apparently at the hand of his eldest son and heir, Crown Prince Dipendra - was the 11th generation of the Shah dynasty. This legend has its place in Nepalese history," said Milan Shakya, a renowned astrologer and a professor at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan University. "Whether these terrible events are merely coincidence, or a playing out of the prophecy remains to be seen," Shakya said. Crown Prince Dipendra, 29, was Saturday declared king following his father's death. But the prince, who some officials said had carried out Friday's massacre before turning his gun on himself, was reported to be in a deep coma and unlikely to survive to accede to the throne. Prince Gyanendra, middle brother of the late King Birendra, has been named regent in his place  Comment on this storyContact VNN about this storySend this story to a friend
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