Poor Blossom

A parrot named Blossom, beloved and cherished on the very hand of the god Indra, possessed remarkable beauty and learning, reciting sacred formulas as he rested comfortably in the god's palm.

One day Blossom caught sight of Yama, the god of death, arriving to pay his respects to Indra, and edged away in fear. When the assembled gods asked why, Blossom explained plainly that Yama brings harm to all living creatures, and so was worth avoiding.

Wanting to reassure the beloved parrot, the gods approached Yama directly and asked him, as a favor, to spare Blossom's life. Yama replied honestly that the matter was not his to decide -- it belonged to Time. When they carried the same request to Time, Time in turn directed them to Death himself as the one who actually determined such things.

The moment Blossom laid eyes on Death, before any words could even be exchanged, he simply died on the spot -- his fate having been sealed from the very beginning by forces no appeal, however well-intentioned, could reach.

When the grieving gods asked Yama what this meant, he explained simply that it had always been fated for the parrot to die at the very sight of Death, regardless of anyone's wishes otherwise.