Once, a
great pundit from a foreign land visited King Krishna Deva Raya’s court. He
claimed that he had knowledge of all subjects and was an expert in every field.
He challenged that he would argue with all of his wise ministers and defeats
them. The king accepted his challenge. The pundit then proceeded to argue with the
learned men of the kingdom on various subjects. The king’s ministers failed
miserably.
Then,
the king summoned his wisest minster, Tenali Raman. Tenali took a small bundle
from his home, gave it the shape of a book and tied it up. Then, he went to the
court and announced that he was ready to argue against the pundit but on the
condition that the topic of their debate would be based on the great book
“Thilakashta Mahisha Bandhanam”.
The great pundit was stumped when he heard
this because he had never heard of any such book. The next day, at the
appointed time Tenali Raman appeared in court for the debate. But he was
informed that the pundit had already gone away.
The
King was also very keen to read the great book that Tenali Raman had mentioned,
so he asked about the book to Tenali. Tenali laughed and replied that there was
no such book called ‘Tilakashta Mahisa Bandhanam’. Inside the bundle, there was
til which is called as ‘Thila’ in Sanskrit and some sheep dung which in
Sanskrit is known as Kashta. These contents were tied by a rope made of
buffalo’s hide which is called Mahisha.
Bandhanam
refers to ‘tying’ in Sanskrit. This is how Tenali Raman tricked the pundit into
believing that there was great book that the pundit was completely unaware of.
The king appreciated Tenali’s intelligence and rewarded him.
The End
