One
early morning, King Krishna Deva Raya woke up, walk out of the rooms and called
out to the gaurds. When a guard appeared, the king ordered him to fetch the
barber immediately. The guard left to carry out his orders and the king
returned to his room. He sat down comfortable in an easy chair and in no time
he was deep asleep again. When the Barber came to the king’s room, he found the
king sleeping in the chair.
He did
not want to wake the king up. So, very quietly, he trimmed the king’s hair and
shaved his beard. The king was still sleeping soundly when the barber completed
his job and left. A little while later, the king woke up. As he did not see the
barber whom he had summoned, he got angry. He shouted for his attendant and
told him to bring the barber to him that very instant.
Image courtesy: Google images
Just
then, the king put his hand on his chin. To his surprise, his chin felt smooth
and shaved. So the king went to take a look at himself in the mirror. He saw
that his hair had been trimmed neatly and his beard was properly shaved. The
king was impressed with the barber’s work. When the attendant brought the
barber along, the king said to the barber, “You have done good work today. Iam
impressed with you. Ask for a boon and I shall grant it.”
The
barber was very happy to hear this. He replied, “Your majesty, you have been so
kind that my family and I have no dearth of anything. But, since long I have
had just one wish – that is to become a Brahmin if you Highness can bestow this
boon upon me.”
The
king was astonished on hearing the barber’s wish but he said, “If that is what
you desire, it shall be fulfilled tomorrow.”
“The
barber was overjoyed and he left the room, praising the king”.
Then,
the king summoned some Brahmins and instructed them, “I have promised to
transform the barber to a Brahmin. You have to make sure that you carry out the
transformation with all your knowledge. I will reward all of you suitably.”
Lured by the mention of the reward, the Brahmins agreed at once to transform
the barber to a Brahmin.
This
news spread around the town and became a cause of great concern for the
Brahmins. They talked among themselves, “What the king is doing not fair. It is
something that goes against dharma. You cannot just transform somebody into a
Brahmin. This will result in more and more people wanting to become a Brahmin.”But
none of them had the courage to voice their objections openly for fear of
punishment.
So,
they decided to go to Tenali Raman to seek a solution. Tenali Raman listened to
the whole story and assured the Brahmins that he will do his best to stop this
activity. The next morning, the Brahmins who were ordered by the king, took the
barber to the holy river and began the procedure of the transformation by
chanting hymns and mantras. The king was also overlooking the proceedings.
The
king noticed that, Tenali was standing with a black dog at a distance. Then the
king went to Tenali and asked him what he was doing with the dog. Tenali
replied that he was trying to transform the black dog into a white cow. The
king laughed loudly and said, “Oh Tenali, you are such a fool! How can a dog
turn into a cow by giving it a dip in holy water and chanting hymns around him?”
Tenali replied, “My Lord, forgive me for being foolish. But, if a barber can be
transformed into a Brahmin, why can’t this black dog change to a white cow?”
Then
the King realized his mistake. He called the barber and told him that is was
not possible to transform him into a Brahmin so he should ask for another wish.
The barber replied respectfully that because of the king’s kindness he had
plenty of everything and did not need anything.
TheKing
appreciated Tenali’s intelligence and rewarded him for opening his eyes and
stopped doing things against dharma.
The End.
