Tenali Raman and the Brinjal Curry

The great king, Shri KrishnaDevaraya was ruling Vijayanagaram. He had eight intelligent advisors in his court, one among them was Tenali Raman  who was very clever and witty. The king was fond of brinjals, so he had  some special kind of brinjal plants in his garden.  The brinjal was very rare kind and curry made out of it was very tasty which was loved by the emperor.  As it was a rare kind, the garden was guarded and no one was allowed to go to the garden without the emperor’s permission.

Once the emperor had arranged dinner for his advisors and the brinjal curry was served.  Tenali Rama had enjoyed the brinjal curry very much and went home.  But he was unable to forget the taste.  He told his wife about the taste of curry.  Tenali Rama’s wife also liked brinjal curry, she asked Tenali Rama to bring few brinjals so that she can prepare a curry. But Tenali Rama knew that the emperor was taking extreme care about the brinjal plants and it was not easy to get them from his garden. And, the emperor will punish such thief if caught stealing a brinjal.

But Tenali’s wife pleaded him to bring a brinjal from the garden without telling anybody.  Tenali Rama had no choice other than stealing a brinjal from the emperor’s garden. One night he went to the garden, jumped the wall and plucked few brinjals from the garden.  By the god’s grace, no one had seen him.  His wife cooked the brinjals and the curry was very tasty. Like all the mothers, she too loved her son very much and wanted to serve a brinjal curry him. But Tenali Rama asked her not to do such thing because if their son reveals to anybody that he had a rare brinjal curry, then they may get caught and get punished for stealing a brinjal from the garden.

But his wife did not agree.  She wanted to serve the curry to her son.  She was unable to eat the curry alone without serving her little kid who was sleeping after doing his homework on the roof of their house.  She asked Tenali Rama to find a way so that their son can also taste the brinjal curry.  Tenali Rama also loved his son, so he thought of an idea and with a lot of hesitation went on to the roof to wake up his child with a bucket of water and poured the water on the child. When the child woke up he said “It is raining.  Let’s go inside the house and have a dinner”.  After going inside the room he changed the clothes of his son and gave him the rice and brinjal curry for the dinner. Tenali Rama told his wife loudly that “it was raining outside, and let the boy sleep in the room”.

And the next day, the emperor came to know that few brinjals were missing in his garden.  The Gardener who kept the count of each vegetable and flower found that the three brinjals were missing. It became a challenging issue for the emperor and took it very seriously.  He declared a reward for the person who can catch the thief.  Chief advisor suspected that only Tenali Rama was capable of doing such things. And they told the emperor about it.  The emperor sent his courtiers and asked Tenali Rama to come immediately. Once Tenali Rama came he asked him about the missing brinjals. Then Tenali Rama told, “I was not aware of the missing brinjals”.  Then the chief advisor told “Tenali Rama was lying. Let’s enquire his son”.

The king sent his courtiers to bring Tenali Rama’s son. Once his son came, He was asked what vegetable he had in the dinner last night. The child replied, “The brinjal curry and it was very tasty”.  Then the advisor told Tenali Rama that he needs to accept his crime.  But Tenali Rama said his son had slept very early and he might be saying something which he got in his dream.

So the emperor asked the little kid that “can you please explain clearly what you had done yesterday after coming from the school?”

Tenali Rama’s son replied that “yesterday after coming from the school, I played for some time and after that, I went on to the roof, did my homework, and slept on the roof.  But when the rain started, my father came and woke me up.  By that time my dress was fully wet, and then we went inside, had the dinner and slept again”.

The chief advisor was shocked because there was no rain at all yesterday. And the atmosphere was fully dry. So they thought the kid had a dream and freed Tenali Rama without any punishment.  However, later Tenali Raman told the truth to the emperor and was pardoned by the emperor for his clever witty idea.

The End

Tenali Raman –The Wise Use of the Mouth

King Krishnadevaraya and the queen were very fond of flowers. So there were many varieties of colourful and beautiful flowers in the palace garden. The king and queen visited the garden every morning and evening, they instructed the gardeners to take care of the garden well.

There were many varieties of roses in the garden. The gardeners used to pluck the roses, take them to the queen every day. But, on some days they did not bring the roses. So, the queen was angry with the gardeners and enquired them the reason for not bringing the roses. But the gardeners did not have an answer.

image source:google images

The queen angrily angrily asked, “Why are you not answering? Tell me the reason. Do you pluck the roses and sell them in the market?”

“No, Your Majesty. Don’t mistake us. We never think of treachery to the kingdom,” replied the gardeners.

“Then, why can’t you bring the roses here?” asked the queen again angrily.

“Oh! Queen! The roses are stolen in the garden. We are not able to find out how the roses are vanished away from the garden. Please forgive us.”

“Okay, you can go. I shall tell the king to strengthen the security,” said the queen. Then the gardeners bowed their heads and went out. The queen then went to the king to complain about the theft of roses in the garden. The king was shocked to hear about the theft. The queen also asked the king to strengthen the security in the palace garden.

The king immediately asked the minister to appoint guards’ to take care of the garden and to catch the thief.  The next day, the garden was surrounded by guards’. The guards’ were very alert and did not let anyone inside the garden other than the gardeners.

The guards’ noticed a small gap in the fence. A man’s head was peeping inside the fence through the gap, they immediately acted very fast and caught him red-handed. The held him very tight, that the man could not escape. The guards brought him out of the fence, he had roses tied to his lap. The guards presented him to the chief guard and confined him in the prison.

The chief guard immediately met the king and informed him about the theft and how he was caught red-handed. The chief also told the king that the thief had the roses tied to his lap. The chief also mentioned to the king that the thief was none other than the son of Tenali Raman. The king got really angry and asked the chief to bring Tenali Raman immediately.

As soon as Tenali Raman came to the king he said “Oh! King! The guards have imprisoned my son for theft of roses in the garden.”

Then the King said “Tenali, don’t you know that your son has been caught red-handed?”

“Oh King! My son won’t involve in such kind of theft, please enquire thoroughly to know how far it is true and then come to a decision,” said Tenali Raman.

The king ordered the guards to bring Tenali’s son there immediately. As the king ordered the guards brought him there.

Seeing him, the king asked Tenali Raman, “Is he your son?”

“Yes, your majesty,” asserted Tenali and requested him, “He won’t involve in thefts. Please believe me.”

“Tenali, though I repeatedly tell you, you don’t accept the crime. Guards, disclose the roses from his lap and show them to Tenali,” said the king.

The guards tried to take out the roses from his lap. But to their disappointement there was no rose.

“What are you doing, guards? Take out the roses,” urged the king.

But the guards were perplexed and told the king, “Three are no flowers” and added, “we caught him red-handed. But we are confused to see there are no flowers.”

“Oh King! Please believe us at least now. We do not have such a worse character,” said Tenali with contented mind.

The king thought for a while and not able to take any decision he let Tenali and his son go. They took leave of the king after thanking and greeting him.

Then the king called the guards near to him and asked, “Are you sure that he had the flowers?”

“Yes, your majesty, we are sure. We caught him red-handed and confined him in the prison,” said the guards.

The king again thought for a while and decided that Tenali might have played some tricks. The king further asked the guards, “When you brought Tenali to me, did he speak anything to his son?”

“Yes, your majesty, when he came along with us, he told something to his son.”

“What did he say to him?”

“He said that one who uses one’s mouth wise can survive. Such a dumb one like you can’t be benefitted in any way”

“Oh! Tenali has very wisely instructed his son. He too has wisely behaved.”

“We can’t understand anything, my dear king.”

“When Tenali told him on the wise use of the mouth, his son has eaten all the roses. That’s all,” said the king to the guards and he appreciated Tenali’s wisdom. The guards too came to understand the wisdom of Tenali.

The End

Tenali Raman and Thilakashta Mahisha Bandhanam

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

Tenali Raman in the Delhi Durbar

At the time when Krishnadevaraya ruled over Vijayanagar, king Barbar ruled over Delihi. Tenali Raman was a famous jester in King Krishnadevaraya’s royal court. When King Barbar heard Tenali’s tales of wit and intelligence, he wished to meet him. So he sent a messenger to Vijayanagar to request Tenali  Raman to visit Delhi.

image source: google images

                                 

With King Krishnadevaraya’s permission Tenali Raman went to Delhi with the messenger. In Delhi, Tenali Raman was welcomed and accomadated in a royal guest house. An appointment was fixed for Tenali Raman to meet the King Barbar.

Meanwhile King Barabr told his courtiers, Tenali Raman, the great witty jester from Vijayanagar has come to Delhi. Tomorrow in the royal court none of us must smile or laugh at his jokes. I want to test him as to how he will make us laugh and win a reward. The courtiers also agreed to King Birbal.

At the given time Tenali Raman arrived in the Delhi Durbar. He told many witty tales and jokes to courtiers and King Brbar, but all of them remained silent. No one even smiled at the jokes. This went on everyday for 15 days. From the 16 th day Tenali Raman stopped going to Delhi Durbar. He disguised himself and followed the king Barbar everywhere to note his daily routine. Barbar used to go for stroll by the river Yamuna with his Prime Minsiter every morning.

On the way they would give gold coins to the poor and the needy beggars. After seeing this, Tenali Raman made a plan. Next morning, Tenali dressed up as an old man. He took a spade and a mango sapling and sttod by the river Yamuna waiting for the King Barbar’s arrival. Seeing the king at a distance Tenali Raman started planting the sapling. King Barbar came to him and said, “Old man, you are very old, you won’t live long enough to enjoy the fruits of the tree you are planting. Why are you taking so much trouble?”

Tenali Raman replied, “Your Majesty, I enjoyed the fruits from the trees planted by my ancestors. This tree’s fruits will be enjoyed by the others. I find joy in giving to others. I am not planning this to myself.” The king was impressed by the reply and gave a bag full of gold coins. The old man thanked him and said, “Your Majesty you are indeed a great and kind king. People get the fruits when the tree has grown but you have given me the fruit of my labors even before I had planted the sapling.

The thought of helping others has really benefited me. “I like this thought of yours. You can now take this second bag of gold coins as a reward”, said King Barbar. “Oh, your Majesty, This tree will bear fruits once in a year only but before it has been planted you have filled my arms with fruits of joys twice said the old man.” King Barbar  said, I like your thoughts and I am impressed by them,” he also gave the third bag too to the old man.

Now the prime minister got worried and said to the king, your majesty let’s leave now, this man is too intelligent. His witty remarks will claim all the royal wealth from you. King Barbar laughed and got ready to walk away. At this time the old man said, your Majesty, can you give me just a look? When Barabar tuned to look, he saw Tenali holding a false beard in his hands. King Barbar burst out in laughing on seeing what Tenali had been up to.

The king said, “I am pleased Tenali. You have truly proved that you are witty and a great jester. King BArabr called Tenali to the court and gave him many more royal rewards. When Tenali returned to Vijayanagar, King Krishnadevaraya was proud to see how Tenali had saved grace. Tenali smiled and said, so your Majesty Iam fit for a reward from you too. King Krishnadeva Raya agreed with a smile and gave Tenali Raman 10,000 gold coins.

The End.

Tenali Raman - A Lesson to the Greedy

King Krishnadevaraya’s mother was a very orthodox woman. She had visited many holy places and had performed religious rites, she had given much in charity. Once she wanted to give fruit in charity and informed so to her son. The king who had great respect for his mother immediately got delicious mangoes from Ratnagiri. But on the auspicious day when she was to present those fruits to Brahmins, the king’s mother died.

                                               image source: google images

The religious rites connected with her death went on for several days. Meanwhile the king called a few Brahmins and said, “My mother’s last wish was to offer mangoes to Brahmins. But she died before the wish could be fulfilled. What should I do now that she might earn the merit for giving away the fruits?”

The greedy Brahmins replied, “You Majesty, only if you offer mangoes made of gold to Brahmins, your mother’s soul will rest in peace.”

Tenali Raman came to know about this. The next day Tenali Raman went to the houses of those Brahmins, and asked them to come to his house to perform his mother’s ceremony. The Brahmins came to Tenali Ramans house after receiving the gold mangoes from the king. Ramans servants closed all the doors of the house. They brought red-hot iron bars and stood before the Brahmins. They were shocked to see this.

Then Tenali Raman told them that his mother had knee pains and as remedy wanted Tenali Raman to burn her with red-hot iron bars. But she died before he could do it. So he now wanted to execute her wish. Then the Brahmins said it was unjust toward them. Tenali Raman said, “There’s nothing unjust toward them, because they had just taken golden mangoes from the king.” Then the Brahmins understood their folly and left the golden mangoes at Raman’s house .

Later when the King asked Tenali Raman why he had behaved like that with the Brahmins, Raman said the palace treasury should not be exploited by these selfish people. It is not there to feed lazy people, it’s there to serve the people of the Kingdom.

The End

Tenali Raman and the Three Dolls

The great king Krishna Deva Raya had a lot of wise ministers in his court. The wisest of them was Tenali Raman. One day, a merchant came to the king’s court from a foreign kingdom. He saluted the king and the said, “Your Majesty, I have heard from many people that you have very wise minister in your court. But with your permission, I would like to test the wisdom of your ministers.” This aroused the king’s interest and he gave the merchant his permission.

image source:google images

The merchant gave the king three dolls that looked identical. He said, “Though these dolls look similar, they are different in some way. If your ministers can find out the difference, I will bow to their wisdom. But if they can’t, I will assume that there are no wise ministers in your court. I will be back in thirty days for the answer.” The king asked all of his ministers except Tenali Raman to assemble.

He gave them the three dolls and told them to find the difference in them in three days time. But at the end of three days, none of the ministers could figure out the difference. The king got worried and called Tenali Raman. HE said to him, “Tenali, I did not summon you before because I thought that this problem will be too simple. But since no one has been able to find the solution, it is up to you now.

Find the difference between these dolls. “Tenali took the three dolls and went away. The problem proved difficult for Tenali too, but at last, after a lot of effort, he figured out the difference. He went to the court with the three dolls on the day that the merchant had to return. Then, he announced in front of the whole court that he had found the difference between the dolls. He said, “These three dolls are different because one of them is good, one medium and one bad.”

“When everyone asked Tenali that which doll was which, he showed them a tiny hole that was present in the ears of each of the dolls. Then, he took a very thin wire and put it in the hole of the first doll’s ear. The wire came out from the doll’s mouth. HE did the same with second doll and the wire came out from the doll’s other ear. In the third doll, the wire went to the heart and did not come out.

Tenali Raman explained, “In the first doll, the wire went in through the ear and came out through the mouth. So, this doll is bad as it represents people who cannot keep a secret. In the second doll, the wire came out of the other ear. So, it is medium and represents harmless people who do not understand what is said to them. The third doll in which the wire went to the heart and did not come out, represents good people who will preserve the secret that you tell them.

“The king, the merchant and all the courtiers were very impressed with Tenali’s wise answer. Then Tenali said, “But there can be another explanation too. The first doll represents people who gain knowledge and spread it among others, so it is good. The second doll represents people who do not understand what they are taught, so it is medium. The third doll represents people who have knowledge but keep it all to themselves.

They do not teach anyone anything and so they are bad people. The king was even more impressed. He asked, “Can there be any other explanation?” Can you think of a third explanation to answer the king?

The End.

Tenali Raman and His Horse

Once, king Krishna Deva Raya wanted to expan his army. So he needed more hoses. He decided to give one horse to be brought up by each person in his kingdom. He also gave everyone a good supply of straw to feed the horses. Everyone except Tenali Rama was happy with this plan. He shut his horse in one room and everyday at exactly 9’O clock he gave the horse very little straw through the window.

image courtesy: google images

He gave the rest of the straw to his cows who became fat and healthy. At the end of a year, the king wanted to see all the horses. All the people who had been given horses to grow up, brought their horses for inspection. But Tenali Rama did not bring his horse. On being questioned, he answered that his horse had become so strong that he could not bring it to the court. The king was surprised on hearing this.

He said, “Alright, I will send my chief inspector to your house tomorrow morning at 9 to inspect the horse there.” Tenali agreed. The next morning, the chief inspector went to Tenali’s house. He had a long beard. Tenali took him to the room where the horse was kept and asked him to look through the window. When the inspector peeped through the window, naturally his beard went in through the window first.

Seeing the beard, the horse thought that it must be straw that was being given to him at the fixed time. It caught hold of the beard in his teeth and pulled. The inspector shouted in pain and tried to pull his beard back. But the horse knew that this was the only food he would get all day and pulled with all his might till the inspector los his beard. The inspector went running to the king. He reported that indeed Tenali Rama’s horse was the strongest of them all.

This is how sometimes even wise people can be deceived by clever people.

The End.

Tenali Raman and the Cat

A long time ago, Krishna Deva Raya had a very wise minister in his court – Tenali Raman. Once, the kingdom faced a major problem of rates. Rats had multiplied to a very large number and were creating a lot of destruction. They were nibbling through important papers, clothes, grains in food stores, etc. There were not many cats in the kingdom to catch all the rats. So, the king asked all the houses in the kingdom to keep one cat each. But cats feed on milk and not every house owned a cow to get the milk. So, the king also gave cows to every house. The people were happy and brought up the cows and the cats. They used to give a lot of milk to their cats.

image courtesy: google images

But Tenali Raman was a lazy fellow and he was also very fond of drinking milk. He wanted to keep the milk from the cow for himself. So he thought of a clever trick. He boiled the milk and poured it in a pan. Then, he put this pan in front of the cat. As soon as the cat touched the boiling hot milk with its tongue, its tongue got burned and it ran away at once.

Tenali repeated the same thing the next day and again the day after that. After a few days like that, the cat refused to touch the milk that was offered to it for fear of getting its mouth burned. In this way, Tenali got to drink all the milk himself.

One day, the king ordered for all the cats to be brought before him for inspection. While everyone else’s cats were fat and healthy, Tenali’s cat looked thin and weak. The king was a very angry with Tenali for not taking proper care of the cat. But Tenali pleaded, “Your Majesty, I cannot help it. My cat does not drink any milk at all.” The king said, “Nonsense, I will put you in prison for telling a lie.” Tenali requested the king to give him a chance to prove it and the king agreed.

So, Tenali brought his cat and the pan of milk in front of the king. He offered milk to the cat. But on seeing the pan of milk, the cat ran away, frightened. The king was surprised at this but he let Tenali go. Tenali lived happily, enjoying lots of milk by himself.

The End

Tenali Raman Attempts to Turn a Dog into Cow

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.

Tenali Raman and the Two Thieves

One night, when Tenali Raman and his wife were about to sleep, they heard the sound of rustling of leaves coming from outside. There was not even the slightest breeze blowing at that time, so he presumed that there were some thieves hiding in the bushes.

image courtesy: google images

                        

He also understood that they must be planning to rob his house in the night. So he thought of a plan said loudly to his wife, “My dear, I have heard that some notorious thieves are on loose in our neighbourhood. So let’s hide all the jewellery and money that we have in the well.”

A little later, Tenali Raman and his wife came out of the house carrying a big trunk and dropped it into the well. Then they went back inside the house and pretended to go off to sleep. The thieves waited for a while and then started drawing water from the well. They hoped to empty the well and get the treasure. The thieves kept drawing out water the entire night.

Towards the day break, they managed to pull out the trunk, and when they opened it, they were extremely shocked and disappointed the see only some big stones in it. They understood that it was Tenali Ram’s plan to outsmart them. Just then, Tenali Raman came out of his house and said, “Thank you friends, for watering my plants. I must pay you for your labour.” Hearing this, the thieves fell at Tenali’s feet for forgiveness.

Tenali Raman then let them go when they promised not to steal anyone ever again.

The End.

Tenali Raman and the Weightlifter

Tenali Raman and his wife were on their way to Hampi, the capital of Vijayanagaram. On the waythey passed through a village at the foot of a hill. The villagers had gathered in front of the village temple. Raman’s wife became curious and dragged her husband to the spot. Husband and wife pushed through the crowd to appear in the front row.

A body builder was exhibiting his strength. He was seen carrying a huge gunny bag on his left shoulder and twirling his moustache with his right hand.

“He is carrying a bog of 500 quintals of rice,” said the man standing next to Raman.

“This is nothing, I can carry a thousand times more weight,” said Raman in a loud voice.

Startled by this announcement, the body builder dropped the bag he was carrying. 

Everybody looked at Raman wondering whether a new champion had arrived.

Enjoying the attention, Raman addressed the crowd. “Why, I can carry that hill on my bare shoulder,” he said, pointing out the hill nearby.

The villagers gasped. Raman’s wife appeared tense. She had a suspicion that her husband had opened his mouth too wide. Meanwhile the body builder had recovered his wit. He laughed out loud and said, “Is that so? Let’s see you do it”.

The villagers were now excited. They had seen only Hanumanji carrying the Sanjeevani mountain - and that too in pictures. Now here was a man who claimed he could repeat the feat.

“I said I can do it. Did I say I’ll do it now? Asked Raman. “Carrying a hill requires a lot of preparation”, Raman added.

Turning to the weightlifter, Raman asked, “How long did you take to prepare for this feat of carrying the sack of rice?”

“Three months,” confessed the weight lifter.

“How long will you take?” the village Chief asked Raman.

“Six months”, said Raman without batting an eye.

Then Raman added. “I need to eat enormous amount of food to build my muscles. And I need someone to massage my body, daily”.

“And we need a place to live, we are outsiders”, said Raman’s wife.

The village chief agreed to provide the couple with a house and arrange the food supply. He directed the weight lifter to give Raman body massage daily.

“And we will meet here, exactly six months from now,” said the village chief getting up from the chair.

Raman’s wife was relieved. They did not have to wonder where the food would come from. For the next six months, at least.

Raman led a royal life in the village. Villagers supplied pots of milk, honey and curd. 

Cartloads of rice and ragi were delivered to their house. The body builder was available to cook food, and also give body massage to Raman every day.

The body builder who had become a Raman disciple by now asked Raman about the practice. “Would you like to begin with a small rock, then move on to bigger and bigger rocks?” he asked. Raman sent him away asking him to make ragi mudde (balls of steamed ragi flour).

Soon it was the D-day. The whole village assembled at the foot of the hill. Raman and his wife arrived in a decorated cart pulled by the body builder. The villagers received the weight lifter, Raman with a shout of joy.

The village chief gave a sign that the show could begin.

Raman stood in a circle with people seated all round. He sat in the warrior’s pose, Veeramudra, and announced he was ready.

The villagers were puzzled. The village chief became impatient. “What are you waiting for?” he barked.

“I’m waiting for your men to place the hill on my shoulder,” said Raman calmly.

Everybody gaped at Raman. The village chief shouted in anger “You said … “

Raman cut him short, “I said I will carry that hill. Even now I’m willing to carry the hill. I’m waiting for your men to place it on my shoulder.”

“But who will lift the hill?” asked the Village Chief in bewilderment.

“That’s your problem,” Raman said.

“Only Hanumanji can lift it,” said Raman’s wife.

The village chief joined his hands in salutation to Raman. “A man of your strength and determination should carry not a lowly hill, but Mount Kailas.” The villagers started laughing.

When they got back home, Raman asked his wife to pack, “We are leaving this village,” he said.

The End

Tenali Raman Stories – A Tail Of a Dog

                                     

image source: Youtube

Once, when the king Krishna Deva Raya and Tenali Raman were walking around the garden and were talking on different subjects. They talked about ‘nature’ too. The king said, “We always have to live depending on nature only. We cannot alter nature according to our life style.”

Tenali disagreed with him and asked, “Why not, my dear king?”

“Is it possible for you to change the natural phenomena?” asked the king.

“Yes, I can my dear king. If I am offered the required time I can successfully execute and prove it.” The king was astonished to hear Tenali’s reply.

“What? What do you say? Are you playing with me?” asked the king irritatingly a little bit.

“My dear king, I hope that we can win over anything if we practise it well and properly.”

“Tenali, you may be firm in your hope. But going against nature is foolish. Understand it clearly.”

Oh! King! If we prolong our talking, how can I prove it? Let me have a chance. Then you will realise that my hopes are true.” The king too decided to give him a chance to prove his hope.

So he said, “Tenali, straighten the dog’s tail. This is the test. It is given not only to you alone but to many others too. Let us see who wins and proves it.”

“Oh! What a great idea! I shall soon prove you by straightening the dog’s tail,” said Tenali. “Okay, let’s start the work tomorrow in the court. Now, we shall part,” said the king. Then both took leave of each other.

Next morning, the court assembled. The king, ministers, courtiers and others were all assembled there. The king asked the minister. “Have you brought here 10 dogs as I told you yesterday?”

“Yes, my king, I have brought ten dogs here. All of them have their tail bent.”

“Your Majesty, shall the courtiers be let to know why you have ordered to bring these ten dogs?”

“I will tell you now. When I was conversing with someone yesterday about nature, I asked him whether nature can be altered. He challenged me that he can. What do you all say about it? Is it possible for human to alter nature?” the king disclosed the purpose.

Everyone in the court replied, “It is impossible.”

“You all voiced together that it is impossible. But one of you in the court has challenged with me that he can alter the nature. What shall we do now?” asked the king.

The minister eagerly asked, “ who challenged with you, my king?”

“He is no one but Tenali Raman who challenged with me,” said the king.

The courtiers were really astonished. Tenali Raman got up and looking at everyone proudly said, “My humble salute to the king. Please, let me prove my challenge.”

“Okay, bring the dogs and distribute them to some people. Allot stipend for rearing the dogs. You must put forth every effort to straighten the dog’s tail,” explained the king. The minister asked, “Dear King, is it possible to straighten the dog’s tail?”

“I too asked the same, but Tenali told that he could and so, I have put him in this test,” said the king.

Then 10 people were selected and everyone was given a dog and stipend. Tenali Raman was one among them. Those who took the dogs put forth their efforts as far as they could. They decided to undertake every effort one by one.

One of them tied the tail with a bamboo stick. Another one tied a stone-tied-thread with the dog’s tail. The other one rubbed the tail by applying oil. Likewise, everyone tried in their possible ways.

But Tenali Raman tried to straighten the tail in a different way. He decided, “If the dog is fed well, it will become fat and healthy. The tail too will get rolled strongly. On the other hand, if the dog is reared with a little quantity of food, it will loose strength and become lean, in hunger. The tail will lose the strength to get rolled and it will grow straight.”

So he minimised the quantiy of food to the dog every day. In days, the dog lost its strength, and was not even able to bark.

One month passed. The king ordered to bring the dog to the court. All those who were given the dogs assembled in the court with the dogs. Then king Krishna Deva Raya inspected the dogs one by one and found that the tails of dogs didn’t get straightened. The tails remained so, as they were before. But those who reared them, narrated the troubles they faced and efforts they put forth. Still they could not straighten the tails.

But, Tenali Raman who stood lastly did not spell out even a word. The king asked, “Where is your dog?”

Tenali Raman had covered his dog with silk cloth. Removing the silk cloth Raman said, “Here it is, my king.”

The king saw the lean and weak dog, shivering in fear. As it had lost its strength, it could not lift its tail. The tail was long and straight.

“Look at my dog, my dear king. Its tail is not rolled. It has straightened. I gave just enough food for the dog to be alive, so it became weak and the tail has become straight. But once we start to feed the dog well it will become strong enough and the tail will start to roll back,” said Tenali Raman.

“Good Tenali Rama, you are so intelligent and your wits are unparalleled. Take the dog home and feed it well,” said the king sympathetically. The king, then  declared that Raman won the challenge and  awarded Raman with gold coins. Tenali Raman took the dog home and fed it really well.

The End.