Tale: Raman Punishes the Fraudulent Priests

King Krishnadevarayar was deeply troubled after the death of his beloved mother. Among her many wishes, there was one that had not been fulfilled before she passed away. The king was informed by his priests that the soul of his mother was wandering restlessly because of this unfulfilled wish. Distraught, the king sought the guidance of the priests to find a way to put his mother’s soul to rest.

The priests, sensing an opportunity to exploit the king, came up with a solution. They told the king, “The last wish of your mother was to eat mangoes, but she could not fulfill it before her death. In order to set her soul free, you must donate 12 gold mangoes to 12 Brahmin priests. Only then will your mother’s soul rest in peace.” The king, trusting the priests, agreed and donated the mangoes as instructed.

However, Raman, who had always been skeptical of the priests, quickly realized that they had deceived the king. The solution they offered was nothing more than a clever ruse to get gold mangoes from the king. But Raman, being wise and patient, kept his thoughts to himself at the time.

Some time later, Raman’s own mother, Lakshmma, passed away from arthritis. As part of the obsequies, Raman invited the same 12 priests to a feast. He served them well, but little did they know that Raman had a plan to expose their greed. As the priests were about to leave, Raman, with a wicked smile, took a hot ladle and burned each of them on their thighs. The priests screamed in pain, utterly confused by the strange punishment.

In agony, the priests rushed to the king, complaining about the pain they had suffered. Raman, with his usual sharp wit, went to the king and explained his actions. “My mother also died of arthritis. Her last wish was to have her paralysed legs burned with a hot ladle. But her wish could not be fulfilled. Her soul, just like my mother’s, wandered due to this unfulfilled wish. I had to complete her obsequies by fulfilling her wish,” Raman said with a smirk.

The people who had gathered were amused by Raman’s cleverness and commended him for teaching the fraudulent priests a lesson. The king, upon realizing the deception of the priests, saw through their scam. He ordered that the priests be penalized for their dishonesty.

From that day on, the priests became the enemies of Raman, who had once again outsmarted them with his wit.

Moral:

Those who deceive others will eventually face the consequences of their own deception.