Tenali Rama and the King’s son

22-11-2020 Tenali Rama’s stories

   King Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagara, was a good ruler, loved by all his subjects. Tenali Rama was one of the 8 poets at his court (Ashtadiggajas), who was known for his wit and intelligence. The king trusted his judgement and looked upon Tenali to solve his problems.

   One day, Tenali saw the king looking worried and enquired about the same. “It is my son, the Crown Prince,” said the King.” He does not want to do any work. He just sits around and eats to his fill, without realising the importance of work. I am worried as to how he will rule my kingdom once I am no more.”

Tenali pondered over this for a bit. He then asked the King to tell his son to earn one coin a day and bring it to him in the evening. If he did not do so, he would not be served dinner that night, and would have to go hungry. The King called his son and told him the same. The son, upset with the King, went running and crying to his mother, the Queen. The Queen who doted upon her son and had spoilt him by giving in to all his demands, asked him not to worry and that she would give him the coin to give to his father. But she told him to go away from the palace everyday as if on work and in the evening present the coin to his father.

The next evening, when the King asked his son for the coin, the son showed him the coin given by his mother. As per Tenali’s instructions, the King asked his son to throw the coin into the well. The son, who had gained the coin easily, carelessly threw it into the well. This went on for a few more days. The Queen gave the coin, the King asked his son to throw it into the well and the son did so.

Tenali told the king the reason for his son’s careless behaviour. He said that it was the queen who was giving their son the coin and hence he was not worried about throwing it away. He asked the King to send his wife to her parent’s house the next day, when the son was pretending to be at work. The King did so. That evening, when the son went to his mother to collect the coin for the next day, he was horrified to know that she was not in the palace. He had no one else to turn to as he thought he would become an object of ridicule, He was also scared of his father’s anger and spent the night thinking what he could do. 

Early the next morning, he disguised himself, and went to the village to seek work. Some people ignored him, others chased him away and finally one shopkeeper agreed to give him work. He was asked to clean and stock the shelves and sweep the shop floor. He was then asked to unload sacks of flour and rice from the bullock cart and bring them inside. For lunch he was given two dry roti’s with some rice. Towards the end of the day, the shopkeeper asked him to take customer’s orders, which he had to pack and tie up with coarse twine. When it was time to leave, the shopkeeper handed him one coin. The prince gave the man a surprised look that he had received only one coin for his efforts, but the shopkeeper shrugged and said that it was a day’s salary for any labourer who worked for him. 

The prince slowly made his way back to the palace. His back hurt, carrying the heavy sacks and his palms had cuts from the coarse twine. He was tired and hungry, but he first went to his father to hand over the coin. As usual the king asked him to throw it into the well. The tired prince turned on him in rage and shouted, “What do you mean throw it into the well ? You don’t know how much I have struggled and suffered today. My bones hurt and my feet ache. This is my hard earned money and I will not throw it away.” As he finished his tirade, he realised what he had just said. 

His father, the King agreed and said, “Yes, I see you understand. Every day, it was easy to throw away the coin as you had obtained it without any difficulty. But today, when you have spent sweat and blood in obtaining it, the one small coin has become more precious than gold. Tomorrow, when you inherit the kingdom, don't throw it away because you came by it easily. But appreciate the hard work of your ancestors in keeping it intact and rule it justly and wisely.“ The prince understood the value of hard work and became a mature and responsible person that day onwards.

King Krishnadevaraya thanked Tenali Rama profusely for his wise counsel and rewarded him handsomely with gold coins.