Birbal's meeting with Akbar
<<
Go back to the index of Birbal Stories
There was a boy named Mahesh Das. When he grew
up as a fine young man, he took all his savings, along with the Ring of Seal of
the Emperor Akbar, which he received from the Emperor himself some time ago,
bade his mother farewell, and set out to the new capital of India - Fatehpur
Sikri.
He was very much enchanted with the pomp and
show of the new capital. He escaped the crowd and headed towards the red walls
of the palace. The palace gate was very richly ornamented - a very beautiful
gate as he had never seen before. Mahesh wanted to enter the gate, but the guard
slashed the air with his spear and stopped him from entering the gate.
"Where do you think, you are going?"
asked the guard. Said Maesh politely, "Sir, I have come to see the
King." "Oh! yeah, the King must be waiting for you, as when you would
come?" the guard said circastically. Mahesh smiled at this comment and
spoke "Yes, Sir, and now I am here." Mahesh told further,"I
am sure you nust have fought wonderfully well on the Emperor's frontiers, but do
not risk your life by stopping me from entering the palace."
The guard kept quiet for a moment, then said
courageously, "Why do you think so? I will chop off your head, if you do
not stop talking nonsense." Mahesh was not going to accept his defeat. He
showed Akbar's Ring of Seal to the guard.
Now who was the person who did not recognize
Akbar's Ring of Seal. Having seen the seal, the guard couldn't say a word. He
had to admit him, although he was not willing to do it. So the guard thought and
thought, then he said to Mahesh, "You can go in on one condition."
"What?", Mahesh asked. The guard said, "Whatever you will get
from the Emperor, you will share with me half of that. "Agreed,"
Mahesh smiled and the guard let him go inside.
He went on and on, finally he could see the
golden throne on which a man of simple elegance was sitting. He quickly
recognized him as the Emperor Akbar. Pushing everyone aside, Mahesh went further
and prostrated himself before the Emperor Akbar, and said, "May your shadow
always grow, O Full Moon."
Akbar smiled and asked him, "What do you
want. O young man?" Mahesh rose to his feet and spoke, "Sir, I have
come here at your command." And he handed over the Ring of Seal, which was
given to him by the King so many years before.
"That's a good boy, now what do you want?
What is your heart's desire? Tell me, I will try my best to fulfill it."
Mahesh remebered his promise with the guard, so he asked the Emperor to punish
him with one hundred slashes. The King was surprised to hear that, "But how
can I do this to you, you have done nothing wrong." Mahesh said politely,
"Sir, please do not go back from your promise of fufilling my heart's
desire."
So with great reluctance and perplexed mind,
Akbar ordered one hundred lashes on Mahesh's back. To the surprise of all,
Mahesh endured every stroke without uttering a word.
After the fiftieth whip, he suddenly shouted,
"Stop now." Akbar asked, "Why? What happened?" Mahesh said,
"Sir when I was coming here, your guard did not allow me to come inside the
palace, unless I promised him to give half of my share of whatever I will get
from you. I have taken half of my share, now it is your guard's turn to take his
share of half." Everybody bursted into the laughter.
The guard was hauled to receive his humiliating
bribe. The King said, "You are as brave as you were when you were a child.
You have grown into a cleverer young man. I was trying to weed out the corrupted
people from my court, but your little trick has done what I wouldn't have done
even after passing several laws. From now on, on the basis of of your wisdom,
you shall be called "Birbal" and you will stay by my side as my
advisor."
That is how Birbal was born.
<<
Go back to the index of Birbal Stories
|