The beautiful spring season had arrived in the kingdom of Vijayanagar and it was a pleasant scene. The birds were flying about chirping and all the rivers were gushing with water. Animals roamed about here and there as flowers and leaves of plants swayed in the cool breeze.
The king was sitting in his court with his ministers and was discussing with them about the best way to enjoy this beautiful season. One of the ministers then got up and said that they should go horse riding as it would be a splendid experience. The king agreed too and it was decided that they would go horse riding the next day as soon as the sun rose.
The next day, the king and all his ministers took their horses and went out into the forest. The king was riding rapidly, but however, Tenali Raman was trailing behind everyone as he rode his horse at a slow pace. They eventually reached a destination where there were a bunch of roses growing in abundance. The king was mesmerised with the flowers and went near to admire them. The ministers saw this and saw this as a nice opportunity to please the king.
Each one of them started to sing praises about the king, comparing his achievements with the rose flower. The king was listening to all of them in turn and he felt very happy to hear all of this. However, Tenali Raman remained silent and just looked around, observing everything. The king saw this and asked him what was the matter for which he remained silent.
At that moment, the minister who made the suggestion of horse riding piped in saying that Tenali was jealous and hence he did not say anything in praise of the king. Tenali silently walked up to him and started to body check him. The minister grew nervous and started to shake violently. Tenali went to the king and gave him a letter which he had taken from the minister’s clothes. He told the king that it was a letter from the neighbouring king Marthandam.
The king opened the letter and started to read its contents. It went as follows;
“Dear Bala Singh,
Bring your king Krishnadevaraya to the rose bushes in the forest regularly. During this time, I will loot the treasury of the kingdom and take away all the wealth little by little. If everything goes well, I will give half of the loot to you.
Regards,
Marthandam”
Once the king finished reading the letter, he was furious. The minister fell at his feet asking for forgiveness. He admitted that he had done all this for money. The king ordered for his immediate arrest and the guards took him away. The king praised Tenali Raman for his presence of mind. He thanked Tenali for reminding him that one’s duty towards the kingdom must always come before any personal duty.
Moral - One must always be alert so that they do not get stuck in any unfavourable situation.