Tenali Raman and The Gold Coins Story
One day, in the royal court, the Emperor, Krishnadevaraya was in a pleasant and a playful mood. He gave each of his courtiers a bag full of fifty gold coins.
His courtiers were thrilled to receive such a huge amount and thanked the Emperor for his magnanimity. Before they could end their praises, the Emperor stopped them and told them that there was a condition attached to the gift.
He asked them to spend the entire money within a week and put a condition that they had to see his face every time they spent the gold coins to make purchases.
The courtiers agreed to his condition and flooded the market to make their purchases. But as they took out the gold coins to pay for the items purchased, all of them
remembered the Emperors condition and could not spend them.They were puzzled and decided that they could spend the money only if the Emperor visited the market and waited the whole week to see him in the market. The week passed but there was no sign of the Emperor.
The disappointed courtiers returned to the court with their bags of gold. When the Emperor inquired what they bought, all of them replied that they could not spend even a single coin due to his condition.
When the Emperor looked at Tenali Rama, he found him dressed in new clothes and jewels. He asked him if he bought anything with the money given to him.
Tenali Rama replied to the Emperor that he had used all the money. He showed his dress and accessories to the Emperor and told him that he bought them with the gold coins given to him.
The courtiers were astonished by his reply and feared that Tenali Rama would receive a good thrashing from the Emperor for not obeying his condition.
The Emperor too was shocked and yelled at Tenali Rama that he had not obeyed his condition. He intended to punish Tenali Rama for spending the money without looking at his face.
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Tenali Rama quickly replied that he spent the money as per the condition. He told the Emperor that he spent every gold coin after seeing the Emperor’s face. Now it was the Emperor’s turn to be surprised. He asked Tenali Rama how it was possible to see his face in the market when he had not visited it that whole week.
Tenali Rama smiled and reminded the Emperor that every coin of the Empire bears an imprint of the Emperor’s face on it. He told him that he looked at the Emperors face on the coin every time he made a purchase.
The Emperor was pleasantly surprised to hear his words and declared that Tenali Rama fulfilled his condition. Tenali Rama’s intelligence left the other courtiers speechless.