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 must 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, and 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 remembered 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 fulfilling 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 busted into the
laughter.
The guard was hauled
to receive his humiliating bribe. The King said, "You are as brave as 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 your wisdom, you shall be called "Birbal" and you will stay
by my side as my advisor."
That is how Birbal
was born.
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