From a very young age, Raman knew he wanted to live in the city of Vijayanagaram. As a child he would dream of the day when he could.

It was during those days,Tathacharya , the Royal priest of Vijayanagaram arrived at Tenali to offer his prayers in the famous temple dedicated to Kali(Goddess). He had come all the way from Vijayanagaram to offer his salutations at Tenali's famous Kali temple.

When the young Raman saw the royal priest he recognised him as someone from the city and asked the priest to take him along when he left . Tathacharya did not want to take Raman with him, he saw no reason to do so. But tired of being pestered by the young boy, Tathacharya agreed to take Raman with him.

The very same night, Raman snuck out to Tenali's Kali temple to offer his thanks to the Goddess. The full moon hung brightly in the night sky and Raman had barely reached the threshold of the temple when Goddess herself appeared before him.

Upon seeing her, Raman instead of bowing in reverence, burst out laughing.

All one-hundred-and-eight faces of the Goddess wore the same shocked look. 'Why do you laugh?' Kali asked angrily.

Flicking tears of laughter from his eyes, Raman replied , 'You must have a lot of trouble when you have cold. You have only eight arms but one-hundred-and-eight heads.What do you do when all your one-hundred-and-eight noses get runny at the same time?'

Taken aback by his simple honesty of his question,Kali found herself laughing. 'I shall reward you for your innocence and wittiness'. She held out two golden bowls that shimmered in the dark. One brimmed with milk and the other was laden with thick curd. 'One will give you prosperity and the other will bless you with immeasurable knowledge. Which bowl do you choose?'

The boy grew thoughtful. Finally, as though arriving at a decision, Raman smiled up at the Goddess. Before she was even halfway through returning his smile, he snatched both the bowls from her and gulped down the contents.

'What have you done?' she yelled, her eyes wide with anger.Raman bowed his head. 'Mother Kali, what is the use of wisdom without wealth or wealth without wisdom? I had to either choose to a rich fool or a poor scholar. I ask for your forgiveness if I have been too impudent.'

The Goddess was pleased with his answer. How could she punish him for being right? 'You will become a famous poet but for your impenitence, you will always be known as a Vikata Kavi, a comic poet. you will receive many gifts but remember people will be jealous of you. the many gifts you receive shall also make you enemies. But your wit will always keep you safe'.

The next day, Raman left Tenali and set off to Vijayanagaram. He sought out Tathacharya's place of living and went to visit him and reminded him of his promise. However ,Tathacharya pretend not to know him and asked him to leave. When Raman protested, he had his guards throw Raman out of his house.

Lets see how Raman uses his wit to get Tathacharya tricked. Stay tuned.

Upset but unwilling to admit defeat, Raman found out Tathacharya's routine and decided to approach him during his morning bath. He stole Tathacharya's clothes and waited.

When Tathacharya was done with his bath, he realised much to his dismay that his clothes were missing. 'Who has taken my clothes?' he yelled out. 'Whoever has taken it, give it back at once! I'll give you a reward if that's what you're after.'

'A reward?' a voice asked. Tathacharya looked around but could not see the speaker. It seemed as though the voice came from above.

'Yes,yes, anything. just give me back my clothes.'

'Okay then, swear on the Goddess Kali that you'll give me anything I ask for!'

Tathacharya hesitated. He did not think this was a good idea but he was desperate to get his clothes back. he was already late for his morning meeting with the emperor, and everyone knew the emperor hated it when people were late. What could this fool want more than money? A few gold coins would sort this out, wouldn't it?

'I swear on Kali that I will grant you a reward.' Tathacharya replied confidently.

Raman threw the clothes at Tathacharya from up the tree and jumped himself. as soon as Tathacharya saw him, he regretted his words for he recognised the young man . ' Carry me on your back, ' Raman said, 'that is my reward. carry me through the market on your back.'

'are you mad?' Tathacharya asked wondering how he could get away from this madman.

'Unless you want to risk the wrath of Mother Kali...' Raman shrugged.

His cheeks flushed, and seeing no other way out, Tathacharya allowed Raman to climb onto his back. With each step the priest took, the whispers from the people grew louder until everyone was pointing at Tathacharya in confusion and amusement.

The news of Tathacharya carrying a young man on his back reached the emperor in no time. Unable to believe this news, the emperor decided to step out and see it with his own eyes. As soon as he reached the marketplace, he saw the pair and stopped them.

Raman got down from Tathacharya's back and stood quietly, while Tathacharya struggled to meet the emperor's eye.

'Explain yourselves,' the emperor commanded.

Tathacharya's mind was working furiously. If he spoke truth it would make him look foolish, but how else could he explain what had happened? 'Your Majesty, last night Mother Kali appeared in my dream,' Tathacharya lied. 'She told me her favourite disciple would come to me and I had to take care of him. It was such an honour, you see, that she visited me. I had to make sure I paid due respect to her. That is why I carried this young man on my back.'

Amazed, the emperor decided to invite Raman to his court. And thus, began Tenali Raman's days at the court of Emperor Krishnadevaraya.

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This was the introduction to our ML Tenali Raman. Let's explore more about him in the next episode.

Often, scholarly discussions and debates took place in the Royal court of Emperor Krishnadevaraya. Famous scholars used to to come from far and wide to take part in these debates. it was an opportunity to learn, share the knowledge and gain acclaim. these discussions would go on for hours in the presence of The Emperor who thoroughly enjoyed hosting such gatherings.

soon after joining the emperor's Court,Raman found that a debate was to be held. he knew this was an opportunity to gain the attention of the emperor. on the day of the debate, Raman arrived at Court to see it overflowing with wise men from all over the country. already, a discussion was ongoing, I heated one that too! The wise men were talking about illusion or Maya.

one amongst them said, ' dear friends, this world is an illusion, and unreal. we see an object, hear a sound, smell a fragrance, touch to feel something and taste a delicacy. but all these are imaginations, and not reality. nothing is real except illusion. this is why the great Saints call this world Maya.'

the men proceeded to tell them why they as wise men needed to understand this and become detached from their worldly attachments. this was the only path to true wisdom.

now, had he stopped there it might have been all well and good. but the scholar went on to say that all the wiseman gathered in Emperor Krishnadevaraya's court were frauds as they were fooled by Maya.

no one likes to be called a fool, least of all the ones who believe they are learnt. Chaos erupted in the court. the emperor watched keenly, not wanting to interfere.See, the emperor had a hidden agenda in calling the gathering at this time. he was looking for an addition to his Council of Advisors. what better way to find an advisor then this? Surely, there would be someone your who prove to be brilliant.

however, apart from throwing insults at each other, no one came up with a reasonable argument. Raman saw his opportunity and seized it. He stood up and turned to the scholar, ' If I may ask a question, sir, are you not fooled by maya?'

' of course I am not,' the man cried.' I have given up all worldly attachments in my quest for knowledge, for truth. '

' that's wonderful, my good sir. I suppose you want to be joining us for the feast later then?' The scholar frowned, an sure where Raman was headed with this line of talk.' if our reality is an Illusion and you do not believe in giving into it... then surely you don't need to eat food, do you? Perhaps you can even imagine your stomach is full and that will be enough?'

the court burst into laughter. the scholar was embarrassed. he understood that he had been defeated. the emperor was impressed by Raman's wit and gifted him gold coins.

' I look forward to hearing more of your witty remarks. I hear your boy appoint you as one among my councillors,' said the Emperor to Raman. Thus , Tenali Raman became the Vidushaka or the wise man of Emperor Krishnadevaraya's court.

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