How Tenali Raman tricked Goddess Kali

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.

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