The Golden Mangos

King Krishnadevaraya loved his mother very much. One day, the Queen Mother fell very ill. The royal doctors tried everything, but she did not get better. Weak and frail, she called the King to her bedside. “My son,” she whispered, “I have a strong desire to eat a sweet, juicy mango.”

The King immediately sent his soldiers to find the best mangoes in the kingdom. But it was not the mango season. By the time they found some mangoes and returned, the Queen Mother had sadly passed away. The King was heartbroken. He cried for days. “I could not even fulfill my mother’s last wish,” he sobbed.

He called the royal priests and scholars. “How can I find peace?” he asked them. “My mother passed away with an unfulfilled wish.” The priests were greedy men. They saw an opportunity to get rich. They whispered among themselves and then said, “Your Majesty, this is very serious. To bring peace to your mother’s soul, you must give away mangoes made of solid gold to the Brahmins.”

The King, in his grief, agreed. He ordered the royal goldsmiths to make 108 golden mangoes. The next day, he distributed them to the greedy priests. The priests were delighted. They took the gold and went home to celebrate.

Tenali Raman, the King’s wise jester, watched all this. He knew the priests were tricking the sad King. He decided to teach them a lesson. A few days later, Tenali invited the same group of priests to his house. “I am holding a ceremony for my late mother,” stopping Tenali said sadly. “Please come and receive a gift.” Thinking they would get more gold, the greedy priests rushed to Tenali’s house.

When they arrived, Tenali welcomed them. He led them to the backyard. But instead of gold, the priests saw a roaring fire with iron rods heating in it. The rods were glowing red hot. “What is this?” asked the Head Priest, trembling.

Tenali looked very serious. “My dear mother also had an unfulfilled wish,” he explained. “She suffered from rheumatism, and her legs ached. The doctor said that branding her legs with hot rods would cure the pain. But alas! She passed away before I could do it.” He picked up a poker (not too hot, but looking scary). “To bring peace to her soul,” Tenali continued, “I must fulfill her wish. Since you are the holy men who carry wishes to the ancestors, I must burn these hot rods on your legs.”

The priests were terrified! “Are you mad, Tenali?” they shouted. “It will burn us!” “But you took the golden mangoes for the King’s mother,” argued Tenali. “If a golden mango here can be a real mango in heaven, then a hot rod here can be a hot rod in heaven. It is the same logic!”

The priests realized they had been caught in their own trap. They were ashamed of their greed and hypocrisy. “Please, Tenali!” they begged. “We understand! We were wrong.” To save themselves from the “treatment,” they returned all the golden mangoes to the King’s treasury and promised never to be greedy again. The King laughed when he heard the story and thanked Tenali for opening his eyes.

Moral of the Story: Greed makes you blind, but wit restores sight. Do not use superstition to cheat others.