The Broken Vases: A Tale of Wisdom and Mercy
Tales
The annual festival of Vijayanagar was celebrated with great pomp and show. The kings of the neighbouring kingdoms also used to participate in it with precious gifts for the king. Like every time, this time also the king received many gifts. Out of all the gifts, the king liked four colourful vases studded with gems the most.
The king kept those vases in his special room and also appointed a servant to guard them. The servant Ramaiya used to guard those vases very carefully, because before assigning him this task, he was told that if any damage is caused to those vases, he will have to lose his life.
One day Ramaiya was cleaning those vases very carefully when suddenly a vase slipped from his hand, fell on the ground and broke into pieces. As soon as the king came to know about this, he ordered to hang Ramaiya after four days. On hearing this order of the king, Tenaliram came to the king and said, “Maharajah, how can you punish your old servant with death for breaking a flower vase? This is sheer injustice.”
Tales
But the king was very angry at that time, so he did not think it necessary to think about Tenaliram’s words. When the king did not agree, Tenaliram went to Ramaiya and said to him, “You don’t worry. Now listen to whatever I say carefully and do the same before you are hanged. I assure you that nothing will happen to you.” Ramaiya listened to everything Tenaliram said very carefully and said, “I will do the same.”
The day of hanging came. The king was also present there at the time of hanging. Before hanging, Ramaiya was asked about his last wish. Then Ramaiya said, “I want to see the remaining three vases once, because of which I am being hanged.” As per Ramaiya’s last wish, the king ordered to bring those three vases.
Tales
Now as soon as the vases came in front of Ramaiya, he broke all the three vases by throwing them on the ground as per Tenaliram's instructions. As soon as Ramaiya broke the vases, the king became furious and shouted, "What have you done? Why did you break them?" Ramaiya said, "Maharajah, today one vase has broken and I am being hanged. Similarly, when these three also break, three more people will be given death penalty. I have saved the lives of three people by breaking them, because a vase cannot be more valuable than human life."
Tales
On hearing Ramaiya's words, the king's anger subsided and he also released Ramaiya. Then he asked Ramaiya, "On whose advice did you do all this?" Ramaiya told everything truthfully. Then the king called Tenaliram and said, "Today you saved the life of an innocent and also told us that decisions taken in anger are always wrong. Thank you very much Tenaliram."
Some other interesting Stories
- Ranchordas Pagi The Unsung Hero of Indian Army
- Motivational story : How a poor boy fulfilled his dreams
- Moral Story Boon of a Saint
- Story of a Mysterious Trai
- Moral Story : Four Monkeys and a Sparrow
- Moral Story : Karma, Fate and Three Fishes
- Mystery of the Temple Diamonds: Quest for Justice
Tales
