Disguised Thief and the Mastermind Minister
In ancient times, the Vijayanagara kingdom of India was ruled by Maharaja Krishnadeva Raya. His minister, Tenaliram, was a very clever and intelligent person. Tenaliram used to solve the most difficult problems in a few moments with his intelligence. Maharaja Krishnadeva Raya used to wear a precious gemstone ring, which was very dear to him. Whenever he used to appear in the court, he used to wear the same ring. The guests and ministers who came to the palace also used to praise that ring a lot.
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One day the Maharaja was sitting sadly on his throne. Then Tenaliram came there and asked the reason for the Maharaja's sadness. The Maharaja told that his favorite ring was lost. The Maharaja's security was so tight that no thief or common man could go near him. Despite this, his ring was stolen, so the Maharaja had a strong suspicion that his ring was stolen by one of his twelve bodyguards.
Tenali Raman immediately told the Maharaja not to worry, as he would catch the thief soon. Hearing this, Maharaja Krishnadevaraya was very pleased and immediately called all his bodyguards to the court.
Tenaliram said, "Maharaj's favorite ring is lost, and we suspect that one of you twelve bodyguards has stolen that ring. I will definitely find out the thief hidden among you. Whoever is innocent has no need to be afraid, but whoever is a thief should be ready for the harshest punishment."
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Tenaliram further said, "Now all of you come with me, we have to go to the temple of Goddess."
Maharaj said, "What are you doing Tenaliram, We need to catch the thief, not visit the temple of the Goddess!"
Tenaliram said, "Maharaj, please be patient, that thief will be found in a short while."
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After reaching the temple, Tenaliram went to the priest and gave him some instructions in private. After this he told the bodyguards, "All of you have to go to the temple one by one and touch the feet of the idol of Goddess and come out immediately at the same time. By doing this, Goddess will tell me the name of the ring thief in my dream tonight itself."
Now all the bodyguards started going to the temple one by one and touching the feet of the idol of the goddess. As soon as any bodyguard came out after touching the feet of the idol of the goddess, Tenaliram would smell both his hands and make him stand in a line. In a short while all the bodyguards stood in a line outside the temple.
The king said, "The thief will be found only by tomorrow morning, till then what should be done with all of them?"
Tenaliram said, "No Maharaj, the thief has been found. The bodyguard standing at the seventh place from the left is the thief."
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On hearing this, the bodyguard started running, but the soldiers present there immediately caught him and put him in jail.
The king and everyone else were wondering how Tenali Raman found out that the bodyguard was the thief without even seeing a dream.
Then Tenali Raman, calming everyone's curiosity, said, "I asked the priest of the temple to sprinkle strong perfume on the feet of the idol of the goddess. So that whoever touches her feet, his hands will smell the perfume. Whichever bodyguard touched the feet of the goddess, his hands got the same fragrance. But when I smelled the hands of the seventh bodyguard, there was no fragrance in them, because he was the thief and he did not touch the feet of the idol of the goddess out of fear of getting caught. This proved that the same bodyguard was the thief."
Hearing this, Maharaj Krishnadev Rai once again acknowledged the intelligence of minister Tenali Raman and honored him by giving him a thousand gold coins.
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