Poet Thenali RAMAKRISHNA
Then Bhagavan mentioned a very interesting story about a poet by the name of Thenali Ramakrishna. Thenali Ramakrishna was a poet in the court of Krishnadevaraya. He was a very interesting poet - a poet of fun, frolic, retort and humour.
Swami talked about two episodes relating to the life of Thenali Ramakrishna. It seems what happened was that the other pundits and scholars in the court were feeling very jealous of Thenali Ramakrishna because he was very close to the king. These sort of jealous people were there down through the ages. They are not only here now for the first time. (Laughter) They were there, right since forever. Yes. So, in the open court, they challenged Thenali Ramakrishna.
“Oh King, let this poet explain why there is no hair on the palm (of the hand). While hair is everywhere, hair is not growing there on the palm. Why? Let him explain an answer to our open challenge.”
Thenali Ramakrishna, the poet, got up and said, “Your Majesty, I will explain. There is no hair on my palm because I have been receiving all the gifts from you. There has been no time for the hair to grow.” (Laughter)
Then the king laughed and said, “Oh ho, I see. But how is it that the others don’t have hair? Why?”
Then Thenali Ramakrishna said, “As you were giving the gifts, the others were feeling very jealous. They kept rubbing their hands together out of jealousy and so the hair did not grow.” (Laughter) That’s how Thenali Ramakrishna’s sense of humour was.
And then Bhagavan mentioned another episode relating to the life of Thenali Ramakrishna. It seems the king presented Thenali Ramakrishna with some diamonds, precious stones and gold. On the way to his home, some thieves noticed Thenali Ramakrishna carrying these precious stones and things, and they wanted to steal them. They decided to do this, and they went to his house that night. They were about to take away the jewels when the poet got up. Noticing this man, the thieves ran out of the house and hid themselves behind the well. Thenali Ramakrishna, being so intelligent, came out of the house.
You must have seen Indian wells, with a bucket, a rope and a pulley. This is how people take the water out. So, Thenali Ramakrishna went to the well and drew up some water. He put some into his mouth and started gargling, and afterward he spit it out, right where the thieves were hiding! The fellow Thenali Ramakrishna was a very smart guy, hmm? (Laughter) And then Thenali Ramakrishna picked up some cloth and bundled some stones inside and threw them into the well.
He told his wife, “Look here, the precious jewels cannot be kept at our residence because thieves may step in any time. So out of precaution, I am throwing them into the well.”
But, he did not actually throw the jewels in the well. Instead it was just a bundle of stones. However, the thieves didn’t know this. They thought the jewels were in the well, and they wanted to take them away. So, the whole night they worked at emptying the well, drawing water out of it. (Laughter)
The next morning Thenali Ramakrishna got up and said, “Thank you, sirs. The fields were without water till now. They needed to be watered, and now you have done it free of cost. I am very grateful to you.” (Laughter) That’s what Bhagavan said this afternoon.
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