Maharaj Krishnadev used to camp outside the city every year during the winter season. During this, Maharaj and some of his courtiers and soldiers lived with him in tents. Leaving aside all the work of the state, in those days, music and song gatherings used to be organized and sometimes stories used to go round.
In such a pleasant evening, the idea of going hunting came to Maharaj’s mind. Maharaj asked the courtiers to start the preparations for the hunt. After this, the very next morning Maharaj started out for hunting with other courtiers and some soldiers.
Tenaliram was dear to Maharaj, he also asked him to accompany him on the hunt. After listening to Maharaj, a courtier started saying, “Let it be, Maharaj, Tenaliram is getting old and now he will get tired soon if he goes hunting.” Everyone started laughing after listening to the courtier, but Tenaliram did not say anything. Meanwhile, Maharaj told Tenaliram not to pay attention to the words of the courtiers and go hunting with them.
At the behest of Maharaj, Tenaliram also rode on a horse and started with the convoy. After some time Maharaj’s convoy reached the middle of the forest. While running his eyes for the prey, Maharaj saw a deer nearby. As soon as the king put an arrow on the bow to target the deer, the deer started running away and Maharaj started chasing it on his horse.
Seeing Maharaj going after the deer, Tenaliram along with other courtiers also started following Maharaj. As soon as Maharaj targeted the deer, it started going into a dense bush. Maharaj started going to the bushes behind the deer to aim. That’s why Tenaliram called Maharaj from behind to stop.
Maharaj’s attention was distracted by Tenaliram’s voice and he missed his target. As soon as the deer went into the bushes, Maharaj looked angrily at Tenaliram. Maharaj scolded Tenaliram and asked why he did not let him go to the bushes. Getting angry, King Krishnadev said that because of him the deer could not be hunted.
Tenaliram remained silent even after hearing Maharaj’s scolding. When Maharaj remained silent, Tenaliram asked a soldier to climb a tree and look beyond the bushes. At the behest of Tenaliram, the soldier saw that the deer that Maharaj was chasing was trapped in the thorny bushes and was bleeding badly. Even after trying for a long time, that deer was able to get out of those thorny bushes and staggered towards the forest.
After getting down from the tree, the soldier told Maharaj with full eyes. Maharaj was very surprised to hear the words of the soldier. He called Tenaliram near and asked him if he knew beforehand that there were thorny bushes. After listening to Maharaj, Tenaliram said, “There are many such bushes in the forest, which can make a person bleed and leave him half-dead. I suspected that there could be more such ‘predatory bushes’ in the future.
After listening to Tenaliram, Maharaj was once again convinced of his understanding. Maharaj looked at the other courtiers and said that you did not want Tenaliram to come hunting, but today because of him my life has been saved. Maharaj patted Tenaliram’s back and said that there is no match for your intelligence and understanding.
story lesson
Hasty steps can sometimes harm us. Therefore, one should work sensibly keeping in view the situation and the surrounding things.
