Tenali Raman – The Special Light

It was Diwali in the kingdom of Vijayanagar and the city was filled with bright lights and the bursting of crackers all around. The king was very pleased to see his kingdom in such a happy mood and decided to conduct a contest.

He called his minister and said that he would award the best lit house with 10,000 silver coins. The minister then went and conveyed this news to the messenger. He in turn went and spread this news to the entire kingdom. Soon, the people started discussing about how best to decorate their house with lights,

That night, the king set out with the minister and Tenali Raman to decide which house would win the prize. They were going around when they spotted a house decorated with many lights. It was dazzling to the eye and the minister said that this was the house of the diamond merchant named Laksmi Varman. The king was about to declare him as the winner when Tenali Raman interrupted him.

Tenali said that he knew of another place where there was a single light which was the equivalent of a 1000 lights. The king was impressed by Tenali’s description and wanted to check this place out. So, he told Tenali to take him there.

Tenali then took them into the forest where there was a hut. As they went nearby, they could hear slokas being recited. All 3 of them entered the hut and saw that the entire place was illuminated by a single lamp. A teacher was reciting slokas line by line, after which the students recited them. The teacher saw the king and welcomed him happily. Tenali Raman then showed the king the single lamp which burned bright. He mentioned that under this lamp of knowledge, thousands of students had studied and hence this single lamp was equal to a thousand lamps. The king agreed with Tenai Raman and gave the prize of 10,000 silver coins to the teacher.

Moral – Knowledge is power and one can gain knowledge, only if he has proper education. So, good education is very important in one’s life.