Krishnadeva Raya toured his kingdom to find out how things were going. Often Tenali Raman accompanied him. Once, travelling to Bijapur, he saw a lavish wedding in a rich landlord’s house. He stopped to watch for a while. Then he asked Tenali Raman, “How much do you think this fellow has spent on this wedding?”
Tenali Raman said after thinking, “Sir, he must have spent the cost of three sacks of rice and two sacks of wheat approximately.”
The King looked at him in surprise, “Raman, are you crazy? Look at the number of guests and the arrangements! He must have spent a fortune on this!”
Tenali Raman had nothing to say in reply, so they went on. Some weeks later, during another journey, they saw a funeral procession along the road. The King stopped to find out who had died, but Tenali Raman asked, “Is there only one corpse or many more?” The King was horrified at Tenali Raman asking such a thoughtless question. So, he quickly rode away from there.
A little further on, they found some labourers working in the paddy fields. It seemed to be a good harvest, but once again the King was shocked by Tenali Raman’s question, “Are you reaping this year’s harvest or the last year’s?”
As they rode back to Hampi, the King thought, “Something is wrong with Tenali Raman. He is known for his wit and his wisdom, but he is talking in such a silly and thoughtless way! I must talk to the other wise men and find out what all this means.”
But no one, not even his ashtadiggajas, could find any reason to explain Tenali Raman’s views or questions. Finally, the King asked Tenali Raman directly, “Raman, why did you ask the men whether they were carrying a corpse or many?”
“Sir, sometimes a death destroys the lives of a lot of dependents. But sometimes no one suffers the loss caused by death. My question was about the number of people affected,” explained Tenali Raman.
“And those labourers? This year’s or next year’s harvest? What was that about?” “Sir, those labourers are always heavily in debt. So I asked if they were paying off last year’s or this year’s debt.” “I see,” said the King. “But why did you give such a low cost for the lavish wedding?”
“The wedding cost very little, Sir,” replied Tenali Raman, “The landlord spent only to show off his wealth and status on all the display!” The King was impressed.
