After receiving the ring from the Emperor Mahesh Das Bhatt used to gaze at it day and night. One day finally, Mahesh Das Bhatt decided to visit Akbar. So, he left for his capital Agra.
When he reached the palace, the gatekeeper stopped him from going inside. The young boy showed him the Emperor’s ring. Then, the gatekeeper cooked up an idea in his mind. Since he was a very greedy man, he thought of making profit out of young Mahesh Das Bhatt. He said, “Hey boy, I will let you go inside only on one condition. If you agree to it, it will be good for you. Or else, forget meeting the Emperor.”
Mahesh Das Bhatt without taking time to think nodded ῾yes’. The gatekeeper then continued saying, “If you get any rewards from the Emperor, you will have to share the half of it with me.” Young Mahesh Das Bhatt agreed to the condition of the greedy gatekeeper.
The gatekeeper finally allowed him to enter the royal palace. Mahesh Das Bhatt was struck by the beauty of the palace. While walking inside, he kept on gazing at everything he found fascinating. Finally, he reached the Emperor of Agra, Akbar.
“What brings you here, boy?” asked Akbar. “Your majesty, I am Mahesh Das Bhatt. You asked me to come to you,” answered Mahesh Das Bhatt. But Akbar couldn’t recall who he was. Then, he showed the ring to Akbar and said, “Your Majesty, You lost your way while hunting and I showed you the way back. And you gave me this ring for showing it to you whenever I visit you,” said Mahesh Das Bhatt.
The ring instantly brought back the incident in the Emperor’s mind. The emperor was very happy to see the boy as he very much liked the wit with which the boy pleased him. Then, out of happiness Akbar asked what he would want as a reward.
Mahesh Das Bhatt remembered what the gatekeeper had said. So, he asked for 50 lashes. Everyone in the court was dumbstruck as nobody had expected this. However, Akbar believed that there must be something going on in the boy,s genius mind. So, he ordered a courtier to fulfil the wish of the boy.
After 25 lashes, Mahesh asked the courtier to stop. And then, he recited the episode of the gatekeeper to him. The Emperor became furious and asked another courtier to present the disgraceful gatekeeper before him.
The gatekeeper at first became very happy as he thought that he would be getting half of the reward. But he didn’t know that 25 lashes were waiting for him. Akbar fired the gatekeeper and ordered 50 lashes and 5 years of imprisonment.
Seeing the impressive intelligence of Mahesh Das Bhatt, Akbar appointed him as his Deewan and named him ‘Birbal’.
