Tenali Ramakrishna was known for his sharp wit and hailed from a town called Tenali. Lazy as he was, he used to nap under every possible tree that met his eyes. One day, a sage who was passing through the farm where Tenali Raman (as he was popularly known) was lazing around, called him and asked him to do any job that he pleased to earn a living. Raman told the sage that he was not educated and therefore did not get any job.
The sage
took him to the temple of Goddess Kali and asked him to recite a mantra 100
times. “This”, the sage told Raman, “will help you gain the required knowledge.
Once you obtain the knowledge, do not waste your time. Instead hunt for a job
and you will get it.”
Raman went
to the temple and repeated the mantra 100 times. Pleased with Raman’s devotion,
Goddess Kali appeared before him and asked him to choose between a bowl of milk
and curd.
Raman was in
no haste. He asked the Goddess to explain the significance of the two. Kali
told Raman that the bowl containing milk represented knowledge, and the bowl
containing curd represented money. Once again, Tenali Raman thought carefully
before replying. He asked the Goddess how a choice is possible when he did not
know the taste of either the milk or the curd. So Goddess Kali extended both
the bowls to Tenali Raman, who instantly grabbed both the bowls and drank the
curd and the milk.
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| Before Choosing Tenali asks the Goddess to explain... |
Though
Goddess Kali was annoyed at being outwitted, she asked him why he drank out of
both the bowls. Raman replied that knowledge without wealth was useless and
wealth without knowledge was dangerous. The goddess was pleased with Raman and
blessed him with both wealth and knowledge.
Raman went
on to prove that if you do not reply in haste and take your time to make the
right move, you can get both ‘either’ and ‘or’ and no choice is really mutually
exclusive. Patience and humour are the two key factors which help you open the
door to success!
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