King Akbar was very fond of Birbal. This made a certain courtier very jealous. Now this courtier always wanted to be chief minister, but this was not possible as Birbal filled that position. One day Akbar praised Birbal in front of the courtier. This made the courtier very angry and he said that the king praised Birbal unjustly and if Birbal could answer three of his questions, he would accept the fact that Birbal was intelligent. Akbar always wanting to test Birbals wit readily agreed.
The three questions were
1. How many stars are there in the sky
2. Where is the centre of the Earth and
3. How many men and how many women are there in the world.
Immediately Akbar asked Birbal the three questions and informed him that if he could not answer them, he would have to resign as chief minister.
To answer the first question, Birbal brought a hairy sheep and said, “There are as many stars in the sky as there is hair on the sheep’s body. My friend the courtier is welcome to count them if he likes.”
To answer the second question, Birbal drew a couple of lines on the floor and bore an iron rod in it and said, “this is the center of the Earth, the courtier may measure it himself if he has any doubts.”
In answer to the third question, Birbal said, “Counting the exact number of men and women in the world would be a problem as there are some specimens like our courtier friend here who cannot easily be classified as either. Therefore if all people like him are killed, then and only then can one count the exact number.”
As we all know, Birbal was not only Emperor Akbar’s favorite minister but also a minister dearly loved by most of the commoners, because of his ready wit and wisdom. People used to come to him from far and wide for advice on personal matters too. However, there was a group of ministers that were jealous of his growing popularity and disliked him intensely. They outwardly showered him with praise and compliments, but on the inside, they began to hatch a plot to kill him.
One day they approached the king’s barber with a plan. As the barber was extremely close to the king, they asked him to help them get rid of Birbal permanently. And of course, they promised him a huge sum of money in return. The wicked barber readily agreed.
The next time the king required his services, the barber started a conversation about the emperor’s father who he also used to serve. He sang praises of his fine, silky-smooth hair. And then as an afterthought, he asked the king that as he was enjoying such great prosperity, had he made an attempt to do anything for the welfare of his ancestors?
The king was furious at such impertinent stupidity and told the barber that it was not possible to do anything because they were already dead. The barber mentioned that he knew of a magician who could come of help. The magician could send a person up to heaven to enquire about his father’s welfare. But of course this person would have to be chosen carefully; he would have to be intelligent enough to follow the magician’s instructions as well as make on-the-spot decisions. He must be wise, intelligent and responsible. The barber then suggested the best person for the job – the wisest of all ministers, Birbal.
The king was very excited about hearing from his dead father and asked the barber to go ahead and make the arrangements immediately. He asked him what was needed to be done. The barber explained that they would take Birbal in a procession to the burial grounds and light a pyre. The magician would then chant some ‘mantras’ as Birbal would ascend to the heavens through the smoke. The chanting would help protect Birbal from the fire.
The king happily informed Birbal of this plan. Birbal said that he thought it a brilliant idea and wanted to know the brain behind it. When learning that it was the barber’s idea, he agreed to go to heaven on condition that he be given a large sum of money for the long journey as well as one month’s time to settle his family so that they had no trouble while he was gone. The king agreed to both conditions.
In the duration of this month, he got a few trustworthy men to build a tunnel from the funeral grounds to his house. And on the day of the ascension, after the pyre had been lit, Birbal escaped through the concealed door of the tunnel. He disappeared into his house where he hid for a few months while his hair and beard grew long and unruly.
In the meantime, his enemies were rejoicing as they thought that they had seen the last of Birbal. Then one day after many, many months Birbal arrived at the palace with news of the king’s father. The king was extremely pleased to see him and ready with a barrage of questions. Birbal told the king that his father was in the best of spirits and had been provided with all the comforts except one.
The king wanted to know what was lacking because now he thought he had found a way to send things and people to heaven. Birbal answered that there were no barbers in heaven, which is why even he was forced to grow his own beard. He said that his father had asked for a good barber.
So the king decided to send his own barber to serve his father in heaven. He called both the barber and the magician to prepare to send him to heaven. The barber could say absolutely nothing in his own defense as he was caught in his own trap. And once the pyre was lit he died on the spot.
Once a man sold his well to a farmer. Next day when a farmer went to draw the water from that well, the man did not allow him to draw the water from it. He said, “I have sold you the well, not the water, so you cannot draw the water from the well.”
The farmer became very sad and came to the Emperor’s court. He described everything to the Emperor and asked for the justice.
The Emperor called Birbal and handed over this case to him. Birbal called the man who sold the well to the farmer. Birbal asked, “Why don’t you let him use the water of the well. You have sold the well to the farmer.” The man replied, “Birbal, I have sold the well to the farmer, not the water. He has no right to draw the water from the well.”
Then Birbal smiled and said to him, “Good, but look, since you have sold the well to this farmer, and you claim that water is yours, then you have no right to keep your water in the farmer’s well. Either you pay rent to the farmer to keep your water in his well, or you take that out of his well immediately.”
The man understood, that his trick has failed. Birbal has outwitted him.
Moral: Don’t Try to Cheat. You will end up paying for it regardless of how smart you think you are.
One fine day, Akbar lost his ring. When Birbal arrived in the court, Akbar told him “I have lost my ring. My father had given it to me as a gift. Please help me find it.” Birbal said, ‘do not worry your Majesty, I will find your ring right now.’
He said, ”Your Majesty the ring is here in this court itself, it is with one of the courtiers. The courtier who has a straw in his beard has your ring.” The courtier who had the emperors ring was shocked and immediately moved his hand over his beard. Birbal noticed this act of the courtier. He immediately pointed towards the courtier and said, ”Please search this man. He has the emperors ring.”
Akbar could not understand how Birbal had Managed to find the ring. Birbal then told Akbar that a guilty person is always scared.
On a cold winter day, Akbar and Birbal took a walk along the lake. A thought came to Birbal that a man would do anything for money. He expressed his feelings to Akbar. Akbar then put his finger into the lake and immediately removed it because he shivered with cold. Akbar said, “I don’t think a man would spend an entire night in the cold water of this lake for money.” Birbal replied, “I am sure I can find such a person.” Akbar then challenged Birbal into finding such a person and said that he would reward the person with a thousand gold coins.
Birbal searched far and wide until he found a poor man who was desperate enough to accept the challenge. The poor man entered the lake and Akbar had guards posted near him to make sure that he really did as promised. The next morning the guards took the poor man to Akbar. Akbar asked the poor man if he had indeed spent the night in the lake. The poor man replied that he had. Akbar then asked the poor man how he managed to spend the night in the lake.
The poor man replied that there was a street lamp nearby and he kept his attention affixed on the lamp and away from the cold. Akbar then said that there would be no reward as the poor man had survived the night in the lake by the warmth of the street lamp. The poor man went to Birbal for help.
The next day, Birbal did not go to court. The king wondering where he was, sent a messenger to his home. The messenger came back saying that Birbal would come once his Khichri(Rice) was cooked. The king waited hours but Birbal did not come. Finally, the king decided to go to Birbal’s house and see what he was up to.
He found Birbal sitting on the floor near some burning twigs and a bowl filled with Khichri(Rice) hanging five feet above the fire. The king and his attendants couldn’t help but laugh.
Akbar then said to Birbal “How can the Khichri(Rice) be cooked if it so far away from the fire?”
Birbal answered, “The same way the poor man received heat from a street lamp that was more than a furlong away.”
The King understood his mistake and gave the poor man his reward.
Moral: A small ray of hope is enough to inspire the one who is ready to work hard to turn his dream into a reality.
The wisdom of Birbal was unparalleled during the reign of Emperor Akbar. But Akbar’s brother in law was extremely jealous of him. He asked the Emperor to dispense with Birbal’s services and appoint him in his place. He gave ample assurance that he would prove to be more efficient and capable than Birbal. Before Akbar could take a decision on this matter, this news reached Birbal.
Birbal resigned and left. Akbar’s brother in law was made the minister in place of Birbal. Akbar decided to test the new minister. He gave three hundred gold coins to him and said, “Spend these gold coins such that, I get a hundred gold coins here in this life; a hundred gold coins in the other world and another hundred gold coins neither here nor there.”
The minister found the entire situation to be a maze of confusion and hopelessness. He spent sleepless nights worrying how he would get himself out of this mess. Thinking in circles was making him go crazy. Eventually, on the advice of his wife, he sought Birbals help. Birbal said, “Just give me the gold coins. I shall handle the rest.”
Birbal walked the streets of the city holding the bag of gold coins in his hand. He noticed a rich merchant celebrating his son’s wedding. Birbal gave a hundred gold coins to him and bowed courteously saying, “Emperor Akbar sends you his good wishes and blessings for the wedding of your son. Please accept the gift he has sent.” The merchant felt honored that the king had sent a special messenger with such a precious gift. He honored Birbal and gave him a large number of expensive gifts and a bag of gold coins as a return gift for the king.
Next, Birbal went to the area of the city where the poor people lived. There he bought food and clothing in exchange for a hundred gold coins and distributed them in the name of the Emperor.
When he came back to town he organized a concert of music and dance. He spent a hundred gold coins on it.
The next day Birbal entered Akbar’s darbar and announced that he had done all that the king had asked his brother-in-law to do. The Emperor wanted to know how he had done it. Birbal repeated the sequences of all the events and then said, “The money I gave to the merchant for the wedding of his son – you have got back while on this earth. The money I spent on buying food and clothing for the poor – you will get it in the other world. The money I spent on the musical concert – you will get neither here nor there.” Akbar’s brother in law understood his mistake and resigned. Birbal got his place back.
Moral: The money you spend on friends is returned or reciprocated in some form or the other. The money spent on charity gets converted into blessings from God which will be your eternal property. The money spent on pleasures is just frittered away. So when you spend your money, think a little, if not a lot.
Akbar was once infuriated with Birbal and banished him from his kingdom. Birbal travelled to a faraway village and assumed a new identity and started working as a farmer. After a couple of weeks, Akbar started to miss Birbal and hence asked his soldiers to find where he is and bring him back to the kingdom. The soldiers searched from one end of the kingdom to another but could not find Birbal.
Akbar then came up with an idea to find Birbal. He sent word across the kingdom that the head of each village has to send him a pot full of wit. Anyone who cannot send the pot full of wit can instead fill up the pot with gold and diamonds and send it to him.
Akbar felt the only way to lure Birbal back to the city is to send a challenge his way.
The people in Birbal’s village found the announcement absurd and were wondering how to fill the pot with wit. Birbal stepped in to help and came up with a way to give the king what he wanted. He put a small watermelon into the pot without separating it from its vine. He watered it every day and grew it big enough so that all the space in the pot was taken up.
Birbal then separated the watermelon from the vine and sent the pot to the king. The instruction that was sent with the pot read, “You can find the wit in the pot if you carefully remove the watermelon without cutting it.” Akbar realised that only Birbal could have sent the pot. He travelled to the village himself and brought Birbal back to the capital.
Moral: Even the toughest questions can be answered cleverly if you think hard.
Akbar once lost a ring his father had gifted to him. He immediately reached out to Birbal and asked for his help. Birbal said that he will help him find his ring. He then told the courtiers present that he is aware that one of them stole the ring. Akbar angrily asked which one of them stole his ring. Birbal replied that the courtier with the straw in his beard is the one who has the king’s ring.
Akbar seeks help from Birbal to find his stolen ring.
Immediately, the guilty courtier stroked his beard to check for the straw. Birbal pointed at him and told Akbar that he is the culprit.
Moral: A guilty conscience will always give it away.
Akbar and Birbal were taking a stroll in the king’s garden one pleasant morning. Akbar saw the crows in his garden and wondered how many crows there are in his kingdom. He posed the question to Birbal.
How many crows can you find in Akbar’s kingdom?
Birbal gave it some thought and said that there are ninety thousand two hundred and forty-nine crows in the kingdom. Akbar was amazed by his quick response and asked him, “What if there is a higher number of crows than the number you just mentioned?”. Birbal replied, “Then, crows from the neighbouring kingdoms must be visiting.” Then Akbar asked, “What if the number is fewer than what you mentioned?”. Birbal calmly replied, “Then, the crows must have gone on a vacation to the neighbouring kingdom.”
Moral: You can always find a way out if you think at ease.
One day, a rich merchant went to Birbal and complained to him that his house was robbed. He also told him that he suspects one of his servants to have robbed the house. Birbal went to the merchant’s house, rounded up all the servants and asked them who robbed the house. As expected, the robber did not come forward to confess his crime.
Birbal had come up with a way to find the culprit.
Birbal then handed a stick to each servant and told them that the robber’s stick will grow 2 inches longer the next morning. That way, they will be able to identify who robbed the merchant. The next morning, Birbal asked the servants for the sticks and pointed out the culprit to the merchant. The robber had reduced the length of the stick by 2 inches anticipating the stick to grow by the next morning. That’s how Birbal figured who the robber was.
Moral: No matter how hard you try, you can never hide the truth for long.
Among the many Akbar Birbal stories for kids, this one happens to be a favourite for both my kids!
