Tenali and Goddess Kali!

Once there lived a little boy called Raman in town Tenali in the Vijayanagar Kingdom. The kingdom was ruled by King Krishnadevaraya. When Raman was a young lad, a saint visited his town. Everyone seeked his blessings and so did Raman. On seeing Raman, the saint told him, "Rama, I will teach you a mantra. If you recite it 1008 times in front of Goddess Kali, she will appear before you and fulfil your wishes. But you should recite it with utmost sincerity and devotion." Raman agreed and learnt the mantra.

One day, Raman went to a Kali temple. He sat down with his eyes closed and started to recite the mantra that the saint had taught him. He was reciting with unperturbed devotion when suddenly there was a voice calling out his name. Raman opened his eyes... he couldn't believe himself! It was Goddess Kali, the destroyer of all evils, in front of him with all her 1000 heads. As soon as he saw the Goddess, Raman could not control his laughter and began laughing out loudly.

"Rama, what is so funny that is making you laugh like this?" demanded Goddess Kali.

"Oh! I was just thinking what would happen if you catch a cold. I imagined you sneezing with all your thousand noses. That imagination made me laugh."

Goddess Kali too laughed and enjoyed Raman's witticism. "Rama I like your innocence and witty humour.... Look I have got two bowls in my hands. One contains sweet milk and the other curd. The milk bowl represents knowledge and the curd bowl represents wealth. You can choose any one and drink. If you drink the milk you will be blessed with knowledge and become a wise person. If you take the curd, you will become rich. Remember, you can choose only one. So think before you make your choice."

Raman thought for a while and asked Goddess Kali if he could taste both before making his choice. Goddess agreed and gave the bowls to Raman. Within a blink of an eye, even before Goddess Kali could realize what was happening, Raman drank both the milk and the curd. Kali got annoyed.

"What did I tell you to do and what have you done?"

"Ma! I am extremely sorry. But tell me what's the use of knowledge without wealth or wealth without knowledge? They both need to co-exist; that's why I drank both."

Goddess Kali was amazed by Raman's clever thinking and attitude. She blessed him with knowledge as well as wealth. From then on, Raman became famous. King Krishnadevaraya, who came to know about Raman and his intelligence, appointed him in his court as his advisor.

Soon Raman came to be popularly known as Tenali Raman.