The father, grandfather and great-grandfather of King Krishnadevaraya were Shaivites, they worshiped the god Shiva. And in his youth he himself sacredly revered the temple of the great Mahadeva. But when he ascended the throne, one fine day he realized that among all the faiths there is one truest, wisest, most beautiful - the teaching of the Vaishnavites, worshipers of the god Vishnu. And so King Krishnad-Varaya became a Vaishnava, and from that time all the Vaishnavites became closer and dearer to the royal heart. Concerned about the spiritual salvation of the rest of his subjects, the king wanted to convince them of the truth of the new faith. A famous preacher, a learned sage named Udayavaru, came to his capital, the city of Vijayanagar. The king himself chose him as his mentor - guru.
The learned sage preached in the city of Vijayanagara from sunrise to sunset. And it was the poor worshipers of Shiva who suffered the most in his sermons.
“Know this,” said Udayavaru, “those who worship Shiva are unclean, they are like evil rakshasas and bloodthirsty bhutas.” Avoid these wicked people, O true believers! Each of you who meets a despised Shaivite at dawn will become a donkey in his next birth. Fear sin, true believers!
Tenali Ramakrishna listened to these sermons, and the more he listened, the more he wanted to teach the king’s mentor a lesson, and at the same time give the king a good lesson.
One morning, King Krishnadevaraya was heading to the temple of Goddess Lakshmi. He was accompanied by warriors and sages, dignitaries and poets. His mentor, the sage Udayavaru, was also with the king.
On the way they met a peasant who was driving two large donkeys in front of him. As soon as Tenali Ramakrishna noticed these donkeys, he ran towards them, fell on his knees in front of them, and then prostrated himself, making an eight-limbed bow. The king and his retinue stopped in amazement, and the frightened donkeys brayed loudly. Finally, having come to his senses, the king turned to Ramakrishna:
– Have you lost your mind, or what? What are you doing, wicked man?
- Don’t be angry with me, sir! - said Ramakrishna, rising from the ground and bowing low to the king. – I just remembered the words of our great teacher. He said yesterday that anyone who meets a Shiva worshiper in the morning will be born a donkey. But, if you remember, your great father and your venerable grandfather worshiped Mahadeva. They, of course, had to see the despised Shaivites in the morning, and in the evening, and at noon! So I thought - oh the embodiment of mercy! - what if now in the form of these unfortunate donkeys we see your great father and venerable grandfather? Agree, could I not properly greet such wise kings and glorious commanders?
Listening to Ramakrishna’s speech, the king looked very unfavorably at his mentor, and he was ready to fall into the ground out of shame.
From that day on, the sage Udayavaru stopped ridiculing non-believers in his sermons, and King Krishnadevaraya realized that, in the end, it is not so important which god a person believes in and who he worships.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru