Krishnadevaraya and Tenalirama

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Krishnadevaraya and Tenalirama

By Manju Gupta

 

In King Krishnadevaraya's court, the family priest of the King was

named Appalacharya, who was a high-caste Vaishnava Brahmin.

Tenalirama was another courtier in the King's court, but he was a

Smartha Brahmin. Appalacharya being a Vaishnava Brahmin happened to

be partial towards the Vaishnavas and tried to help them out in every

possible way. Moreover, he did not like the open admiration that King

Krishnadevaraya showed for Tenalirama.

 

One day, Tenalirama ran into Appalacharya and greeted him with high

regard, but the latter refused to acknowledge the greeting. Somewhat

perturbed, Tenalirama asked the Vaishnava Brahmin why he behaved so.

Appalacharya replied, "As I am a Vaishnava, it is an ill omen for me

to see a Smartha's face early in the morning. As I fear that I will

be born a donkey in my next life, I avoided looking at you in the

face. Anyway, if you have anything to discuss with me, we can do so

without my having to look at you."

 

Tenalirama felt very angry with Appalacharya and decided to teach him

a lesson in future.

 

It so happened that one day Krishnadevaraya was taking a walk with

both Tenalirama and Appalacharya. Suddenly the three of them saw some

donkeys grazing in the field.

 

This seemed like a golden opportunity for Tenalirama to hit back at

Appalacharya. So he walked ahead and bowed his head in front of the

donkeys to pay his respects to them.

 

King Krishnadevaraya saw this strange sight and could not help

wondering if Tenalirama had lost his head. When Tenalirama joined the

King and Appalacharya, the King asked him the reason for his unusual

behaviour. Promptly Tenalirama replied, "Your Majesty, I was paying

my respects to the ancestors of Appalacharya, our hon'ble priest."

 

At this, King Krishnadevaraya became red with anger because how could

anyone dare to insult the royal priest. He rebuked Tenalirama in no

uncertain terms, "How dare you insult the court priest? Don't you

know that we hold the priest in high regard and what connection can

there be between Appalacharya and the donkeys?"

 

Not to be put off easily, Tenalirama replied with humility, "Your

Majesty, please do not get angry without hearing me out. One day, I

found Appalacharya avoiding me and on being asked why he was behaving

so, he replied that if a Vaishnava saw a Smartha early in the morning

he was bound to be born a donkey in his next life. Since that day

onwards, fearing that any donkey could be a Vaishnava in its previous

life, I bow my head to every donkey that I encounter."

 

On hearing this reply, while Appalacharya stood red-faced with his

head bowed in shame, King Krishndevaraya could not miss the humour of

the situation and he burst out laughing.