The Pot of Wisdom

Fri July 15, 2011 by Kunal Bansal

Once the Empress pressurized the Emperor to appoint her brother, Gulam Sheikh as the ?Wasir?. Succumbed to her pressure, the Emperor removed Birbal from the ?Wasir?s? post and appointed Gulam Sheikh in his place. The king of Iran always envied the great Emperor Akbar, whose court was studded with wonderful gems. The king of Iran knew it very well that Birbal was unparallel to his brilliance. When the Iranish Emperor received the news of Birbal?s removal from the ?Wasir?s? post, he at once sent a messenger with a message. The messager was also carrying a few pots with him. The messenger came to the court off Akbar and read the message, ?I?ve heard a lot about your wise courtiers. I need few pots of wisdom for my own use. Please send the pots filled with wisdom. In case, it?s not there then you please send the empty pots to me? The Emperor assigned the responsibility of solving the puzzle to Gulam Sheikh. Gulam Sheikh was totally perplexed with the message. He spend many sleepless nights but could not understand what he should do? At last, Gulam Sheikh went to his sister, the Empress and said. ?I?m tried of the Wasir?s responsibility. I don?t want this anymore.? Gulam Sheikh accepted in front of his sister that he was unable to solve the puzzle, which went sent by the Iranish Emperor. The worried Empress asked herself, ?What will happen, if the solution is not sent?? Finally the Empress called Birbal and sought his help. After listening to the whole episode, Birbal took all the pots in his possession. He then called the royal gardener and asked him to sow few seeds of pumpkin in the garden. When the plants grew and small fruits came on the plants, Birbal gave the pots to the gardener and asked him to place a small fruit in each pot without plucking it from the plant. Birbal instructed the gardener to allow the pumpkin to grow inside the pots. After a few months, the pumpkin grew into full size and ultimately filled the entire space of empty pots. Birbal then plucked the pumpkins from their plants. He called the royal messenger and asked him to take back the pots to the Iranian Emperor. He also sent a message with the pots, ?As per your wish, we are sending a small amount of wisdom. Its filled in the pots. Please take it out with breaking the pots.? The messenger reached Iran with the pots. He presented the pots to the Emperor and read the message. After listening to the message and looking at the pots, the Emperor murmured. ?It seems, Birbal is reappointed as ?Wazir?. It can?t be Gulam Sheikh?s wisdom.? The messenger returned to the court of Akbar. He narrated the whole episode. When the Empress came to know about it, she at once told the Emperor to reappoint Birbal at ?Wazir?s? post.