Once upon a time, in the Mughal court, Emperor Akbar was discussing a matter with his courtiers when a farmer approached, pleading for justice. Hearing this, Emperor Akbar inquired about the issue.
The farmer explained, “Your Majesty, I am a poor farmer. Some time ago, my wife passed away, and now I live alone. I am unable to focus on any work, so one day, I went to Qazi Sahib for advice. He suggested that, for peace of mind, I should go on a pilgrimage to a distant shrine. Impressed by his advice, I prepared to leave for the shrine. However, after years of hard work, I had accumulated some gold coins, and the fear of them being stolen troubled me. When I shared my concern with Qazi Sahib, he assured me of the safety of my coins and asked me to give them to him. As a precaution, Qazi Sahib instructed me to seal the bag with a stamp.”
Emperor Akbar asked, “Alright, then what happened?” The farmer continued, “Your Majesty, I handed over the sealed bag to Qazi Sahib and proceeded on my pilgrimage. Upon my return, Qazi Sahib returned the bag to me. When I opened it at home, instead of gold coins, I found stones inside. When I confronted Qazi Sahib about this, he accused me of falsely accusing him of theft and had his servants beat me before expelling me from his presence.”
Tears in his eyes, the farmer pleaded, “Your Majesty, the only wealth I had was those savings in the form of gold coins. Please do me justice.”
Hearing the farmer’s story, Emperor Akbar ordered Birbal to resolve the matter. Birbal took the sealed bag from the farmer and requested some time from the emperor.
Upon returning home, Birbal gave a torn garment to his servant and asked him to get it mended. After a while, the servant brought back the mended garment. Birbal examined it and expressed satisfaction. He then called the tailor and inquired about the details of the repair.
The next day, Birbal arrived at the court and ordered the soldiers to bring Qazi, the farmer, and the tailor. Soon, the three men were brought before the emperor.
Birbal asked the tailor, “What did you repair in this garment?” The tailor replied, “I mended the tear, sir.” Birbal then questioned, “Did you see any marks or symbols on the garment?” The tailor responded, “No, sir, there were no marks.”
Birbal turned to Qazi Sahib and asked, “Why didn’t you ask the farmer about the specific marks or symbols on the sealed bag before returning it to him?” Qazi Sahib had no answer.
Emperor Akbar, realizing the deceit, ordered Qazi Sahib to return the farmer’s gold coins and sentenced him to a year of imprisonment. Once again, everyone praised Birbal for his wisdom.
The moral of the story is to avoid greed and deceit, as wrongdoing eventually leads to facing consequences.
