Bijapur’s Sultan thought king Krishnadeva Raya was a great threat to him and hence wanted to remove him from the scene.
So, he hired Kanakaraju, one of Tenali Raman’s greedy friends, to kill the king, who, in turn, hired a paid assassin. He arranged for a letter to be sent to the king by Tenali Raman’s name, requesting to come at a lonely place in order to relish Nature’s beauty. Here the paid assassin had to wait for the king and kill him.
When the king came, he pounced upon the king but was overpowered by the king very easily. On knowing the truth the king was very angry with Raman for having a criminal friend. Raman was sentenced to death. While Tenali Raman kept pleading innocence, the king was unrelenting. When the king said he could choose how he wanted to die, Raman replied, “Grant that I die of old age.” Hearing this, the king burst into laughter and released him.
Choice of Death
