One day, Akbar and Birbal were lost in a discussion when the royal ironsmith entered the court. The ironsmith made swords and shields for Akbar’s army. He announced, “Your Majesty, I have made the strongest sword and shield in the world. No sword can pierce the shield I have made.” Then he held a sword […]
Akbar became king when he was just 13. Eventually, he formed a vast empire. He knew he was a great man and this made him arrogant. Due to this, Akbar acted inconsiderately towards his subjects at times. Birbal did not like this since Akbar was otherwise a kind man. One day, Birbal disguised himself as
Lord Shiva said, “Vikram! You are part of me. I created you to destroy the enemy forces and to maintain peace on the earth. I am happy to say that you performed your duties successfully. But your job is not yet over. You still have many more battles to conquer. And for this, I am
Baital’s overwhelming speech made King Vikramaditya very happy. He said to Baital, “I have everything that a man could ask for by God’s grace. But I will gladly accept a boon from you. Please grant me the wish that the twenty-five stories told by with the queries raised and their answers given by me become
One day, Akbar told Birbal, “There shall be a huge music competition next week. Invite the best musicians and Birbal, you shall participate, too.” On the day of the competition, when the participants had gathered in the royal hall, Akbar announced, “I’m sure you’re all great musicians in your own right. But the winner will
Baital again spoke, “Vikram! I apologize for putting you through so much. Had there been someone else in your place, he would have given up and gone home. But you never gave up. I hassled you with so many different and difficult questions but you answered each of them. You also gave a justification for
Finally, after many difficulties, King Vikramaditya and Baital were happy. Baital was especially happy as his hermit brother had been killed. He was an evil person and had plans to sacrifice King Vikramaditya. He wanted to occupy his throne. With his death all his evil plans were laid to rest. Now there was nothing to
The hermit fell in his own trap. As he bent his head down, King Vikramaditya, drawing his sword, struck him upon the neck. His head rolled from his body and fell upon the ground. The hermit was dead. Suddenly, King Vikramaditya heard someone laughing. It was none other than Baital who was standing at a
The hermit, seeing Baital lying at his feet, became ecstatic. He said, “King Vikramaditya, you have done a splendid work. I bless you with a long rule.” Then the hermit chopped Baital’s body into pieces. He threw the pieces into the sacrificial fire. After that, he turned to King Vikramaditya and said, “Vikram, now you
One morning, Akbar was walking in the garden. He was deep in thought when he stumbled against a small rock and hurt his foot. Angrily, he sent for the royal gardener. He told the gardener, “I hurt my foot because of you. You shall be sentenced to death tomorrow.” The gardener’s pleas fell on deaf
Baital was very happy and said, “You are right, Vikram. The King also gave the same judgement.” King Vikramaditya knowing Baital’s nature, held onto him tightly but Baital laughed and said, “Do not be distressed, Vikram! I am not going to leave you now.” As King Vikramaditya was about to reach the crematory, where the
But Ratan’s problem was not over. There was a big problem waiting for him. Madan’s widow demanded half of Ratan’s property. As Madan had no partnership with Ratan, he refused to give any part of it. So, Madan’s widow appealed in the King’s court. The King heard the case and gave his judgement.” Here Baital
Both decided that the only way to help her was to get her married. They told the widow about this. The widow gave her consent. But both Madan and Ratan were interested in marrying her. So, Madan told Ratan to marry her and Ratan told Madan to marry her. Finally, they decided to play a
While they were busy counting their money, they were disturbed by the sudden wailing of a woman. She was crying for help. She came to them. They asked her, “What is the matter? Why are you weeping?” The woman replied, “I am very sad. A few days back, I and my husband were passing through
Akbar and Birbal shared a close relationship. This made the courtiers jealous of Birbal. One of them said to Akbar, “Your Majesty, why do you listen to Birbal and ignore our suggestions?” Akbar thought he should prove that Birbal was better than the rest. A marriage procession was passing by and Akbar asked the jealous