One day, when Akbar was in the court, discussing something very important with all his courtiers and ministers, a guard came and said, “My lord! Three men outside are waiting to meet you. Should I send them in?”
Akbar asked the guard, “What is the matter with them? Are they in trouble or in dispute with one another?” The guard replied, “No, lord! They seek to be Royal Advisors.”
Akbar was surprised and amused at the same time. Akbar knew how to test a person’s wit and judge him accordingly. So, he told the guard to let those three aspiring Royal advisors in. When they appeared before the Emperor, they expressed how honoured they were to be standing in front of such a great man and also that they aspired to hold important positions in the royal court.
Akbar had sensed pride and over-confidence in them. So, he decided to give them a task. He said, “Gentlemen, I see; you wish to hold important positions in the royal court. However, you would not be appointed to important positions on the basis of your aspiration. You all will have to take a challenge and succeed in it. Now, take this silk cloth and cover me entirely with it. Remember that the cloth should cover me entirely.”
The three men though that it would be an easy task, so all of them stepped ahead with confidence. The first one tried covering the standing Emperor with the cloth and found out that the cloth was somewhat shorter. He tried to stretch the cloth to succeed but it didn’t help. Then the second man came. He also tried every trick, but all his efforts proved to be an exercise in futility. And the third one tried to put in some strategy in order to cover Akbar, but he also failed with utter disappointment.
Then, Akbar called Birbal and asked him to do the same task. Birbal came and asked the Emperor to sit on his throne. He said, “Your Majesty, you shouldn’t be standing when all of us are sitting. I request you to sit down with all comfort.” Akbar sat down and Birbal put the silk cloth on the sitting Emperor, covering him completely. Since Akbar had sat down, his height decreased and he could be easily covered with the silk cloth.
Akbar said to the three men, “Gentlemen, it is not easy to possess common sense. After all, it is not so common as we think it to be. Now, you may have understood why Birbal is at this position and you are not.”
The three men left the court and Akbar happily gifted a bag of gold coins to Birbal.
