Once there lived a rich landlord in an Indian village. He was an arrogant and vain man who believed that no one can be greater than him. Not even Lord Shiva! to whom the whole village bowed with great reverence and devotion.
One day he decided to take the matters in his hands and establish his superiority once and for all. He asked the town crier to announce that from now on, no one should worship Shiva or sing praises or offer prayers to Shiva. Instead, people should invoke the landlord’s name so that they can get help and justice, because “ There can’t be any other saviour besides me” he declared to the villagers from the town hall. If any villager was caught praying to Shiva he was beaten brutally by the landlord’s men. The villagers continued living in fear of the landlord’s goons who terrorized them all the time. Finally, they could not bear the fact that they could not pray to Shiva, their beloved god! So they appealed to Shiva to resolve the situation.
Shiva heard the villagers’ cry for help and decided to teach a lesson to the landlord. Dressed like a wandering mendicant Shiva entered the village temple singing praises of Shiva. Soon he was caught by the landlord’s men and warned about uttering Shiva’s name in the village. But the mendicant would not stop. Guards caught hold of the mendicant and presented him before the landlord. The landlord shouted at the mendicant “ How dare you to disobey my orders! You talk of Shiva. But what has he done? I am the one who pays the workers. Gives them food and shelter and takes care of their sustenance. Think of me as your saviour, not Shiva.”
The mendicant went back to the temple, his body sore and in great pain. The Landlord decided to go about his daily chores. He had to go to the fields and keep an account of the yield produced by his vast farms. He told his wife “My dear, I have to inspect the work in the field. So I will come home late in the afternoon. Don’t wait for me, feed children and you too have your food. Let everyone have their food on time.”
As the landlord left the house, Shiva assumed the appearance of the landlord. He was a perfect lookalike of the landlord — mustache, height, complexion, and even the voice matched that of the landlord. No one could make out any difference. Shiva now entered the home as the landlord and immediately instructed his staff, “ I have just heard that there are imposters sneaking into the village. They may try to enter my home assuming my form and rob me. Be vigilant. Don’t be deceived, if you find any of them trying to enter my home throw them out and give them a good beating.” He then stepped into his room and closed the door. The landlord’s wife was surprised to see him back so soon. “ Oh dear! You told me you would be late for lunch. What happened?” asked the bemused wife. “I have a bad headache, so came home early. I am going to lie down and rest for a while. So don’t disturb me.” replied Shiva from the room.
Meanwhile, guards posted themselves at the gates with cudgels. By noon, the actual landlord returned from fields. Hungry and tired, he tried entering his home. The guards noticed him and stopped him, believing this must be the imposter the master told them about. They yelled “You scoundrel! Do you think you would fool us by dressing up like our master? You are an imposter!” They did not listen to his explanations and thrashed him black and blue.
