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.
The landlord was livid with anger and started shouting “ You idiots! You are getting drunk while on duty and have forgotten to recognize your master. Once you get sober, I will fire you all. Mark my words you nincompoops”. The landlord decided to go back to the farm and return after a while, assuming his guards have drunk too much liquor. But when he returned in the evening, he got more thrashing from the guards. He was really puzzled “ why are they beating me? I am the master of the house, and they are not allowing me to enter my own house? I must take it up to village elders and find a solution.” thought landlord. That night unable to enter his home he had to sleep on the hard and rough temple steps.
The next day morning he went to the village head with his complaint, explaining his predicament. Villagers were baffled by his strange complaint but decided to find the truth. They summoned Shiva in the form of the landlord. When Shiva arrived everyone was bewildered by the two similar-looking men, both claiming to be the ‘real’ landlord. Finally, the elders devised a test- “Let us test both of you. Only the real master would know all the little details about his household. And whoever gives a correct answer will be declared as the real landlord.” The landlord was relieved and happy and was confident to win the test. Elders asked, “ How many cows, sheep, and money is there in the box in your house?”
The actual landlord was first to give the answer, ” Sir I have100 cows, 250 sheep and five thousand rupees in the money box”.
Then came Shiva and he said,” Sir I have 100 cows, 250 sheep, and five thousand five hundred and fifty-five rupees and two annas in the money box”.
Elders asked for the money box to be brought from the house and counted the money. It was exactly five thousand, five hundred and fifty-five rupees and two annas, as Shiva had answered.
Elders declared the landlord as the imposter and ordered a hundred lashes as punishment for faking the identity of another person. The landlord was aghast! His last hope of proving him right had crashed. No one believed him. Not even his wife and children. To top it all he was given lashes for telling lies. What can he do? He was alone and helpless! He began to cry, “ Oh Shiva helps me. I am being punished wrongly. An imposter has entered my home and taken everything I have. My house, money my wife children and my identity.”
He ran to the temple pleading “I beg of you, Shiva! Save me”. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he realized no one can help him besides Shiva. Shiva heard the cries of the landlord. “Ah! Finally, he remembered me.” He thought smiling to himself. Shiva shed the form of the landlord and came to the temple in the form of the mendicant. He saw the landlord sitting alone before the closed doors of the shrine with hands folded and crying for help from Shiva.
“ Why are you crying, sir? “ Shiva asked the landlord. The landlord recognized the mendicant whom he had punished because he had praised Shiva. “ Oh Sir, I recognize you. You are the same holy man my guards beat up on my instructions for praising Shiva. Forgive me, Swami! But today I am in trouble. An imposter has entered my home and taken over everything I own. The whole village thinks I am the imposter and they have thrown me out of my own house. You are a true Shiva’s devotee. Can you ask Shiva to help me out? He will certainly listen to you” Saying thus he prostrated before the mendicant.
Shiva took pity on him and said “ Shiva is great. This world is his making. If he has put you in this predicament he alone will solve it for you. Go home, and everything will be normal. Now onwards you should never forget to praise Shiva.” The landlord returned home fearing the guards, but they all welcomed him with great respect. Everything was back to normal like the old days. And no one asked any questions.
The landlord revoked his order of banning prayers to Shiva, and instead built a grand temple for Shiva and became an ardent devotee. Everyone was happy. But the puzzle of how the remarkable and miraculous change came over the landlord remained a mystery for the villagers.
————-
Story Collected by Vidya Kamat
Text source: Flowering tree and other oral tales from India by A.K. Ramanujan
Location: Pan India
Image Copyright: Vidya Kamat
Leave a Comment