Value of this unique sindoorpat has created all the complications.
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Tenali Rama (aka Tenali Raman), the famous jester poet shared his observation to Tathacharya, the royal priest. Both of them were trying to solve a serious problem of Krishnadevaraya, the Vijayanagara emperor (1509–1529).
Krishnadevaraya received a precious sindoorpat as a gift for his wife from someone. Sindoorpat is a type of circular band, typically made of precious metal, worn on the head as an ornament.
But there was a small problem. The emperor had two wives and sindoorpat was one. Clearly, this was not a very ideal situation for the king. What to do then? Krishnadevaraya summoned his jester poet and ordered him to solve the problem. Tenali Rama, otherwise a spontaneous problem solver, too was confused this time.
After thinking much on this issue, Tenali Rama came to a conclusion. He decided to lower the value of gem studded sindoorpat as much as possible. But, was it really possible to convert such a wonderful jewellery into an ordinary piece? Well, Tenali Rama found one solution. He suggested :
Value of anything is calculated with respect to it’s availability. The beauty and price of the sindoorpat makes it unique and valuable. That’s why, the two queens are fighting with each other to get hold of it. Value of this sindoorpat will become nil when every woman in this state wears this on their heads. That way, the ornament will be easily available and lose it’s preciousness. The queens will never want to wear something on their head which every woman in the state possess.
With the help of Tathacharya, Tenali Rama ordered many pieces of the same sindoorpat and distributed them amongst all women in the state. When the queens noticed this, they at once ignored the jewellery piece. In this way, Tenali Rama once again saved Krishnadevaraya from a disaster.
I was watching the above story in an episode of Tenali Rama in SAB TV , an entertainment channel that shows only light hearted sitcoms. There was a subtle message in the story. It is about the perception we use to attach value to any object or anything in our lives. We actually tend to finite the value based on either our profit gained or loss incurred.
We always run behind things that are not easy to achieve in life. A well-paid job, big house, handsome & rich husband/beautiful & talented wife, wealth and prosperity are just few of them. You will agree that one gets all these after a lot of hard work. Naturally their value is also immense in our lives.
It’s totally fine. Each one of us has full right to put our living standards in a crescendo mode to the best of our ability.
But in the race of winning all ‘priceless’ luxuries, we neglect many valuable assets that are already present with us. We give less value to our own morals, parents, siblings, obedient kids, friends, health – the list is long. Taking all of these for granted often leaves us feel like a poor soul even after attaining all the materialistic richness in life.
Take my example.
I don’t know what it feels like to starve, because the man of the house ensures to fill the kitchen shelves and refrigerator with food stuffs. I rarely think twice before wasting water as I have 24×7 water supply (at the expense of the man of the house again). A wardrobe full of clothes is never enough for me.
Like above, I have many blessings in my life even before I yearn for them. Still I don’t thank God everyday for them. To me, this is a quite normal lifestyle to have. But none can tell when these blessings will suddenly disappear from my life someday. Life is that uncertain. The so-called ‘normal’ way of living will look like a luxury then.
So friends, use your own perception and calculate what is ‘priceless’ in your life. Treasure it and keep it close to your heart.
Great Tenali story & apt message.
We must all feel blessed & grateful for all the treasures we have.
Indeed Anita. It’s important to value the present to have a better future.
Interesting post.
We can often overlook what we have as we are too busy pursuing what we would like. Looking at the recent tragedies; hurricane in the Caribbean and floods in America, I have much to be thankful for. People have lost their lives and everything they own. They are mourning and have to start from scratch. Before this hundreds died in the London Grenfell Towers fire.
We must give thanks to God and treasure the people around us who matter far more than possessions. I admit to backing up my photographs on icloud and an online system – they bring wonderful memories especially in old age and can be passed on through generations.
Yes Phoenicia, those who haven’t seen the harsh side of life are indeed very lucky. It needs a lot amount of patience and hard work to fight with life and come back to the position where we were once.
Very interesting story and certainly a timely message given the state of the world these days. Thank you for sharing the wisdom and inspiration.
I wish media gives more stress in showing such programs where moral values get the utmost importance. All generations in every part of world need these lessons in today’s date.
When you get down to it all the material things in life are just “stuff.” Our friends and family are what are priceless.
You are right Jeanette. May God bless all of us with a happy and healthy family. This is what that matters the most.
Hello Moumita. I try and express gratitude for all the small but important things in my life everyday. One thing that I am perpetually grateful for is having a wonderful hot shower nearly every day.
Hi Doreen. It’s nice to know that you feel grateful for even a simple thing like having a hot shower. World would have been much happier place if all of us could feel the importance of such small but valuable aspects in our lives.
This story is a very good reminder about what is most important in our lives and how to remain grateful for the little things we take for granted. I like your phrase, about crescendo mode–well said.
Thanks RoseMary for your appreciation.I value the encouraging comments from you and rest of my blogger friends.This has become one of my most valuable possessions 🙂
As I’ve dealt with various cancer treatments this year, I have become less and less attached to material things. I wasn’t much on collecting stuff before, but I realize more all the time how important it is to collect experiences that make good memories.
We value life more when we feel it can leave us any time.
Kudos to you Jeri.I can’t even imagine what you had gone through physically and mentally.Still, you are really doing well with your blog even after facing the extreme difficulties in life.