Harshavardhan and the Greedy merchant
This was at a time when the city of Kannuj was prospering under the supervision of Emperor Harshavardhana. At that time there was a greedy ghee merchant. His policy was to defraud people of unhealthy ghee. But a thief's house is not always dark. One day his misdeeds fell into the hands of the people. They complained to the emperor. and the soldiers dragged him to the court of Harshvardhan.
After hearing all this, the emperor realized that the merchant had done this because of his greedy nature. So he thought of a way to teach him a lesson.
"Your evil deeds have been proven and you have to suffer the consequences. I am imposing three punishments on you. But I give you the freedom to choose for yourself one of them." The Emporer said.
"First, if you can, drink a bowl of ghee from your own shop, or secondly take a hundred whips on your back, or lastly, you will be fined a hundred gold coins," the emperor said to hear the sentences.
"Wow! That's great!" The greedy merchant thought. "Who will take a hundred whips? And who will deliberately give away a hundred gold coins? It is like throwing money into the water? Better yet, I will close my eyes and nose and drink a bowl of my ghee in one breath, and I will be relieved of the punishment easily."
Judging by this, he said, "O emperor! I accept the first punishment." Hearing this, the emperor asked for the ghee of his shop.
As the merchant put the bowl of ghee in his mouth, it was tasting like hell. He could not drink the ghee even after a hundred attempts. Seeing his condition, the emperor said, "Since you are unable to drink ghee, you must decide for yourself one of the other two punishments."
Understanding his condition, the merchant said, "O emperor! I am accepting the second sentence. On hearing this, the emperor ordered his executioner to strike a hundred lashes on the merchant's back."
The emperor's executioner brutally beat the merchant with a whip. But after having fifty whips, he sighed and begged the executioner for mercy and not to beat him.
He decided to get out of this predicament at any cost. So he prayed to the king, "O emperor! Since I am unable to endure the whip, give me the third punishment."
The emperor agreed and freed the merchant after paying a fine of a hundred gold coins.
On the same evening, while walking in his garden, his minister asked Harshavardhan, "Sire! You could have punished the merchant immediately. But I could not understand why you asked him to choose his own punishment out of those three. The merchant could have slipped away easily."
Harshavardhan smiled and answered, "I knew that the merchant was so greedy that he would not pay a hundred gold coins. So I deliberately put those three options in front of him."
Harshavardhan Continued.
"The first one seems easy yet it was difficult. Because the merchant did not know how much the ghee of his shop was contaminated. Since he had never used it, he would have easily agreed to the first condition."
But since he did not seem to have completed the first sentence, I planned the second option. I knew he would never tolerate the beating of my executioner. That's why I planned the third one. But surprisingly, he endured fifty rocks. Bravo!
When the merchant saw that he could not complete the first two sentences, he admitted the third option, despite his reluctance. This was my way of punishing him. Because the merchant was so greedy, he got three penalties in one sentence.
The Minister could not help but praise the wisdom of his emperor.
