GODDESS KALI BLESSES RAMAN learned the Kali mantras taught by the monk. He grasped it soon. He went to the Kali temple in the night and began to chant it. It was midnight and an uneasy calm prevailed in that area. Only Rama’s mantras burst the silence. -Suddenly a frightening figure appeared on the scene amidst thunderous noise. It was really the Goddess Kali. The Kali Devi had a thousand faces and all the thousand months were opened, the long teeth stretched outside the mouth. Fire emanated from all the thousand eyes. It was altogether a terrible figure.
But Rama remained unmoved. He did not feel anything extraordinary. He simply smiled. “Why are you laughing?” Devi asked Rama. “A mysterious doubt provoked me into laughter. I have only one head and a nose. Yet during cold, I find it difficult to wipe out the discharge from the nose with my hands. You have got a thousand heads and the same number of noses, but have only two hands. It will be difficult for you to wipe out the discharge from all the noses with just two hands. Please forgive me for saying this,” Rama answered. The reply made Devi to start laughing. She liked Rama’s mischief. Later the Goddess showed two gold pots to Rama and said, “One pot contains milk of wealth, the other one milk of wisdom. You can choose any one of them,
but only one.” Rama was hesitant. “Oh! Devi, old people “Oh! Goddess, please pardon me. I want to be both say wealth is sour. What does it mean?” He doubted. Rich and wise. One’s life becomes meaningful only if he “The ways chosen by people to become rich are not achieves these two things”, Rama justified his action. Good,” Devi said. “If you drink the milk of wealth, you “You are clever”, said the Goddess.” But who told you to drink both pots of milk ? As a punishment, I curse you to become a jester”, Devi proclaimed. Rama begged the Goddess not to curse him, “Oh! Goddess, I want to become a good poet as well as a jester. There is also a mistake on your part. You held the two pots of milk in your hands simultaneously. That means, you too consider both the pots of milk as equal”
Kali Devi was in a fix. ” One day you will become a good poet and a jester. But the coming generations will remember you as a jester only”. After blessing Rama, the Goddess disappeared. Rama became excited and thanked Kali Devi.
He was a Telugu poet who hailed from a village called Tenali located at what is now the Andhra Pradesh region, generally known for the folk tales which focus on his wit. He was one of the Ashtadiggajas or the eight poets at the court of krishnadevaraya, the Vijayanagar emperor. His father died when he was a child.
Garlapati Ramakrishnacharyulu, popularly known as Tenali Rama and Vikata Kavi, was a court-poet of the Vijayanagara Empire in the 16th century. He was born into a telugu prathamasakha niyogi brahmin family. He was one of the Ashtadiggajas who belonged to the court of Krishnadevaraya in Vijayanagar.
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