(harichandran) 07 A Cunning Plot Poem by Rajaram Ramachandran

Sage Viswamithra came down
Taking leave from Indran,
He felt, “Out of my dislike
For Vashista, I had to speak.”

“Against such a noble King
Adversely I was speaking.
Yet, I shall prove that
My words are correct.”

Other Sages called on him
To find out from him
About his trip to heaven
And interview with Indran.

Viswamithra didn’t mention,
On the fight o’er Harichandran,
But told, “Indran wants us
To perform a fire sacrifice.”

“You all go to Harichandran,
And ask him for a donation,
For performing this sacrifice
At appropriate time and place.”

They approached Harichandran,
Who promised to give donation,
But they told him to give it,
Whenever they wanted it.

They passed on this message
To Viswamithra, the Sage,
Who, after some days, went
The promised sum to get.

When the king asked
How much he wanted,
He mentioned an amount
That was difficult to count.

“How much distance a stone
Goes upward when thrown
From the back of an elephant,
That much amount I want.”

For this, the King agreed,
But the cunning Sage said,
“I shall take this amount
Later on, whenever I want.”

The Sage left the palace.
He then went to a place,
Where he called birds, lions,
Tigers, and elephants.

He ordered, “Go now
And destroy somehow
All the crops, plants
Cattle and houses.”

As he told, they all did.
This was unexpected.
The loss was total.
Badly, it hit the people.

They came to the King
And told him everything.
He gave from the treasury
Relief to them liberally.

Taxes levy was exempted.
The treasury got emptied.
With no income for the year,
The rich king became poor.

This was the first step
In the Sage’s plot to keep
Harichandran in dire poverty,
That’ll force him to tell a lie.