Lies, luck, and a gifted psychic

In the aftermath of the Air India crash, there has been much speculation on the cause of the tragedy. But in the midst of heartbreaking stories, some self-styled astrologers are publicising their predictions of the crash – vague predictions about devastating accidents or tying the fate of the flight to planetary positions. These predictions remind me of Harisharma’s from the Kathasaritsagara.

Once, there was a brahmin called Harisharma, who happened to be both poor and foolish. He had many children too, and had very little to sustain himself on, until, by some luck, he and his family entered the employment of a rich man called Sthuladatta. One day, it was Sthuladatta’s daughter’s wedding, and Harisharma, who was rather a foodie, had been looking forward to the wedding feast. Unfortunately for him, nobody thought to invite him, and he was left feeling distraught, hungry, and humiliated. He decided that it was due to his stupidity that he was in such a predicament and made a plan.

He stole Sthuladatta’s new son-in-law’s horse and hid it at a distance from the house. When the wedding party woke up in the morning and saw the horse missing, there was a commotion, and they worried that it was a bad omen. Harisharma’s wife, who was in on his plan, told Sthuladatta, “My husband is good at astrological stuff. Why don’t you try asking for his help to find the horse?” Sthuladatta immediately requested his help, and Harisharma was only too willing, after initially protesting that no one invited him to the feast but was interested in using his special powers. He then pretended to draw up elaborate charts and make complex calculations, before specifying the exact location of the horse. Impressed, Sthuladatta treated Harisharma with great honour from that point, but Harisharma had bigger troubles coming.

In the same kingdom, there was a theft of jewellery and other valuables from the palace, and the news of Harisharma’s successful recovery of the missing horse had spread across the kingdom. The king now summoned Harisharma to the palace to help locate the missing pieces. Harisharma bought some time by asking for an extra day, during which he was given luxurious quarters, but also kept carefully guarded. Since he had no idea where the valuables were, he was lamenting aloud about his tongue, which had got him into this predicament.

“Tongue (jihva, in Sanskrit), look at what you got yourself into, because of your greed for the pleasures of life.” Unknown to Harisharma, the thief was one of the palace maids, whose name was Jihva, who had stolen the jewellery with her husband’s help. She was terrified that Harisharma would discover her theft, and so had her ears to the door, and at this point, certain that he had figured out that it was her, she burst in, bowed to him, confessed her crime, and promised to give it all back. Harisharma acted as if he knew all along, promised he would not destroy Jihva’s reputation, and told the king the location of the missing valuables. In return, he received many gifts and donations.

The king’s minister, however, was still suspicious that Harisharma may have been in cahoots with various burglars; after all, how else would he know the location of the missing jewellery? And so, the king put him to one ultimate test. He hid a frog in a pot, closed it with a cloth, and asked Harisharma to use his unique abilities to tell what was inside the pot. Scared as Harisharma was, and with his penchant for castigating himself allowed, he began to lament, referring to himself by the nickname Froggy that his father used to call him. “Froggy, this pot is going to be the end of you!” The impressed king promptly honoured Harisharma yet again.

Lesson? As long as there are those who will naively believe, there are those who are happy to deceive.

(Anusha S Rao is the author of How to Love in Sanskrit and likes writing new things about very old things. X: @AnushaSRao2_)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necesarily reflect the views of DH.