THE BRAHMIN WHO COULD CURE ANYTHING

In a city called Hyrai in India lived the Brahmin Veerabadra. He went on with his life by begging for alms on the pavement of the roads. 

  Occasionally, people would visit him for help with their headaches and stomach aches. Veerabadra, the Brahmin, treated these issues by chanting some mumbo-jumbo. 

  Mothers of children were especially very fond of him. He was easily available when their children developed temperature or ran into some fits all of a sudden. People who knew Veerabadra often came to him to treat minor ailments rather than going to big doctors who charged a lot. And he solved these problems by muttering some spells. Veerabadra was always willing to cure them because he received handfuls of rice that day. 

  The chief minister of the state was Gyanendra. His people loved him so much that in a span of 20 years he’d been the person governing the state, with the opposition party leaders not even coming close to him in any of the elections. The ruling of Gyanendra could be compared to the ruling of a king rather than a politician, for he was so connected to his people. The city of Hyrai was the small capital of the small state in South India. 

  Gyanendra had a beautiful daughter, on whom he showered all his love. One morning, the girl complained of pain in her neck and by evening, it became swollen like a pear. The poor child could not even open her mouth to take food. It was an abscess and a big one too. 

  The chief minister and his wife felt miserable. They called in all the medical men of the place. However, none of them was able to give the girl any relief from the pain, much less cure it. It is not ripe enough for opening, they said.

  As a last resort, Gyanendra arranged to make the following announcement in every street through the media. His message was clear: “Whoever cures my daughter of her ailment will be awarded with gold and be received with high luxuries for the rest of their life.”

  Though the state was under democracy, the chief minister preferred to rule this way. It was liked by his people and didn’t go against any law in the constitution either. 

  This time was a different story though. The small city of Hyrai never had a crisis, but the illness in the daughter of their CM and the award he proposed set everyone in a frenzy. But everyone commiserated, for they could do nothing about it. “Why, even the best doctors have failed! What a pity that no one can save the child, it is going to kill her!”

  Among those who heard the news was Nalini, the wife of Veerabadra. She also heard the people’s remarks on it. 

  A sudden thought came to her mind. 

  She quickly waded her way to the hall in the public square. The chief minister had placed a temporary office there to get people to cure her daughter’s illness. 

  As she reached the place, she said, “Sirs! My husband can cure the chief minister’s daughter’s ailment!” 

  On hearing her say so with assurance, the royal servants conducted her to the ruler’s presence after some strict security checks. Upon reaching, Gyanendra asked, “Is it true, lady, that your husband can cure my child’s carbuncle? Are you saying it seriously?” 

  Questioning whether she was saying so seriously wasn’t needed, but the chief minister was really worried about her daughter’s illness. To the question, Nalini replied, “Yes, your honour. He is a very well-known mantra-vadin. Women of this city invariably call him when their children suffer from one thing or the other.” 

  Gyanendra looked at his wife, who nodded her head in agreement.  

  Forthwith, the chief minister sent orders to fetch Veerabadra. The orderlies followed the lady who led them to her house. 

  All the way, her heart heaved with pride as she assumed how her husband’s name would shoot up among people and how they would end their poverty permanently. 

When the chief minister’s attendants informed Veerabadra of his mission and how it came about, he was completely taken aback. 

  Asking them to wait for a few minutes, he went inside the house and, closing the door behind him, shouted at his wife: “You foolish woman! What made you say all that to the CM? I don’t know a bit about mantras! I have been hobnobbing with innocent children uttering some abracadabra with some success, which was purely my luck. You have finished me now! Not only when will my name come down, but my means of livelihood would also be ruined! And if I confess my ignorance to the CM, he will think I’m refusing to obey, which will cause more problems. Oh, lord!” He held both his hands up to his head in dismay. 

  Nalini’s reply came in an unusually calm voice. “Dear husband, there is little you need to be afraid of. If it comes to the worst, you will come back unsuccessful—the best of the doctors have failed, and you have very little to lose.” 

  Caught between threads of dilemma, he asked his wife with some less roar in his voice, “What do you want me to do now?”

  “Easy,” answered Nalini. “Meet the CM; see the girl; see the carbuncle; chant a usual mantra, and return home. If she recovers by luck again, we will be awarded and our poverty will come to an end. If she doesn’t, just say, ‘What can a mantra do to her, when her days in this world are already numbered’.” 

Veerabadra steadied himself on hearing these words and reported to the royal servants, saying, “I am ready. Let’s go.” 

PART #2

CM Gyanendra and his wife received Veerabadra with great hope. The basic regard they showed to an average citizen surprised him. Their servants led him to the bedside of their daughter, who was found lying in a bed in a royal bedroom, clearly in pain. 

  “I shall do my best and leave the rest to God,” he said and asked the servants to withdraw from the room while the mantra chanting was in process.

Upon being alone in the room, he took out some leaves from his bag and mixed it with some powders which others said could heal injuries. Rubbing it against the girl’s neck, he chanted: 

Oh Chamunda! My horrible wife has bought me this trouble. I will be yours if you get me off this difficulty. Please do so! Oh silent one, oh mute one, Swaha!

  When this strange gibberish fell upon the ears of the young girl, she couldn’t contain her laughter and burst out laughing hard. Just as she did, the nerves around her neck expanded violently, and the carbuncle burst, throwing out a lot of puss and blood. 

  At the noise, the nurses rushed in and promptly washed away all the blood and cleaned the wound. As for Gyanendra’s daughter, her pain vanished overnight, and she started taking food at once. 

  Need it be said that Veerabadra was highly honoured by the chief minister and that he became the most respectable citizen of the place?


Moral: You need not be the greatest to achieve greatness.

Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of my imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or persons is entirely coincidental. || Contents of this story should not be reproduced in any manner without permission.