Who Was Wrong?

Ivananda was a learned man of Sivapuri. Several poets from the area would send him their compositions for his opinion. The promising ones always received praise and encouragement from him. Poet laureate Achuthananda, however, harbored nothing but scorn for them, claiming he was the only learned man in the kingdom.

Whenever people mentioned Achuthananda to Sivananda, he would tell them that the poet laureate was a knowledgeable individual. Achuthananda, aware of Sivananda’s praise, consistently labeled him as an unlettered person.

The king eventually learned of the situation and summoned Sivananda. “It’s fine that you praise Achuthananda, but why does he never say a kind word about you?” he asked.

“Though we hold differing views about people’s writings,” Sivananda explained, “we both believed that our opinions of each other were correct. Now, I realize that I was mistaken in my belief.” Achuthananda, who had been listening to the conversation, could only hang his head in shame.