The Star Gazer

In the far-off days, when Ujjain was ruled by King Vishnuvardhan, a great patron of the arts, a poor scholar named Deenanath lived near the king’s palace.

Deenanath was no ordinary scholar as he devoted all his time to studying the stars. He believed the destiny of everyone was written in the heavens, and only the stars could foretell the future.

Naturally, many people came to the scholar for their horoscopes. If he predicted a rosy future, they paid and went away satisfied. But on the other hand, when he foretold of troubles that lay ahead, his would-be customers became extremely disgruntled and left in a huff, without paying.

So poor Deenanath made a precarious living, which did not please his wife one bit. She would scold and nag, and not a day went by when she did not remind him that the King was always giving rich rewards to scholars, yet her husband was content to sit at home and spend his nights gazing at the planets, whilst she, poor wife, had insufficient to eat and no clothes worth wearing.

To escape his wife’s scathing tongue, Deenanath started to attend the King’s court. But as he stood and listened to the other scholars praising the King and making ridiculous promises about the future, he felt disgusted and would not take part in the ceremony. Afterwards, when the King rewarded those who had been full of empty praises, Deenanath received nothing and went home empty-handed, only to get another scolding.

After several days, the King began to notice this ill-dressed scholar, who always stood in the background and remained silent. Curious as to the reason for this strange behavior, the King beckoned Deenanath to come to the steps of the throne.

Eyeing the scholar’s poor garb, the King asked him, “Why do you come to my court and never utter a word? Are you without wisdom?”

“Your Majesty,” replied Deenanath, with a twinkle in his eye, “I never learnt how to compose sonnets of praise. I merely study the planets and the destiny that is written there.”

The King’s eyebrow went up. “It all sounds very interesting, but obviously it is a poor living.” He motioned to one of his ministers. “Give this scholar one hundred pieces of silver so that at least he can eat and dress well.”

When Deenanath arrived home with the silver, his wife fairly danced with joy. “There, I told you so,” she chortled. “If you had only listened to me before, we should have been rich by now.”

Perhaps his wife told too many neighbors of the King’s bounty, or maybe it was destiny, but that night thieves broke into the house, and all those lovely silver coins were stolen.

There was no pacifying Deenanath’s wife, who wept and wailed and urged Deenanath to hurry to the palace and tell the King. But Deenanath merely shook his head and kept repeating, “You cannot go against destiny.”

Two days later, Deenanath, to get away from his wife’s scolding, went to the King’s court, and the King was rather vexed to see that the scholar still wore the same threadbare clothing.

“Why are you dressed like this?” he asked Deenanath. “Did we not give you sufficient money?”

“Alas, Your Majesty,” replied Deenanath in a sorrowful voice. “I am afraid my stars would not allow me to keep one hundred pieces of silver. Robbers broke into my house and took the money.”

“What rubbish you talk,” said the King sternly. “You should guard your money more carefully. Now, here is another one hundred pieces of silver, and just you see there are no more robbers.”

Deenanath left the court with a troubled mind. He was sure that, according to his stars, no good would come his way for the next three months. Instead of going home, Deenanath went to the temple of Lord Ganapathi, where he prayed every day, and he hid the silver in the hollow trunk of an ancient peepal tree that stood close by the temple.

Everyone believed, quite untruthfully, that this old peepal tree was the home of many poisonous snakes. So Deenanath felt quite certain that no one would venture near the tree.

Weeks went by, and the King, out of curiosity, mentioned to one of his ministers, “It is strange, but that scholar Deenanath has not been seen in court for several weeks. Perhaps he is too busy spending the money we gave him.”

“Not so, Your Majesty,” replied the minister. “By all accounts, he is still living in the same poor way.”

“This is ridiculous,” snorted the King. “Have this Deenanath brought here immediately!”

When Deenanath arrived, the King demanded, “What has happened to the money this time?”

Deenanath gave a gentle smile. “The money is quite safe, Your Majesty. You see, my stars will not be favorable for yet another month. Then, and only then, shall I be able to use the money to good advantage.”

The King threw up his arms in despair. “You are the most absurd creature in my kingdom. Now listen, here is a casket containing ten pieces of gold. Go and spend it, otherwise, I will have you thrown into prison.”

Deenanath, clutching the casket of gold, hurried on his way home. But on the way, he decided to stop at Lord Ganapathi’s temple to have a bath at the well. Carefully placing the casket on the parapet of the well, Deenanath enjoyed his bath, but as he was drying himself, his arm accidentally knocked the casket into the well.

Peering down into the well, Deenanath thought, “It will be perfectly safe there, and I will easily get it out at the end of the month.”

But Deenanath reckoned without the King, who at the end of two weeks summoned Deenanath to give an account of how he had spent the gold.

“I haven’t spent it, Your Majesty,” said Deenanath very meekly. “The money is in safe keeping in the temple of Lord Ganapathi. In just two more weeks my stars will ascend, then all will be well. And what is more, Your Majesty, the stars say you will also benefit at the end of those two weeks.”

“The man is mad,” muttered the King. Then pointing his finger at Deenanath, he shouted, “I will come to the temple in two weeks’ time, and if you fail to show me the money, your life will be forfeited.”

At the end of the two weeks, the King, escorted by his guard, arrived at the temple, where Deenanath was patiently waiting.

“Now produce the money,” demanded the King.

Deenanath went to the peepal tree, and after groping in the hollow trunk, triumphantly produced the bag of silver.

“And where is the casket of gold?” asked the King.

Deenanath lowered himself into the well, and after several minutes, scrambled out holding two caskets!

When the smaller casket was opened, true enough the ten pieces of gold were still there. The bigger casket was a little more difficult to force open. But when the lid was raised, the King gave a shout of astonishment.

“This is the jewelry robbed from the palace several years ago.”

Turning to Deenanath, the King said, “I misjudged you, my friend. From this day onwards, you shall be the royal astrologer at my court.”

Needless to say, Deenanath’s wife never scolded him again.