The Angry Brahmin Story
A very learned Brahmin lived in Delhi. He was a regular visitor to the royal court. The King, Birbal, and all the courtiers respected him as he gave good advice and told tales from the scriptures. But everyone was very afraid of his anger and stubborn nature. It was the Brahmin’s nature that he would do or complete the task he made up his mind to do. One afternoon he sat down for lunch. His wife served him the hot lunch. Just as the Brahmin took his first mouthful of rice, he spat it out.
Picking a hair out of the rice, he said, “There’s a strand of hair in the rice. I do not like this at all. This is the first time this has happened. So, I’ll forgive you. If it happens again then I will not spare you.”
With these words, the Brahmin got up and walked out of the house. His wife felt sad that her husband had gone out hungry. She promised herself to be careful whenever she cooked. She would now tie up her hair well before cooking. But, as fate would have it, a few days later the Brahmin found a strand of hair in his food once again.
He grew very angry and said “I had warned you. I won’t take any of this. Now you will suffer. I’ll call the barber and shave your hair off.”
Saying this, the angry Brahmin left the house to fetch the barber.
The Brahmin's wife got very scared indeed. She locked herself into the house. Soon enough her husband came back with the barber. He knocked at the door but his frightened wife did not open the door.
The Brahmin shouted in anger, “Why don't you open the door? I have fetched the barber. Now I’ll teach you a lesson.”
The Brahmin’s wife was in tears. But she did not dare open the door. After waiting for a few minutes, the barber left the Brahmin’s house promising to return soon.
When constant threats did not make her open the door, the Brahmin yelled, “I am going to get the carpenter. He will cut down the door with his sharp saw.”
With these words, the Brahmin went away. After that, his wife came out of the house and went to her neighbor and told them, “Please go and inform my brothers about what’s happened. They’ll come to rescue me otherwise my husband will shave my hair off.”
Then the Brahmin’s wife returned and shut herself into the house again. The neighbor rode on horseback and went to the next village. He told the problem to the Brahmin’s brothers-in-law. They soon accompanied him back to Delhi. On the way, one of them said, “I will go to Birbal for advice. He is my friend. You three go to help our sister.”
As the others went off, the fourth brother went to meet Birbal. After seeking Birbal’s advice he too went to his sister’s house. A crowd had gathered there. The Brahmin was banging on the door to get his wife out. The fourth brother called the others and they went off for a while. They returned with shaved heads. They also had a white cloth used to cover dead bodies. Soon Birbal arrived there with some woods. They all made a pyre of the wood. Then they caught the Brahmin and wrapped him in the white cloth and made him lie on the pyre.
“What are you doing to me? You are ridiculous to treat me as if I am a dead body!” exclaimed the Brahmin.
One of the brothers said, “Sir, you are a learned man. You know that according to Hindu customs, a Hindu woman’s hair is shaved off only when she is widowed. If you wish your wife’s hair to be shaved off then you must die.”
The Brahmin was taken aback to hear this. His wife who was watching all this from the window came running out of the house.
“Oh brothers, why are you treating my husband this way? Please spare him,”
By now the angry Brahmin had realized his mistake. He apologized to his wife and brothers-in-law. He thanked Birbal for helping him realize not to let anger rule our senses.