Akbar & Birbal · Sanskrit Story
Birbal and the Well
बीरबलः कूपविवादः च
Mughal court oral tradition · Akbar-Birbal kathāmālikā (c. 1590 CE) · Beginner Sanskrit
Moral · नीतिः
तर्केण तर्कः नश्यति — धूर्तस्य वचनं तेनैव।
tarkeṇa tarkaḥ naśyati — dhūrtasya vacanaṃ tenaiva.
“Logic defeats logic — the rogue's own words are his undoing”
The Dispute
एकः कृषकः कूपम् अक्रीणात्। स्वस्य पड़ोसी कूपजलं न ददाति। सः वदति — कूपः विक्रीतः — जलं न। कृषकः अकबरस्य सभां गच्छति।
A farmer had bought a well from his neighbor. Now the neighbor refused to let him use the water. "I sold the well — not the water," the neighbor said. The farmer went to Akbar's court.
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