#SaraReads: Story-Brave Vs Wise
Once there lived a king named Sooryavarma in Bajragajri. He was kind, helpful and brave. He was married to Aashiyamma , the daughter of Kumaravarma of Kundanpur. They had two sons- Shakti and Dhruva. Like his name, Shakti was powerful and dauntless in war but he lacked intelligence. Dhruva, on the other hand, was intelligent and could answer any question in a second but he did not have the strength to fight a war. Their parents loved them dearly with Shakti being his mother’s favourite and Dhruva, his father’s.
As years passed and the king became old, he decided to appoint a successor. He favoured Dhruva due to his intelligence whereas queen Aashiyamma preferred Shakti due to his power.
The king was confused and decided to give different challenges to both the princes. In the physical challenges, Shakti won and in the mental challenges, Dhruva won. Then the king decided to ask the public to decide but the public were equally confused as selecting Shakti would guarantee their protection but their problems wouldn’t be solved. Selecting Dhruva would
mean their problems would get solved but he would not be able to protect them.
As they were working it out, the soldiers rushed inside and informed that Shankar Pandey, neighbouring king of Koppal has sent a message that he wants to hold a war. He was a cruel king who made his people work as slaves. His aim was to become rich and rule the world. King Sooryavarma and the entire kingdom was worried as the decision of appointing the king was
still going on , now who would lead the soldiers? The king called his sons and gave them half the army each and announced that whoever would save the people from Shankar Pandey would be king. Everyone thought Shakti will win since Shakti was so powerful. Dhruva knew he didn’t have the experience to win the war so he came up with a plan. At mid-night, when everyone was sleeping, he went to Koppal with his soldiers, stole all the weapons of Shankar Pandey and brought them home to his father.
The next morning, Shankar Pandey got up and was shocked that he did not have any weapons and the war was supposed to start in a few hours. His soldiers told him anxiously that someone stole them while they were sleeping. He decided to go to Sooryavarma and ask for forgiveness and promised he would never attack their kingdom again. A happy king Sooryavarma explained to the public that if the war had happened, there would have been two outcomes. If they lost , they would have all faced Shankar Pandey’s cruelty. If they had won, there would still have been a great loss of life and resources in fighting the war. The public was now clear who should be their next king, the one who made them win by saving them from war- Dhruva!
