The Clever Crow and the Cunning Owls

Moral of the Story: Never trust your enemy, and don’t allow a foe into your home.

There was a big Banyan tree near a city named Mahilaropyam. This tree was home to many crows, and their king was Meghavarana.

Close to this tree, there was a cave where many owls lived. Their king was Arimaradana. The owls considered the crows as enemies and would attack and kill them at night when the crows couldn’t see well. Over time, many crows were killed.

Meghavarana had five ministers: Ujjeevi, Sanjeevi, Anujjevi, Prajeevi, and Chiranjeevi. He asked them for advice on how to deal with the owls who were stronger and attacked at night.

Ujjeevi suggested making peace with the owls. Sanjeevi recommended fighting in a way that would give them an advantage. Anujeevi advised moving to a safer place. Prajeevi suggested staying put in their home for safety. Chiranjeevi recommended seeking help from allies.

Unsatisfied with these suggestions, the king of crows asked Sthirajeevi, an old minister of his father’s, for advice. Sthirajeevi suggested using spies to find the owls’ weaknesses and outsmart them.

King Meghavarana agreed with Sthirajeevi’s plan. They staged a fake fight where Sthirajeevi was beaten and thrown down the tree. After this, all the crows flew to a safe mountain called Rshyamukam, waiting for Sthirajeevi to join them.

Meanwhile, Sthirajeevi attracted the attention of the king of owls, Arimaradana. He praised Arimaradana and promised to lead him to the crows once he regained his strength.

Arimaradana had five ministers: Raktaksha, Kriuraksha, Deeptaksha, Vakranasa, and Prakarakarna. While Raktaksha and Kriuraksha didn’t trust Sthirajeevi and wanted to kill him, the others thought he could be useful. So, Arimaradana took Sthirajeevi to their cave and gave him a place to rest.

Sthirajeevi asked to make a nest at the entrance of the cave to avoid offending the other owls. Arimaradana agreed and made sure Sthirajeevi was well taken care of. However, Raktaksha was suspicious of Sthirajeevi and warned Arimaradana, but his warnings were ignored. Eventually, Raktaksha and a few others left the cave.

Sthirajeevi had been gathering twigs at the entrance of the owl’s cave, pretending to build a nest. Once Raktaksha had left, Sthirajeevi flew back to the crows at Rshyamukam Mountain.

He told King Meghavarana that he had set a trap at the entrance of the owl’s cave. He asked the crows to follow him with burning wood in their beaks. They did as instructed and dropped the burning wood at the entrance of the cave. The twigs caught fire, and all the owls inside were killed by the fire and smoke.

The crows returned to their Banyan tree without fear. With Sthirajeevi’s help, King Meghavarana ruled justly from then on.

Moral of the Story is “The Clever Crow and the Cunning Owls” Never trust your enemy, and don’t allow a foe into your home.