Once there lived a brahmin named Putta Sastry. One day as he entered the house after his customary bath in the river, he found his wife preparing dosas. He’ quietly entered the kitchen and hid behind the door. He saw that his wife had prepared thirty dosas. As they sat down for the meal he remarked: “So you have prepared thirty dosas today!” The wife was extremely surprised. She thought that her good husband had acquired a magical power.

After the meal, she went to the nearby well to draw water. There she met the dhobi’s wife Ningi who was weeping loudly. She had lost her donkey. The brahmin’s wife pacified her and told her “You go to my husband immediately. He has divine powers. He will certainly tell you where your donkey is.” When Putta Sastry heard Ningi’s story, he told her “You come to my house tomorrow. Bring sixteen rupees to put in four corners, four coconuts, two seers of rice, betel leaves and a dozen plantains. I will do a special puja for the goddess Chamundi and tell you where your donkey is.”

The clever brahmin took the complete description of the animal from the dhobi’s wife. At night he searched all over the city. He found the animal near a ruined building. He tied it up and quietly came back home.

In the morning, the dhobi’s wife came to his house, bringing money, coconuts and plantains. He kept everything before the goddess. He pretended to do a long puja. At the end of it, he told her where the donkey was.

Putta Sastry’s fame spread all over the city. A farmer came to him and said : “My little plot of paddy field is dried up as there are no rains. Please tell me when it would rain to make it green and fertile again.” Putta Sastry asked him to come a his house the next day with money, coconuts and ruits.

The cunning brahmin knew where the farmer’s bit of land was. At night, without telling his wife, he went there. As luck would have it he found a well close by. He drew water from it and poured it all over the small field. He came back home and slept very soundly.

The next day after the farmer turned up, he did the long puja. Then he told the farmer : “‘It had rained only on your plot yesterday night. All the other fields are dry.’ The farmer hurried to the field and when he found that it was indeed the case, he sang the brahmin’s praises all over the village.

In the meantime a couple of thieves named Chenna and Bora stole a gold necklace from the puja room of the palace. News of Putta Sastry’s divine powers had reached the king also. He was summoned to the palace. The King told him of the theft. Putta Sastry had no answer ready for the king. He said: “O King ! Today is not auspicious for the puja. Tomorrow, I would certainly get the answer from the Devi.”

Putta Sastry was both afraid and worried when he came home. The king would get very angry if he did not give him a suitable reply the next day.

Meanwhile, the thieves Bora and Chenna heard that the king had asked for Putta Sastry’s help. They had heard about the brahmin’s miracles. They became very frightened. They were sure that he would catch them and hand them over to the
king. They went to the brahmin and fell on his feet. He took the necklace from them and buried it under a mango tree in the royal orchard.

In the morning he went to the palace and did the usual puja. Then he asked the king to send his servants to the orchard. They dug the ground under the mango tree and found the necklace. The king was overjoyed. He gave the brahmin a big
reward.

The brahmin realised that good luck would not last long. He decided to move to another city before he got into trouble. It was only when they settled down in another city that he told his wife the whole story. She was greatly amused.

A folktale sourced from Folk Tales of Karnataka by P. S. Chandran.

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