Akbar once told Birbal that he wanted to build a palace in the sky. Birbal replied, 'Your Majesty, first we need to build a staircase that reaches the sky. Then we can start building the palace. And we will need very long and strong materials for the staircase.' Akbar realized the impracticality of his idea and praised Birbal for his sensible response.
There was a time when Akbar lost his ring. He suspected his servants. Birbal came and said he knew who had the ring. He called all the servants together and said, 'The ring is with a thief. And the thief has a straw in his nose.' All the servants started looking at each other's noses. One servant unconsciously touched his nose. Birbal pointed at him and said he was the thief. It turned out he was right.
In another story, Akbar wanted to test Birbal's wisdom. He showed Birbal a picture of a family where a man, his wife, and their children were sitting together. Akbar asked Birbal to tell who was the most intelligent in the family just by looking at the picture. Birbal replied that it was the mother because she was the one who could manage and take care of everyone in the family, which required great intelligence.
One famous Akbar Birbal story is about the 'Three Questions'. Akbar wanted to test Birbal's wisdom. He asked three questions: What is the most precious thing in the world? Who is the most intelligent person? What is the best time? Birbal replied that knowledge is the most precious, the one who learns from everyone is the most intelligent, and the present moment is the best time. His answers impressed Akbar greatly.
Some stories teach about kindness and fairness. Akbar, under Birbal's influence at times, learned to be more just in his decisions. It shows that a good leader should be fair to all his subjects.
One well - known story is when Akbar asked Birbal to measure the length of a river. Birbal took a stick and made a mark on it at the water level at one bank. Then he walked to the other bank and again made a mark on the stick where the water reached. He said the length between the two marks was the length of the river. Akbar was impressed by this simple yet smart solution.
One moral could be about the power of quick thinking. In many stories, Birbal has to think on his feet to answer Akbar's difficult questions, like in the story about the number of crows. It shows that being able to think fast can get you out of tricky situations.
One story is that Akbar once asked Birbal how many crows were in his kingdom. Birbal quickly replied, 'There are ninety - five thousand four hundred and sixty - three crows in the kingdom.' When Akbar was surprised and asked how he could be so sure, Birbal said, 'If there are more, then some crows must have come from other kingdoms to visit. If there are less, then some of our crows must be visiting other kingdoms.'
There are several authors who have written Akbar Birbal stories in Hindi. It's hard to pinpoint a single one as it varies depending on different collections and publications.
One story is about Akbar asking Birbal how many crows are there in the city. Birbal quickly replied that there are 99,999 crows. When Akbar asked how he was so sure, Birbal said that if there were more, then the extra crows would be visiting from other places and if there were less, then some of our crows must be visiting other places.
The story of the well - known phrase 'All the wells are one well'. Akbar once asked Birbal how many wells there were in his kingdom. Birbal replied 'All the wells are one well'. Akbar was confused. Birbal explained that just as all the water in different wells is the same water from the earth, so all wells are one in essence. This showed Birbal's wisdom in seeing the underlying unity in things.
One really interesting story is when Akbar and Birbal were walking in the garden. Akbar asked Birbal, 'Can you show me a miracle?' Birbal picked up a small pebble and threw it into the pond. He said, 'Look, the pebble made the water rise without any effort.' Akbar laughed at this simple yet clever answer.