The Lost Key

One evening, a palace servant was seen crawling on the ground beneath a lamp post, frantically searching for something. Curious, a few guards gathered around to help but found nothing.

Birbal, passing by, noticed the scene and asked, “What have you lost?”

“The palace’s spare key, Huzoor,” the servant replied anxiously. “I’ve been looking for it here.”

Birbal looked around and asked, “Are you sure you lost it under this lamp?”

The servant hesitated, then confessed, “No, I dropped it inside the dark pantry… but it’s too dim in there to search. It’s easier to look here under the light.”

Birbal chuckled and said wisely, “That is why you still haven’t found your key. We often search for answers where it’s comfortable not where the truth actually lies. But real solutions are rarely found in the easiest places.”

When Emperor Akbar heard the story later that night, he smiled and said, “Birbal, your lessons shine brighter than the lamp post.”

Moral: Truth is not always found where it’s easy to look but where it’s right to search.