The Pot of Snakes

Days passed, and Kulasekharan became more absorbed in devotion than in ruling his kingdom.

One day he found that some of the jewels that adorned his Lord were missing, and he was angered that the ornaments had been stolen. He was determined to find the culprit. The ministers, who wished to turn the king's attention away from the Lord and His devotees, told him that the devotees of Sriman Nārāyaṇa had stolen the jewels. But Kulasekharan refused to believe it, for he had complete faith in them, and he ordered a pot filled with snakes to be brought.

He told his ministers that he would put his own hand into the pot. If the devotees of the Lord had stolen the jewels, as the ministers claimed, let the snakes bite him; if they had not, the snakes would leave him unharmed.

The Lord willed that the truth should come out. When Kulasekharan put his hand into the pot, the snakes did him no harm. The ministers then confessed the truth, and Kulasekharan required them to ask forgiveness of the devotees they had slandered. This shows how wholly Kulasekhara was devoted to Sri Vaishṇavam and to the devotees of Sriman Nārāyaṇa.