The Fifth Brigade

Long ago, in the kingdom of Malwa, a young king named Dharmapala took the throne. He had two very smart ministers to help him rule: one was called Vijaya, and the other, Vihara.

Right after becoming king, Dharmapala called both ministers to his chamber one by one and asked them, ‘What’s the best way to rule my kingdom?’

Vijaya gave a serious answer. ‘O King, the most important thing is law and order. Without rules, people won’t be safe, and the kingdom will fall into chaos. Gold is made pure by fire, iron becomes strong when hammered, and a king’s rule is firm when laws are properly enforced.’

Vihara, however, had a completely different idea. He laughed and said, ‘O King, ruling a kingdom is too much work! A wise king doesn’t tire himself out with responsibilities. Instead, he should leave all the hard work to his ministers and enjoy life—eating, drinking, and having fun!’

The king raised an eyebrow. ‘What about the King’s Code?’ (This was a book of rules all kings were supposed to follow.)

‘Codes are just words in books!’ Vihara scoffed. ‘Even great sages of the past ignored them when they wanted to have fun. You are young, Your Highness. Your youth won’t last forever, so enjoy life while you can!’

‘And what about the laws?’ asked the king.

‘Laws? They are confusing! Even the shortest law book has thousands of rules. Even if you learn them all, people will still argue about what they mean. Instead of following books, we should just do whatever seems right at the moment,’ Vihara replied.

The king didn’t argue. He simply nodded and handed over all responsibilities to Vihara. From that day on, Dharmapala spent his time hunting, drinking, and gambling, while Vihara ran the kingdom. But Vihara became too powerful—he ruled as if he were the king. Those who pleased him could break any law without fear, while those who upset him had nowhere to complain. The kingdom became a mess. More and more people started drinking, gambling, and stealing.

Meanwhile, in the powerful kingdom of Chola, the king heard about Malwa’s troubles. Normally, he wouldn’t dare attack Malwa, but now, things were different. He sent a clever young spy named Vineetha to Malwa.

Vineetha quickly became friends with Vihara, who was too foolish to see through his tricks. One day, Vihara took Vineetha to the king and said, ‘O King, this young man is the son of the Chola Minister. He was insulted by his own king and has come to us for protection. The enemy of our enemy is our friend, so I think we should let him stay.’

The king agreed, but Vijaya, the other minister, was suspicious. He warned the king, ‘Your Highness, we should investigate Vineetha before trusting him. The Chola King has wanted to take over Malwa for a long time. If this Vineetha is actually a spy, he could help our enemies destroy us!’

But the king only smiled and said, ‘Don’t worry, Vijaya. We will learn Chola’s secrets from him instead.’

Vineetha was now treated as a trusted guest. But he was up to something sneaky. Every day, new visitors from Chola arrived at the palace, spent time with him, and then mysteriously disappeared. ‘They are my loyal servants. They will help us conquer Chola,’ Vineetha told the king.

In truth, they were enemy soldiers! With state money, Vineetha built a huge fortress with a tall wall and hid these soldiers inside. He filled the place with weapons and supplies. Over time, he secretly built an army of 5,000 Chola soldiers—right in the heart of Malwa! And Malwa’s own treasury was paying for it.

Vijaya, the wise minister, was the only one keeping an eye on Vineetha. He secretly counted the money Vineetha was spending and estimated the number of soldiers he was hiding. Realizing the danger, Vijaya went to Queen Sunanda and told her everything. The queen then warned the king.

Actually, Dharmapala had never fully trusted Vihara. He had only been pretending to believe him, waiting for the right moment to act. Now, he knew it was time to take charge.

The very next day, the king walked into the court and said, ‘Vihara, you have been running the kingdom for a long time. Now, I want to see how things are going.’

Vihara laughed nervously. ‘Oh, Your Highness, don’t trouble yourself. Everything is under control!’

But the king wasn’t joking. He asked to see the records of money, taxes, court cases, and punishments. After going through everything, he looked at Vihara and said, ‘Tell me, Minister, if someone wanted to attack us right now, wouldn’t they have a great advantage?’

‘No one will dare attack us!’ Vihara said confidently.

The king smirked. ‘Oh really? Then you must not know that the Chola king is marching towards Malwa with five brigades!’

Vihara was confused. ‘Five brigades? Armies only have four—chariots, elephants, cavalry, and infantry. What is this fifth brigade?’

The king’s face darkened. ‘The fifth brigade is inside our own walls, eating our food, and using our money! If you don’t even know this, you are unfit to be my minister.’

Vihara was immediately arrested. Vijaya was appointed as the new minister.

Next, the king marched to Vineetha’s fortress. He called for Vineetha and asked, ‘Is this building yours? What is inside it?’

Vineetha lied. ‘I built it under orders from the minister, but I don’t know what’s inside.’

The king nodded. ‘I see. Well, I don’t need it anymore. Seal up all the doors and windows with bricks and mortar. We’ll check inside later. As for Vineetha, lock him in the dungeon.’

And just like that, all 5,000 enemy soldiers were trapped inside forever. Their own hideout became their tomb!

Meanwhile, the Chola army had already started marching towards Malwa. But Dharmapala was ready. His own troops were hidden outside the city walls. When the Chola soldiers surrounded the city, they were suddenly attacked from both inside and outside. The Malwa army crushed them completely! The Chola king barely escaped with his life. He never understood why his secret army inside the city hadn’t helped him.

As for Vihara and Vineetha, they were judged as war criminals. The king ordered them to be executed, and their bodies were hung upside down on the fortress walls. Underneath, a sign read:

‘Fate of the Leaders of the Fifth Brigade.’

And so, King Dharmapala saved his kingdom through patience, wisdom, and a strong hand. From that day on, he ruled Malwa wisely and never let anyone deceive him again.

A wise ruler must be vigilant, enforce laws, and never let pleasure or false friends weaken their kingdom.

Ramaswamy Sastry and Vighnesh Ghanapaathi