Tammanna did not take Basavaiah as a rival at all. But, Basavaiah took him as his rival seriously and tried to outdo Tammanna in everything. Therefore, when Tammanna bought four more acres adjacent to his land, Basavaiah also did the same. If Tammanna had ten friends, Basavaiah would acquire fifteen admirers. Gradually, it rose to such a pitch that there was no land left in the village for them to buy. All land belonged to either Tammanna or Basavaiah. Tammanna owned one thousand acres and Basavaiah eight hundred. Basavaiah could not tolerate this. He sent word to Tammanna asking him to sell two hundred acres.

Tammanna did not agree. He was prepared to buy all the land that belonged to Basavaiah. Basavaiah went mad with rage. He went along with his people and acquired two hundred acres of Tammanna’s land forcibly. A fence was built around that land. Tammanna could not tolerate this invasion. Though his supporters explained to him all the means available to him, he was not satisfied with them because he knew that sooner or later Basavaiah would again try to outdo him by hook or by crook. Tammanna did not want Basavaiah to trouble him again.

As days rolled by, Tammanna’s popularity increased, and Basavaiah began to shrink in humiliation. Basavaiah tried to undo the damage to his self-esteem by showing more interest in acquiring all kinds of material wealth. He got a palatial mansion built for himself. Then he bedecked himself with gold, diamonds, and other precious stones. Then he started inviting scholars, poets and musicians to his place and tried to invest his home with meaning.

However, one-day Tammanna suddenly took ill. This news cheered up Basavaiah’s spirits. Tammanna’s disease became Basavaiah’s health. Tammanna thought of yet another method of punishing Basavaiah. Tammanna thought Basavaiah could no longer compete with him if he came to know that Tammanna had died. Therefore, Tammanna avenged himself by leaving his town, abandoning all his property and walking away hundreds of miles. When Basavaiah came to know that Tammanna was not there in the village, he had no more reason to live and he passed away.