Vikram Betall Story # 2: The Three Claimants to a Princess

Long ago, the brave and wise King Vikramaditya was given a difficult task by a mysterious sage. The sage asked the king to bring him a spirit called Betaal that lived in a haunted forest. The spirit hung upside down from a tree in a cremation ground and had the strange habit of telling stories filled with riddles.

King Vikramaditya entered the dark forest at midnight. Jackals howled in the distance, the wind rustled through dry leaves, and the cremation ground looked eerie under the pale moonlight. Yet the fearless king climbed the tree and brought down the corpse in which Betaal lived. He placed it on his shoulder and started walking silently toward the sage.

But Betaal was mischievous. As the king walked, the spirit suddenly began speaking.

"King Vikram," said Betaal, "the journey is long and dull. I will tell you a story to pass the time. At the end, I will ask you a question. If you know the answer and remain silent, your head will burst into a thousand pieces. If you answer correctly, I will fly back to my tree."

The wise king remained silent and listened.

The Story

In the city of Kashi, there lived a noble king who had a beautiful and intelligent daughter. Many princes and scholars wished to marry her, but the princess was very selective.

At that time, three young Brahmin men arrived in the city. All three were handsome, learned, and talented. By chance, each of them fell in love with the princess and wished to marry her.

However, before any marriage arrangements could be made, tragedy struck. The princess suddenly fell ill and died. The entire kingdom was plunged into sorrow.

The three young men were devastated, but each of them reacted differently.

The first young man built a small hut near the cremation ground where the princess had been cremated. He stayed there day and night, guarding her ashes and mourning her loss.

The second young man collected the princess's bones after the cremation. He carried them with him everywhere, treating them with great devotion.

The third young man left the city and wandered across many lands. During his travels, he came across a holy sage who possessed a magical book containing powerful mantras that could bring the dead back to life.

Through cleverness and patience, the young man secretly learned the resurrection mantra from the book.

Later, he returned to Kashi and met the other two men at the cremation ground. The second man brought the bones of the princess. The first man still had her ashes.

Together they placed the bones and ashes in the proper arrangement. Then the third man recited the powerful mantra.

To everyone's amazement, the princess came back to life!

She stood before them as beautiful as before.

But now a dispute arose.

Each of the three young men claimed the princess as his rightful wife.

  • The first man said, "I stayed by her ashes with loyalty and devotion."

  • The second man said, "I preserved her bones with great care."

  • The third man said, "Without my knowledge and mantra, she would never have come back to life."

The argument grew intense, and none of them could decide who truly deserved to marry her.

Betaal's Question

Betal then asked King Vikramaditya:

"Tell me, O wise king, which of these three men has the rightful claim to marry the princess? The one who guarded her ashes, the one who kept her bones, or the one who brought her back to life?"

The king thought for a moment and then replied:

"The third man who brought her back to life is like her father, because he gave her life again. The second man who carried her bones is like her son, because sons traditionally perform rites with the bones of their parents. The first man who faithfully stayed near her ashes showed the devotion of a husband. Therefore, he alone deserves to marry the princess."

What Happened Next

Betaal laughed loudly.

"Correct answer, King Vikram! But since you spoke, I must return to my tree!"

With that, the spirit slipped from the king's shoulder and flew back to the haunted tree in the cremation ground.

Determined to complete his task, the brave king turned around and went back once again to capture the clever Betaal.

And thus began another strange story…

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