Vikram and Vaitaal Stories-2
- Story 1-1 (Keral
Version)
"Captain
Sir Richard R Burton's Vikram and the
Vampire: classic Hindu tales of
adventure, magic and romance" / edited by his wife Isabel Burton. [etext
Conversion Project, Nalanda Digital Library, NIT Calicut, Kerala State,
India]
1-A Man
Deceives a Woman-1
Vajramukut
Sees the Princess
There lived a mighty prince named Prataapmukut whose 8th son was Vajramukut. One
day he went for hunting with his father's prime minister's son. They came
upon a large beautiful pond. They were tired, so they dismounted from their
horses and tied them with a tree. They washed their faces and entered the
temple of Mahaadev. While they were worshipping, a beautiful maiden came
there along with a group of maidens. They disrobed and entered the pond to
take bath."
Vikram
interrupted in an offending tone - "Concerning which the less said
better." Vaitaal continued - "After taking bath they worshipped
in the temple. Then the princess went to take a scroll in the forest.
Vikram, he left his friend in the temple and followed her. Both saw each
other. The princess said - "Why do you worry me?" The prince
could not speak anything.
The
princess called her friend, who was plucking jasmine flowers so as not to
witness the scene. The friend called a slave and asked him to throw
Vajramukut in the pond. But Vajramukut had not stopped there to be thrown.
The princess had gone only a little distance, that she turned around to see what happened to
him, but found him still standing there. She smiled, bent to pond's water,
and plucked a lotus flower.
This
she worshipped, next she placed it in her hair, then she put it in her
ear, then she bit it with her teeth, then she placed it under her foot,
then she lifted it and placed in her bosom. After this she went home. The
prince drowned in grief of separation. The minister's son came out of the
temple and sat down at the pond. He took out a roll of paper and got busy
in reading it. The maidens tried to draw his attention but he did not look
at them. he was a philosopher.
But O
Vikram, Philosophy, Shankaraachaarya says, is either a gift of nature or
the reward of the study. A born philosopher is a man of cold desires and a
bred philosopher is he who has survived his desires. A young philosopher
is a cold-blooded youth; an elderly philosopher is an old man. The prince
came to his friend and told him what happened to him. If he did not get
her, he would not survive. The friend did not pay much attention to him.
Since night was to fall, so they mounted their horses and came back to
their palaces. Vajramukut did not speak at all throughout the three hours
of their journey.
Vajramukut
Falls Ill
After
the second day, Vajramukut grieved so much with the separation of the princess,
that he fell
ill. He left everything and thought of dying. He constantly painted
beautiful face of lotus gatherer, when completed beat his head, tore it
and drew yet another more beautiful face. At last the minister's son was
called upon. They talked a lot. At last Vajramukut said - "Who
proceeds on the path of love cannot survive it; or if he lives, his life
is a misery."
Wise
men say - "There are three things whose effect cannot be foretold -
desire of a woman, the dice-box, and the drinking of spirits. So total
abstinence of them is the best rule. Is she the same who appeared to us at
the pond?" "Yes." "Did she tell you anything while she was
going away?" "Nothing." "Did she make any sign or give
any hint?" Then the prince told him everything.
The
minister's son said - "Don't worry, I know her name and her dwelling
place. When she suddenly plucked the flower and worshipped it, she thanked
gods for her beauty." Vajramukut smiled for the first time in the
last month. "When she touched it to her ear, she meant she was the
daughter of Karnaatak; and when bit it with her teeth, she meant that her
father's name was Dantavat who is, by the way, the foe of your father. When
she put it under her feet, she meant that her name was Padmaavatee. And
when she put it in her bosom, she meant that you lived in her heart."
Hearing
this prince jumped out of the bed and requested him to take permission to
go there. The minister's son took king's permission on the basis that
Vajramukut needed some change of place. They armed themselves, took some
jewels and proceeded towards the princess' country.
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