Vikram and Vaitaal Stories-2
- Story 9 (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]
9-Wife
Belongs Not to One's Body But to His Head
Vaitaal
started a new story - "There lived a Braahman Haridaas who had a
beautiful daughter Unmaadinee. Many poets described her beauty in
numberless poems. But all the poets failed to win Unmaadinee's love. One
day Unmaadinee told to her father who loved her very much, that her
husband should be such a man who has never written any poetry. Of course
she
stressed on moderate mind and an adorer of talent.
At
last some time elapsed. Then one day four suitors appeared from four
different countries - all of them equal in youth, beauty, strength and
understanding. On coming there. they paid respects to Haridaas and
Haridaas asked them to come next morning for an intellectual conversation.
So
they came next day. The young Mahasaanee poet said - "Foolish is the
man, who seeks permanence in this world, frail as the stem of the plantain
tree, and transient as the ocean foam. All that is high, shall presently
fall, and all that is low must perish. Pitar taste the tears of their
descendents unwillingly, that is why do not shed tears, but perform their
last rites diligently." Unmaadinee said - "What an ill-omened
fellow is this. There is little chance for this suitor."
The
second suitor spoke - "She is called a good woman and a woman of pure
descent who serves him to whom her father and mother have given her, and
it is written in the scriptures that if she becomes in her life time of
her husband a devotee, engaging in fasting shortens his days and hereafter
falls in fire, because it is said - "A woman's bliss is found not in
the smile of father, mother, friend or herself; her husband is only her
share both here and hereafter." The word "serve" might mean
"to obey" was particularly disagreeable to Unmaadinee, and she did
not like check on devotion either, or the language and the manner of the
youth, so she had resolved not to see him again.
The
third suitor, Gunaakar a Kshatriya, said - "A mother protects her son
in babyhood, and father when he is growing up, but a Kshatriya defends his
brothers at all times. This is the custom of the world and this is my
state. I live on the heads of strong."
The
fourth suitor, Dev Sharmaa, contented himself with listening to others. He
thought others were more clever than him. So when his turn came, he said
"Silence is better than speech. A wise man will never proclaim his
age, nor he would deceive anybody, nor his riches, nor the loss of riches,
nor family faults, nor incantations, nor conjugal love, nor medical
prescriptions, nor gifts, nor reproach, nor infidelity of his wife."
Thus
ended the first trial. Haridaas dismissed the first two suitors with many
polite expressions and some gifts. He asked the two latter speakers
to come next day morning. They came next day. Haridaas said to them, now
you manifest your mental qualities so that I can judge you." Gunaakar
said - "I have made a four-wheel carriage which can carry you in a
moment wherever you want to go." Dev Sharmaa said - "I have such
power on the angel of Death that I can at all times raise a corpse and
enable my friends to do the same."
After
telling so far, Vaitaal asked Vikram - "Now tell me which suitor is fit for
the girl?" Either the King could not answer, or he did not answer
with the fear to break the spell of talking, so Vaitaal continued with his
story. "Beautiful Unmaadinee was brought out, she did not speak and she
hung her head but she made a sign with her eyes towards Dev Sharmaa.
Unmaadinee
is Abducted
Haridaas
said "pearls go with pearls" and betrothed his daughter to Dev
Sharmaa. The soldier Gunaakar got angry at this, but since he was a man of noble
birth, he did not show it. Mahasaanee, the poet, began to rage and quote
proverbs in the court in a loud voice. He said that in this world women
are the mine of grief, poisonous root, destroyers of resolutions etc etc.
Then he started abusing the daughter's father, Dev Sharmaa, other priests
and Braahman etc too. Haridaas got terrified with his abuses. Seeing this he
took an oath that he would commit suicide and haunt the house if
Unmaadinee didn't marry him.
Gunaakar,
the soldier, got ready to slay him at once but Haridaas halted him to do
such a thing. Then Mahasaanee nerved by love, rage and perversity,
got up from his place, took out a noose from his bosom and hanged himself
from a tree. And true enough at midnight he arose as a gigantic Raakshas
and frightened Haridaas' family. He took away Unmaadinee and left a word
that she would be found at the topmost peak of the Himaalaya
mountain.
Haridaas
rushed to Dev Sharmaa, told him everything and requested him to do
something. Dev Sharmaa sought the help of his late rival Gunaakar.
Gunaakar immediately got ready to help him. Quickly he made the carriage
and both set off to bring Haridaas' daughter. They asked him not to worry
at all and that he would see his daughter before the evening. Gunaakar's
Cabalistic words made the carriage to rise up and Dev Sharmaa's sacred Mantra made
it to fly to that Raakshas.
They
came back with the girl in the evening, Haridaas blessed them, and he married his daughter in
a splendid way. After a while Dev Sharmaa asked his father-in-law to see
his parents, Haridaas allowed him to do so. Gunaakar went with them to
make sure that they safely reached their home.
Unmaadinee
Jumbles Up
It so
happened that their road lay through the high hills of Vindhya mountain
and dangers were many. They lost the path in its forest, but still they
crossed that terrible part of their journey safely. As they reached the
plains, that one day Unmaadinee saw a terrible dream. She saw that she was
passing through a pool of muddy water and as she was passing through it,
it started cuddling and lifting up . She was carrying a sick child in her
arms, he started wailing and his cry was accompanied by several other
cries. It seemed that all cries were addressed to her as if she were the
cause of their weeping. Her all efforts to console them failed.
In the
morning, she told all this to her husband. Her husband told her and his
friend that some terrible calamity is going to fall soon. He took out his
traveling wallet and took out a skein of thread which he divided into
three parts, one for each. He gave one each to his companion and said -
"If you have any physical injury, tie this thread around it, it will
heal the wound immediately. After that he taught the Mantra to restore the
bodies even when they have gone to stars. It concluded with the three
sacred syllables - Bhoo, Bhuvah, Swar.
As Dev
Sharmaa had predicted an accident occurred. In the same evening, they were
attacked by Kiraat tribe. They started showering arrows on them. Both, Gunaakar
and Dev Sharmaa fell down. Kiraat cut their heads, took their jewelry and
ran away from there leaving the woman unharmed. Unmaadinee sat down and
wept bitterly. Then she remembered her lesson learned the very same
morning so she took out the thread and tried to tie it around the necks of
both bodies. But the evening was approaching fast, it became so dark that
she, by mistake, put Dev Sharmaa's neck on Gunaakar's body and Gunaakar's
neck on Dev Sharmaa's body. She then pronounced the prayers as she was
taught.
Immediately
after the prayers, they both came to life and they both stood up shaking
their limbs, but something wrong appeared to them. They looked at their
bodies and then looked at each other with a puzzled look. For one moment
the amputation of their heads looked the only solution for their problem.
She cried happily as she looked at the bosom of her husband, but he
repulsed that she was mistaken and he was not her husband. Then blushing
she embraced the other person who was her real husband, but to her
surprise he also drew himself back from her embrace..
She moved back
and perceived her fatal mistake.
Dev Sharmaa's head cried - "This is your wife." Gunaakar's head
cried - "No, She is your wife." But then both started claiming Unmaadinee
as their wife and they began to quarrel. I do not know any other solution
except cutting their once again and rejoining them to their proper places,
and I am sure that you are also not able to solve this puzzle that to whom
Unmaadinee choose her husband." This case when presented in the
King's court, it presented a great confusion each head declaiming all the
sins its body had committed. Yam himself hit his forefinger with
vexation." (Notes 161)
Here
the young prince Dharmdhwaj laughed at the ridiculous idea of wrong
heads. Vikram reminded him that laughing without cause degrades a man and
a loud laugh indicates of a vacant mind. Then
he said to Vaitaal - "It is written in Shaastra, that mother Gangaa
is the queen among the rivers, Mount Sumeru is the king among the
mountains, Kalp Vriksh is the king among all the trees, and the head of
the man is the best among all the parts of his body. That is why the wife
belonged to the body on which Dev Sharmaa's head was fixed."
Vaitaal
said - "In my opinion, the wife should belong to the body not to the
mind, because the body has an immortal soul living in the pit of its
stomach, whereas the head is only a box of bones." Vikram
replied - "Doesn't the soul or conscious life enter the body through
the brain and then to contemplate, through the same opening, the Divine perfections?" Vataal said -
"I must leave you now O Lord of Shak." and he ran away again from
Vikram's bundle and Vikram could not prevent him from running away. But he did
not lose time in following him and threw him on his shoulder. He was
waiting for his new tale.
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