STORY TEN
The king again went to the Shimshapaa tree; placed the corpse with the
spirit on his shoulder; and silently started walking. The Vetaala said to him
then-
“King! You are
tired! I will entertain you with a story, listen!”
There lived a king named VeeraBaahu. The entire sphere of kings was under
his command. He was another Indra on earth. His city was AnangaPura.
In that city of AnangaPura ,
there lived a very rich merchant named ArthaDatta. He had a son named
DhanaDatta and a daughter named MadanaSenaa.
One day a merchant’s son named DharmaDatta chanced to see MadanaSenaa
and became enamored of her beauty. She was an overflowing waterfall of charms.
Huge pot-like breasts and the three folds on her waist enhanced her
beauty. She was like a pond where the elephant of youth sported with abandon.
DharmaDatta was stuck by the arrows of Manmatha (god of love) and lost
his senses-
Looking at her standing on the terrace of her mansion DharmaDatta who
was passing on the road below thought-
“Aha! This
jasmine flower with such a beauty, piercing like sharpened sword, has been made
by the god of love only for breaking my heart”; and he spent that
day pining for her a like a Chakravaaka bird.
MadanaSenaa also saw him and lost her mind to him. She entered inside
her house with the heart burning in the fire of passion towards DharmaDatta.
The Sun who was attracted (Raaga) by her beauty, (became red (Raaga) in hue by
her sight) drowned in the western ocean. The moon who had lost himself by the
beauty of her lotus-face, saw that beautiful-faced girl entering her house at
night, and slowly came out to look at her.
DharmaDatta went home; was thinking about her continuously; remained on
the bed rolling and suffering, hit by the moon’s feet (Chandra-Paada/moon’s
feet/rays).
His friends and relatives were worried by his depressed state and
enquired about what had happened. But he was not able to answer them anything.
At night he fell asleep after a long time; saw her in his dream also! How he
begged and pleaded with her and how he enjoyed her company is only known to
him! In the morning, he went to the garden without anybody’s knowledge and saw
MadanaSenaa there waiting for her friend. He wanted to hold her in his arms and
rushed towards her; fell at her feet and with love-filled prattle begged her to
grace him.
She said-“I am a virgin; now I belong to someone else too! My father
has promised a merchant named MadanaDatta that I will be offered in marriage to
him. I will be married off within a few days. So go away please before anyone
sees us or there will be trouble.”
Thus rejected by her, DharmaDatta said-
“O Beautiful
lady! Whatever be it, I cannot live without you.”
Hearing his words, MadanaSenaa was frightened that her virginity might
be lost and said with apprehension-
“Please! Let the
marriage be over. My father will get the fruit of giving away a virgin
daughter, for which he has been waiting for so long. Later I will come and
offer you my company.”
He said-
“If my beloved is
going to be enjoyed by some one else and come to me, I do not want her! How can
a lotus enjoyed by another one can be attractive?”
She said-
“After the
marriage, before meeting my husband, I will come to you. After you feel
satisfied, I will go to him.”
DharmaDatta made her promise that she will be truthful and allowed her
to go. She returned home apprehensive and worried about all that had happened.
Wedding day arrived. After the auspicious ceremony of marriage was
over, she went to her husband’s house; spent the day in various festivities; at
night entered her husband’s room to meet him; but she did not embrace her
husband with love and kept her face averted.
He requested her in many ways to give him company; but she did not
oblige. She started to cry. He thought that may be she did not like him and
said-
“O beautiful
lady! If you do not like me, then go to the one whom you like.”
She bent her head and said-
“Lord! You are
dearer to me than my lives! But I have one request you should grant! Happily
give me the assurance of trust. Promise me that you will not discard me. I will
then tell you something which is a very embarrassing matter.”
He promised her his trust. Feeling the difficulty of convincing him,
she spoke trembling with fear, shyness and sadness-
“Lord! One day
when I was standing alone in the garden, a young man named DharmaDatta, a
friend of my brother saw me; and stuck by passion approached me. Trying to
avoid a tainted name for me and wanting to preserve my virginity so that my
father could offer me in a marriage as a virgin only and get the merit of it
all, I pacified that young man who was uncontrollable- that ‘ I will get married first; then I will
meet you before I go to my husband.’
Therefore, my
Master, please allow me to be truthful and permit me to go and meet him.
I will just meet
him and immediately return. I have always adhered to truth from my childhood; I
do not want to break that virtue now.”
SamudraDatta was shocked by her words as if hit by the lightning weapon
of Indra. However as he also knew the value of keeping a promise, he thought-
“Aha! Alas! She
is interested in some one else; she has to go definitely. How can I act against
the following of truth? Let her go! Who can stop her?”
After such thoughts, he permitted her to go out to keep her promise.
She got up immediately and went out of the house.
As MadanaSenaa walked alone on the road, suddenly she was stopped by a
thief who came running and held the edge of the saree by his hand. He asked the
trembling girl- “Hey beautiful girl with lovely eye-brows! Where are you
going?”
She said-
“Leave me to go!
Why should you bother where I go?
I have some
urgent work to attend to.”
The thief said-
“O beautiful
girl! How can you escape from my hands? I am a thief!
I do not let go
easily anything so easily.”
She said-
“Take all my
jewelry and leave me.”
The thief said-
“Hey pretty girl!
What need do I have for these stones? You are so beautiful. Your face shines
like a moon. You are an ornament of this whole world. I will not let you go.”
MadanaSenaa had no other course except to confide in him everything and
after telling him the whole story she said-
“O good man! Wait
for a second. I will keep my promise; meet DharmaDatta and return to you
quickly. I will never break my promise.”
The thief trusted her words and left her free. He stood there waiting
for her to return. She at last reached the place where the merchant’s son was
waiting. He saw the pretty girl of his heart approaching him; felt happy;
enquired about her welfare; and thought for a few seconds; and then said-
“O beautiful
lady! I am happy that you kept your promise. You now belong to another man. I
do not want your company any more. Please go back o your husband.”
MadanaSenaa felt relieved and started to walk towards her husband’s
place.
The thief was waiting for her on the road and asked her-
“Tell me! What
happened to you when you went there?”
MadanaSenaa told him all that had happened.
The thief then said-
“If that is the
case, then I also feel satisfied that you kept your promise to me. I do not
want you or jewelry. Go back to your husband.”
MadanaSenaa felt relieved. She had fulfilled her promise and adhered to
truth; she had been saved from all harms; her character was untainted. Happy
and satisfied she joined her husband. She entered his room without anybody’s
knowledge and told him everything that had happened.
The husband observed her face which had not lost its luster of purity;
her person untouched by anyone; her blemish-less character; her devotion to
truth; and her innocent nature. He praised her virtues and felt himself the
most fortunate one on earth.
He lived with her happily ever after.
END
Having completed the story in the due manner, Vetaala asked the king-
“Hey king! Keep in your mind the curse that I predicted for you and
tell me who among the three- the two merchant youths and the thief- did a true
sacrifice?”
The king broke his silence and answered-
“The thief alone
should be commended for his sacrifice, not the merchants!
The husband was
not right in letting go of a girl whom he had vowed to protect by marriage. And
if he truly belonged to a good family, when he knew that she was interested in
another person, how can he take her back?
And the other
one! He was frightened for sure! Or his passion had diminished as time went by
and so he rejected her.
The thief actually
was a wicked man who always acted against law. He gave up a beautiful girl
along with her jewelry. So he alone did the true sacrifice.”
Vetaala was immediately back on the tree; and the king patiently
started walking towards the tree.
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