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24TheWanderingAnchorite
Somdev Bhatt 11th Century. Original in
Sanskrit.
English Translation: C. A. KINCAID, c. v. o.
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| Background. "Vikram Aur
Betaal" is a series of enchanting tales derived from the
11th-century work 'Betaal Pachisi' by Kashmiri poet Somdev Bhatt. The
narrative follows the wise and adventurous King Vikramaditya of Ujjain.
When a mendicant consistently gifts him fruits containing rubies, the
king's curiosity is piqued. Meeting the mendicant under specific, eerie
conditions, Vikramaditya learns of a task only he can perform: to
retrieve a corpse, Betaal, from an ancient tree for the mendicant's
mystical rituals. As King Vikramaditya carries the corpse, Betaal's spirit tells him tales, concluding each with a riddle. If Vikramaditya knows the answer but stays silent, his head will shatter. But answering breaks his vow, and Betaal returns to the tree, making the king restart his mission. After 25 stories, Betaal reveals the mendicant's ulterior motive: to gain unparalleled powers by sacrificing the king. Forewarned by Betaal, Vikramaditya confronts the mendicant and, through his wit, triumphs over the deceitful ascetic. |
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THE TWENTY-FOURTH TALE
THE ANCHORITE
ONCE upon a time there lived in Kalingam a Brahman named Kashyasharma.
He had a beautiful wife whose name was Somadatta. He never ceased from
making sacrifices and so it befell that his wife bore him a son. When
the boy was five years old, he began to learn the sacred books and when
he was twelve, he was as wise as the wisest and he served his father
with unfaltering devotion. After some little time he died. His parents
grieved and mourned for him. When the townspeople came to hear of it,
they too sorrowed much and carried him to the burning ground. When they
looked at his body as it lay on the pyre, they said one to the other,
"Look! Death has in no way robbed the boy of his beauty." Now it so
happened that in the burning ground lived an anchorite who practiced
austerities there. When he heard the words of the mourners, he said to
himself, "My body has become very old, yet the austerities which I set
out to perform are not completed. Now that by good luck the body of a
boy has come here, I shall enter it. Then I shall bring my austerities
to a successful ending". Thereafter the anchorite entered the boy's
body. Then as if he had just awakened, he cried " Shiva ! Shiva ! " and
rose to his feet. All the bystanders were amazed. They took the boy home
and went to their own houses. His father was so affected by the marvel
that he
The Anchorite 147 |